My dome light comes on intermittently in the winter, when it's cold outside.

My truck has a dome light that comes on intermittently, when I'm driving in the winter, when it's cold and seems to happen when I hit a pothole or rough patch in the road. I brought it into the dealership, before the warranty expired (the 3 year mark) and they said the suicide doors were tighten. I thought this fixed it, but the next cold spell (after my warranty expired), I was having the same problem, so I alway keep my dome switched off as a solution, not want to drain my battery.

Has anyone every experienced this problem and what next step should I go to diagnose this problem? I did call the the dealer to say what they did didn't solve my problem and was told, they did all they could under the warranty, also called Toyota customer care and was told basically the same thing too. Thanks for any help you can offer.

 

I had a 72 Grand Prix that the dome light and buzzer would go off at the same time anytime. It was my first car and I wasn't much of a mechanic or electrician so I let it go for a while. Eventually I come to find a fuse blown and replaced it and the dome light and buzzer never did that again. I doubt that is your problem though.

 

Yeah, it's intermittent so I think something is loose or maybe a bad switch, but it so intermittent that I have just surrendered the use of it. Thanks anyway for taking the time to respond and have a GREAT 4TH!!

 

I have the same issue. It's only in extreme cold though. I'm betting it's the contact on the door switch. Doesn't happen often enough for it to bother me. For troubleshooting purposes, you could just jump out the switch. If it goes away, that's the issue.

 

I like your thinking, maybe take known good switches and just switch them both out, where it's so intermittent. I thought I was the only person to experience this, so I hope we both get are domes working right in hot and cold. Thanks for responding and enjoy your 4th!!

 

I've had the truck (also an Access Cab) for 11 years now, and it's only happened a handful of times, but I just went out to look at the setup. There is a little hard rubber button thingy on the door that when closed pushes on the door switch to shut off the light when the door's closed (you really have to push this thing in all the way to get the light to go off). I would guarantee the issue is that the rubber is contracting in the extreme cold enough that it isn't (in those conditions) making enough contact to fully push the switch in. A good way to troubleshoot this would be to put a small piece of duct tape on the rubber thingy (to take up a little more space, and further push the switch in). If that's what it is, replace the rubber thingy, or you could possibly put a rubber gasket between the door, and the rubber thingy (again, to push it out a hair more).

Happy 4th to you as well sir.

 

Yup, pin switch..that's my bet.

Do what Fitz said and see if you can isolate it to a particular door.

 

Thank you both, I have gotten used to no dome light, but it would be nice if the trucks dome worked as it was designed to.

Enjoy the Holiday!

 

I used to have that and it was the switch on the passenger door. I just pulled the switch out and didn't even put another one. As long as my driver side worked then I was cool with it

 

I had an Olds delta 88 that the passenger switch didn't work right on, door didn't line up right after an accident. I just removed it. My bet is you can replace the switch easily