96 cutlas ciera interior lights and door lock problems...

[mattd860]

I'm fixing a bunch of problems on my friends 96 olds. However, there are two things that evade me. First, the interior light (dome light) will not come on when the front two doors open. It does come on when the rear doors are open. The rear doors have a very obvious switch on the center pillars but I cannot find any type of switch for the front doors. What grounds or makes contact when the front doors open causing the lights to come on?

Second, when locking the passenger side door using the key, nothing happens and the key turns side to side effortlessly i.e. theres no friction. I haven't removed the panel yet to see if there's an arm going from the lock to a solenoild that may have come loose. Any suggestions before taking off the panel?

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Ian Szgatti]

You must have missed it, but the activators for the front doors for 92-96 are located on the doors, in between the hinges. You must ask yourself though what the likely hood is of both of these doors switches going at once.
Take the panels off of each door and check that power is present at the door switches.. power has to go there for the switch to close and allow it to continue to the light. If no power, locate and test the following wires and test for voltage there:

For the DRIVERS DOOR use the LIGHT GREEN/BLACK(-) in the DRIVERS KICK PANEL. For the PASSENGER DOOR use the LIGHT BLUE(-) in the PASSENGERS KICK PANEL.

[mattd860]

Thanks. I'll take a look. Is there a fuse or relay that controls both the front doors? The fuse panel in the glove box says nothing about interior lights. Is there another fuse/relay panel?