help with interior dome light

[Prafeston]

Are your door jam switches working properly?

[1990new]

I have an escort dome with map lights ready to install in Trixie (my new 89 L automatic). The others I installed had
the rigid headline, but Trixie has the vinyl fabric line. Is this a problem? Screw holes in same place? Fabric cutting suggestions?

[crazyrog17]

You don't have to cut much to let the map lights fit up into the ceiling. Seems like an x-acto knife will do the job fine.

In reply to the initial post: it's possible the ball bearing, inside the switch lever, has escaped. There'd be no circuit between the grounds (door/body) and the bulb. Clever switch design if you ask me, haha.

[1990new]

Before I install the escort dome light in trixie, I tried to get the original light to work. But it does not.

The bulb is good, the bearing switch completes the circuit with no problem, the Room fuse is good, and the door switches are both good.

I get no voltage on my meter when I test connecting the red wire on the dome light connector to the screw hole in the ceiling.

I haven't tried to see if the red wire carries voltage when the negative is grounded to another point in the car or directly to the negative on the battery.

Is it true that the red wire is supposed to always be hot on the connector as long as the battery is connected?

[bravekozak]

The internal lamp connector has a white/red and a red/blue wire. White/red goes to the ROOM fuse and is hot at all times. All the white wires are hot at all times. The red/blue wires go to the door switches and the timer/buzzer. There are three positions on the dome lamp. Always Off (no connection to ground), Door (grounded through red/blue wire to door switch), Always On (when either or both doors are opened), grounded through middle screw of dome light.

So, no. The red/blue wire is never suppossed to be hot unless the switch is in Door or On position. Red/blue does not ground through screw, but to door switches with dome light switch in middle or door position.

You should have continuity between the dome ground screw and white/red terminal when light switch is in On position. That is how the dome light remains on even when the doors are closed, and the door switches are open.

[kingstonpygmies]

After I did the escort dome light in mine the door jamb switch started sticking. Might want to check it just to be sure. Mine needs a "gentle nudge" from a steel toe every now and then

Sent from Kingston Ga from my hillbilly handheld

[Prafeston]

After I did the escort dome light in mine the door jamb switch started sticking. Might want to check it just to be sure. Mine needs a "gentle nudge" from a steel toe every now and then

Sent from Kingston Ga from my hillbilly handheld

Yeah, I have to kick mine a couple times every once in awhile if it doesn't turn on when I open the door. Or sometimes if that doesn't work If I spin the plunger thing on the switch that will help.

[bravekozak]

What I meant to say was Always ON (regardless whether the doors are open or closed). I accidentally pushed the insert key and then removed the brackets around (grounded through the middle screw of the dome light). Sorry for any confusion.

Anyway you get the idea. The ground strap goes from the third position on the dome switch to the center screw. In the DOOR position, the juice flows back down the red/blue wire to the grounded door switch.

That is why I tapped into the same white/red wire (hot all times) for my lighted vanity visors. They are grounded by a small black wire to a body ground. I have to leave the dome switch in door position if I want my Viper to turn it on through the red/blue wire during unlock. It grounds through a relay in the Viper to turn on and ungrounds with an abrupt delayed off (unfortunately, no fade out).

[1990new]

Ok understand... Thanks for clearing things up for me.
...in the process of trying to get the old Festiva light to work I broke the little black switch in half. So I went ahead with the escort light.

I cut old light connector off and wired in the escort connector. Connected the Festiva white/red wire to the escort red/white and the festiva blue/red wire to the escort blue/red wire, cut my head liner for the map light recess, snapped the connectors together and installed the two rear and one center screw.

But things are screwy.
With the switch in the center (door) the light comes on when I open either door. In the on position the light does not come on.

The map lights will not come on with the door open but will with the door closed (is this normal?).

When I turn on the left map light, the dome light comes on dimly. but it does not come on when I turn the right map light on.

Do I have a defective escort dome light?

I guess the only real problem is that the dome light does not come on in the on position.

[1990new]

Also just discovered that if the key is in the ignition and I turn the dome light to on, the buzzer goes off.

Do I have the wires backwards?

[1990new]

navdoc101 informed me that the wire were backward.... I reversed and now everything works correctly.

[bravekozak]

You would have had a 50/50 chance if the wires weren't the same color.

Do not purchase any lottery tickets for a period of one month.

[navdoc101]

Hey! I did the same thing when I installed mine. Always learn from the mistakes of others.

[iriegnome]

Got to work on this one this weekend. Hopefully I can score one of those dome lights at the yard...

[David88]

What is the number of the map light bulb? Is there a LED version of the bulb?