Interior light won't shut off : (

[yournympho]

I own a 92 Ford Ranger. Recently bought it and just noticed it had no interior light globe. I went and got one for it and installed it and the thing wont shut off now. I checked the door switches etc and when they are pressed in the light only dims a little. My door light is not on when I close both doors and should work I guess. Please help.

[DonSor]

Trace back to what you just did. Remove your new light fixture and leave the wires disconnected. If I'm not mistaken, the original light fixtures allows you to have the light on when the door is open but it also has a switch which you can turn on the lights with the doors closed. Does your new fixture have that feature? If it does, check your wiring. It should have a "hot' to the light switch and another "hot" from the door switch.

[yournympho]

Well, I didnt do anything to the actual fixture if I am interpreting you correctly. I just put a new globe in. So I do not quite follow you with the rest of your explanation sorry.

[DonSor]

Sorry. If you only replaced the globe, then it should have worked since replacing the globe does not involve anything pertaining to the circuit. If it worked before you replaced the globe, you may have done something in the fixture that caused the problem. Again I suggest you trace back to what you did. As a start, remove the bulb and see what problem you are experiencing. You will have to trace the circuit from the source to the load via whatever switches control it.

[yournympho]

I'd like to thankyou for your ongoing persistance in this matter. I dont know if it worked before I changed the globe since there was not one in there when I got the vehicle. There seems to be no switch on the dash or anywhere inside that is designated to control the interior light. So, I am at a loss still : /

[DonSor]

Most Rangers (I had an 83, a 94 and 99) have door switches. You should see them as soon as you open either door. When you open either door the cabin light should come on and as the door/s is closed, the light should dhut off. In my 99 Ranger there is a few second time delay before the light go out. As I described the circuit before, with the light fixture removed, you should see three wires, two hots and a ground. One of the hot wires come from the door switches to power the light while the other is hot all the time and goes to the light switch. They share a common ground. If as I understand the whole was missing altogether when you first bought the car, you should be able to get an after market replacement fixture. Hope this helps.

[Davescort97]

The dome lilght is always hot by the fuse and the switch for manually turning it on is on the light itself. The switch grounds the dome light making it come on. There are 2 ground switches on the doors. If the light only dims when they are depressed there is probably some corrosion or foreign materal inside that won't allow the ground circuit to open. You could spray the switches with some WD 40 and then blow it out with some compressed air. You could do this wherever air for tires is sold by getting an old tire stem at a tire shop and pressing the air chuck into it while holding it close to the indentation rod on the ground switch. Usually electrical problems occur when a switch won't compete a circuit, but the problem here is the switch not opening the circuit.

[yournympho]

Thankyou for your answers. I will have a look on the weekend when I have time and get back to you when I can. Thanks again

[DonSor]

My mistake. Should've said one hot and two controlled grounds as opposed to two hots and a ground. Some sort of schematics should help you troubleshoot.