HELP Dome lights won't shut off

Alright guys, I've got this 96 Silverado I just bought and the dome lights WILL NOT SHUT OFF [emoji35] [emoji35] Unless I pull the fuse.

When I got the truck the fuse was pulled and the person wired a switch in place of the fuse. So I flipped the toggle and dome lights came on. Also, the drivers door switch was gone. I went ahead and replaced both drivers and passenger jamb switches and put the fuse back in instead of the toggle switch. Now they stay on all the time. I can shut both doors and hear the "click" after a few seconds meaning that the dome lights are about to shut off but they stay on. My dome override switch also has no effect.

The truck has a remote start/alarm. It also had an old one that had the wires cut for the most part and was still under the dash. I cut it the rest of they way out and threw it away. Maybe something is wired wrong and causing the dome lights to stay on? The remote start doesn't work but the alarm and keyless entry works fine. I have used what knowledge and wiring info I have for the remote start and for the truck but cannot figure it out.

So I am wondering what I should go about checking next... I have the dash out since I replaced the heater core and evaporator and am installing a new dash. Some wiring diagrams would be great if possible, or any input. Thanks!!!

Sent from a Galaxy, far, far away.

Anyone??

Sent from a Galaxy, far, far away.

I am just going to take a long shot here, but it seems like one of the door switches may be faulty. If one of those switches is internally broken, and in effect stuck in the "on" position, you would have the always on dome light problem. The only thing I can't figure out here is why the over ride switch doesn't work.

Is this light system controlled by the computer? Hope not, but if it is, that may be the problem.

Ironhead said:

The only thing I can't figure out here is why the over ride switch doesn't work.

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Could just be a bad headlight switch.

EDIT - No, now that I think about it this is how they all work. If the dome lights are already on when you hit the override button, they stay on until they shut off on their own once (doors closed), then don't come back on. If the circuit is always active in his case then they never have a chance to deactivate and let the override engage.

Ironhead said:

Is this light system controlled by the computer? Hope not, but if it is, that may be the problem.

Click to expand...

Nah, it's not that evil thankfully.

Sorry OP, but this is kind of one of those things that's just really hard to diagnose without looking at it. Considering the aftermarket alarm/keyless, and the fact that it's been hacked out, I'd be taking the truck to a well-reputed audio shop in your area and have them take a look at it. They do this stuff all the time and can probably pinpoint your issue for an hour or two of shop labor. That's what I would do in your situation.

Thanks guys for the input. I was messing around with it yesterday, pulling things out and cleaning up the mess of wiring it had and decided to try to find my problem. So I put the fuse in and they didn't come on. Then I hooked my headlight switch up (different than I had before) and rolled the dimmer/ dome light switch all the way up and they came on. Tried it a few times and works fine. Now I don't have my dash in or jamb switches hooked up so I can't test whether shutting the doors will shut it off but I'm hoping that somehow I fixed the problem. Guess I'll see once I get everything put back together.

Sent from a Galaxy, far, far away.

Please post the results of your next steps, as I'm curious, and want to learn in case this happens to me.

Well I found my problem. Whoever had the truck before me screwed up when putting the door panel back on. The wires for the courtesy light in the door panel somehow got inside the door and caught up in the window regulator.


The door wiring harness had been hacked up and all the tape and covering had been removed from it. I got a different harness from the junkyard and got it installed. I blew the fuse for the courtesy lights in the process so I need to get that replaced and see what happens. But I am almost 100% sure that I found my problem. Guess I didn't trace enough wires to begin with! Haha

Sent from a Galaxy, far, far away.

Lot of work on your part to dig into this and (hopefully) solve the problem. Sounds like you are the kind of guy that once you find a problem, you don't give up until you figure out how to solve it.

And, having the lights and that sort of stuff work properly is important to enjoying the truck.

Ironhead said:

Lot of work on your part to dig into this and (hopefully) solve the problem. Sounds like you are the kind of guy that once you find a problem, you don't give up until you figure out how to solve it.

And, having the lights and that sort of stuff work properly is important to enjoying the truck.

Click to expand...

Yea it was getting very irritating but I just had to figure out where my problem was. If I wouldn't have figured it out it would have drove me crazy! Haha

Sent from a Galaxy, far, far away.

Man, poor regulator! Does your window still work properly?

Glad you got it figured out!