Dome light only comes on when map lights are turned on?

the other day my dome light stopped working. i just thought the bulb burnt out so i ordered on from super bright leds and i go to take the factory bulb out and the filament looks fine. so i put in my new led and get nothing. after messing around for a awhile i went to turn on my map lights so i can see, and to my surprise, the dome light lights up like a christmas tree. turn the map lights off and the dome light goes off. this is all with the doors open and the dome switch on "DOOR" but it's the same way when i switch it to "ON".

any ideas on what is going on??

 

dome light also comes on when: map lights are turned off, door open, and key turned on in ignition.

 

Gremlins?

 

Enjoy it. I have heard some members asking how to do that. Maybe you could do a write up on it! JK

 

i looked and didnt see any

 

I know this is a problem with 1st gens...something about current sensing to feed enough power to the light. I was going to look into possibly putting a resistor up there of some sort, but ive just been too lazy to get a few different rating resistors...but once I find the right one, I'll do a write up.

If you get to it before I do, let me know! I'm pretty sure that's the problem. The stock bulbs need more current than the led strips.

 

thanks for the info but im clueless when it come to electrical work. why would it work for 7 years then all of the sudden stop working?

 

ah...I didn't see that the filament wasn't broken... The bulb may have worn out or there may be a short somewhere...but from what I'm assuming, the problem with the dome light only coming on when map lights are turned on is because the dome isn't pulling enough current to switch something on.

 

bump, still haven't figured this out

what would cause this and how could it be fixed?

 

^ This.

 

You could verify that the old bulb works by wrapping a bare wire around the base of it, touching the end to the positive terminal on your battery and the wire against the negative.

 

Your dome light is missing its ground, or is shorted to the map light.

 

It's not a ground on 1st Gens when the key is turned off it's dims the dome light so if you install a LED it will not turn on unless you turn the key on. if you pulled that LED out right now and installed a filament bulb it would work just fine.

And yes the map and dome lights are on the same 12v source and that is why if you turn on the map lights your LED will turn on. Try and installing a LED in the map lights as well they will not turn on unless the key is on.


There is a way to fix it.
This is what I'm going to do is wire a #74 bulb inline with the dome and paint over it so no light is let out and the right amount of current is drawn and the LED's will light up. Ive seen it before and it works great. The only other way is rewire the dome light to a straight 12v source and they will work fine.

 

finally got my dome light working again. not real sure what i did but it works. i took the map light completely apart and unplugged it. blew the fuse in the process by touching my screwdriver to a couple thing i wasnt supposed to. re-installed the map lights, threw in a new fuse and BAM, it works. so i guess it must have been a bad ground? if thats the case, wonder why it didnt start working the frist time i disassembled it? oh it works now. thanks for everyone input, it is appreciated