Door light stays on
 

Well, a new issue just started. The interior lights tied to the door being ajar will not go out. Nothing has changed, other than me rolling over a brick going into my garage that I suppose could have jarred something? I assumed something was wrong with one of the door switch plungers. I played with both plungers, pushing in and out, and it did not resolve.

Unhooked the battery for now.

How would u trouble shoot this?

Thanks guys

The dome light/courtesy lights have power all the time from the orange power wire. The white wire is the ground and leads from each fixture to the door switches or headlight switch. If the white wire is grounded at any point besides the headlight or door switches, the light will stay on. With that in mind check the following.

Check the headlight switch to make sure its not turned all the way to the left.
The following can be performed in no particular order:
Unscrew the dome light fixture from the roof and check the wiring. If the light goes out when you remove it from the roof, the wiring to the fixture may be shorted to ground. Not familiar with the dome light fixture on the earlier cars if they're metal or plastic. I'd do this because it's 55 years old and the socket assembly my be burnt or corroded.
If a convertible check the rear armrest lights in the same manner.
Unplug the white wire to each door switch to see which side is activating the light. Involves removing the side vent panels.
If you have Courtesy lights under the dash, make sure the white wire isn't shorted to ground or to the bulb fixture.

It is likely a bulb that has burned out and the filliment is touching the base of the bulb. I had that happen a few times and all of the interior lights would stay lit.

Ok thanks guys, a couple clarifying questions.

Og68-it is a convertible. There are 4 lights on, the two rear arm rest, the back seat center console, and the map light under the dash. I can evaluate each as u describe. With that said, for the door switch, it’s a 3/8 nut that I unscrewed and gently pulled the switch forward out of the door. So I don’t think I need to remove the vent panels.?

Cruzn - all bulbs are working (4 lights I mentioned above) so I don’t think it’s a bulb?

So generally speaking I am looking for a something grounding in the wiring?

Yes, or something as simple as a bad door or headlight switch.

The switch grounds to the door frame. When the door opens, the plunger contact closes the circuit between the white wire terminal and the body of the switch which is grounded to the door frame
If you remove the switch completely from the door frame and the light is still on, leave it out and check the other side. If both switches are out and the lights are still on the switches are more than likely ok.

Another quick place to check is the headlight switch. Rotate the knob that dims the dash lights left to right and then back to left. You should feel a slight notch at the far left rotation. This turns on the dome lights by grounding the white wire. Rotate the knob back past the notch. This should turn off the dome light. Sometimes the terminal inside the switch fails and contacts ground causing the lights to stay on.

A third area to check is the rear harness under the carpet. The plug for the harness comes up to under the dash near the fusebox. Check the plug for corrosion especially the white wires. Its been 35 years since I owned a 64 El Camino and IIRC that plug was a source of numerous wiring issues with the car

To check the light fixtures, leave the door switches out so they're not touching metal, this will allow you to work with the doors open without providing a ground path for the switches.
Open up the armrest and console lights one at a time and pull them out a bit. Check the terminals and the white wire lead to see if its been pinched. Connect the battery to see if the lights are still on.

Not to sure of how the map light operates in a 64, does it have a separate on / off switch? You may want to pull it out too to check the wiring.

If the lights stay on after all these checks you may have a wire shorting to ground somewhere in the harness. Its not to difficult to chase down but will require pulling the carpet and the rear armrest panels as well as tracing the white map wire under the dash.

Ok thank U for the details. I will run down all of this. The map light turns on when u turn the dimmer knob all the way to the left, kind of like a dome light. I did put in a new headlight switch in a month ago, (dimmer did not work) but have had no issues over last month, so no reason to believe that is it...

In the interim of solving this, is there an easy way to disable this whole circuit so I can drive around and not have to unhook the battery every time I stop? I was hoping I could pull a fuse, but does not seem like there is one.

Convertible=flexible.

Running over the brick might have flexed the body enough so that one of the door switches is not switching off.

^ This! Try backing the switch out a turn or so, so that the switch is a little further out and pressed by the door further. You can try pushing each one in individually to figure out if either one is out of adjustment.

There is a fuse labeled courtesy. SHOULD kill our lights staying on. Tried to find you a pic. No luck..

"Bill"!

Ok thanks guys. I’ll find that fuse and try and play with switch adjustment too

What year is the car?

Can you see the wires where it attaches to door switch?
Fuse should be a 10 amp, possibly 3rd one down from top? (on left if has two rows?)

I'd try taking a bulb out and leaving it out. Then take another one out and leaving it out. Repeat till all bulbs out. If last bulb out is still on, put a bulb in 1st socket that was taken out. If still powered, time to check switches and the plug to the light switch.

The wire color for the courtesy lights are called 'natural' on wiring diagram. I think that's a light tan color. The white wire is for the dome light, but you have convertible, so not sure on that.

Have you added any of your own wiring circuits?

:confused:

BTW, the door switches work by pushing the plunger in to turn power off.
If the switch is too far into the body, it may not let the door push plunger in enough to turn light off. Or is defective and not disconnecting when pushed in.

If it has removable connections on door switch, disconnect wires on each one.


:confused:

small update. i unscrewed both switches and pulled them away from door with no metal touching. the light stayed on. So I think that suggests its not either of those switches. My next course of action is take out each bulb one at a time as johntal has offered up and see what happens. Probably next weekend.

answers to other questions - I have not done anything with wiring harness, but the car has had a lot of work done to it by previous owner. the wires for the switches are actually white (but i do see in my wiring diagram that they should be that natural you mention)

In the interim - I found the right fuse on my box (called dome for the 64 convert) and took that out so

Did you push both the plungers at same time in on the door switches when you had it off?


:confused:

well that's a good reminder. I did not. will try...

An update here- I have been slammed and have not got to this gremlin yet, but I will try and tackle this winter and post results to share. Thanks for all the feedback/support guys

If that's a convert, they had a little switch in the back by the arm rest.. Maybe that's closed. I think one of the wires came loose and is shorting out onto the cars body completing the circuit...

Yep I do have that switch on back of arm rest. I’ll look there too

Wanted to update on this one as I finally got to it. Let me say that I had checked the dimmer switch multiple times and it would not turn the lights out. I then proceeded to take the bulbs out of each socket one at a time. the map light, the console light and the two rear seat lights. I got nothing. the light would stay on no matter the bulb removed. As I was deliberating my next move I decided to try the dimmer switch again just because I did not have any great ideas other than ripping the interior out. Low and behold, the switch turned off lights. I am positive I turned that knob out of the interior-on mode, so no idea what happened, but I won't look a gift horse in the mouth. It's resolved. Thanks for all the tips guys.

well when something magically fixes itself, its usually not a good sign. the problem rose its ugly head again, the lights are back on. Having done the serial bulb check offered above, I was convinced it must be the headlight switch itself. So I started playing with that switch and I got the light to flicker briefly. that was enough for me to buy another switch and install it tonight. Mind you, i had replaced the headlight switch about 4 months ago due to a broken rheostat so its a new switch already. anyway, i put a new switch in and its fixed. I dont recall the brand on the first replacement and its not marked on the switch. I replaced it with an ac delco, although it does say made in taiwan. So Ia m concerned this could happen again. time will tell. For reference, are their any switch brands you guys would recommend?

on a related note, during this time with the light staying on the voltmeter was at zero. after fixing the switch, the voltmeter is back to normal reading. go figure.

again, thanks for the tips. hopefully this post will be helpful for anyone else that this happens to....