interior lights

[smudge]

Hi Guys,

got a problem which now its getting dark at nights needs sorting.

To start the interior lights were'nt working, so checked fuse and yes fuse had blown, replaced fuse now lights won't go out Which ever switch you use will not turn them off.

I've chech the wiring diagram and if I read it correctly the lights are operated by the door catch and not one of those door switches that push in and out , which is strange because I have one of those pushy things in the drivers side!

I'm guessing there's a short or some previous owner has messed about with the wiring.

Any suggestions or pointers as to putting it back to orininal or just working would help?

cheers Smudge

[JonT]

Try pushing the headlight switch in (standard vauxhall feature - pull it out to turn the interior lights on).

[smudge]

thanks for reply, I tried this & with fuse in the lights stay permanenty on either way

[rip]

thanks for reply, I tried this & with fuse in the lights stay permanenty on either way

Have you tried unplugging the light switch from its harness?
Maybe it has failed in the closed position?

[tomac1975]

Hi mine is the same as yours, after lots of fiddling around it was clear that mine was caused by aftermarket alarm being fitted and removed, the wiring is such a mess I left it alone. It's on the ever expanding todo list

[smudge]

Ya, I'm sure someone has been messing with the wires at some point, I think I might get an auto electrician have a look (that'll be expencive )

Thanks for your help guys

[smudge]

hi guys,

sorted out interior lights but made an ass out of myself . I thought the the push button in the A post door jam was for the interior lights, Wrong its for the after market alarm/immobilizer.
Saw the electrian, he had a look replaced fuse shut the door and guess what after 10 seconds lights went out as they are supposed to :

The moral of the story is 1. check bulbs, 2. check fuse, 3. shut the b............. door

Thanks guys

[Enright]

Rather than start a new thread, seeing as this one has the correct title, I'll just add to it.

Bit of a conundrum here: My interior lights are doing odd things.
Pulling out the light switch only illuminates the right light.
Opening the passenger's door only illuminates the right light, and then it goes off with the timer.
Opening the driver's door does nothing.
The right-hand mirror light switch doesn't do anything, which is odd considering the above.
The left-hand mirror light switch works fine. So why doesn't that light come on when the other does?

I've tried swapping delay modules but it made no difference.
The alarm system has been removed and I think everything has been re-connected properly, but can't be sure.

I suspect there may be a problem with the driver's door ajar sensor, but I don't know if it's related.
While the central-locking works from both doors, you can lock the driver's door with it still open. But why would that stop the right-hand mirror switch, and the left-hand light from working properly?

HELP!

[Elanlover]

It does sound like one of the door ajar sensors isn't working which would explain the map light working but not when the door is opened as well as the door being lockable when open.. As for the right side map light all I can think of is the switch inside since your problem is localized. I'm guessing that, if the alarm was removed, the left side door sensor wasn't reconne3cted properly since most alarms will look for a signal from that sensor.

Sounds like you have some quality wire tracing time to spend with your car on the weekend.

[Enright]

Hmm, I suspected there could be more than 1 fault, but was hoping that a specific break in either the interior light or central-locking system might nail the lot, if I could just pinpoint it from the circuit diagram/s.
The previous owner said the alarm never worked properly and he'd bypassed the immobiliser - it might have been a good system, but I think it was a cr@p installation in the first place!
I'll try swapping door latch mechs and see if that shows up a dodgy one or wiring to/from it that I can fix, then see what progress doing that provides...thanks.

[Enright]

Right, progress to report: There was nothing wrong with the driver's side latch mech, but it would have helped if all the plugs had been in!
The top one had either fallen or been pulled out.
Now at least the central-locking and door-ajar functions work as they should, and the light timer works from both doors.

There's still an issue: only the RHS light comes on when either door or the boot is opened, and the RHS switch will turn it off when it's on, but not on when it's off!
Hopefully that will turn out to be an internal issue unrelated to the doors and locks...

[Elanlover]

Its possible this was messed up when the alarm was installed or de-installed. A lot of installers look for a signal from a wire to trigger the door open sensor in the alarm module and the wire for the interior light is an easy one to tap triggering the alarm when the light comes on (and the alarm is armed of course). Its possible that wiring isn't connected properly. If you know where the alarm module was installed or where the wires were tapped into you could look there to see if they were reconnected correctly.

Problem half solved though!

[Enright]

Last night I decided to try swapping over the interior mirror assemblies to see if my known working one would exhibit the same issues as the one in the new car.
I plugged it in and it did... absolutely nothing at all!
This made me suspect blown bulbs in the now "supposedly" known working one. On closer inspection one of the pins in the 3 pin connector (which lives behind the windscreen surround) had corroded and sheared. Great - another job to sort!
But it prompted me to check the bulbs, and when I did I found that each switch had 3 wires connected.
On doing a similar check of the wiring in the new Elan's mirror switches, I found that each one had a wire disconnected and taped-up - I think the appropriate acronym is WTF.
Removing the electrical tape and returning the wires to their rightful places had everything working perfectly within minutes.
I think this means that all wiring in my new Elan has now been restored to its original condition - now it's all about improvement rather than simply running to catch up, yay!

[Elanlover]

Great detective work!

[dapinky]

Removing the electrical tape and returning the wires to their rightful places had everything working perfectly within minutes.

Maybe a previous oener didn't know that to turn off the lights you push the main light switch in??????