Engine Compartment light

[eg30.06]

Hey guys, on my 95 Chevy my engine compartment light flickers if I hit a bump with the hood closed so I unplugged it from the harness temporally. Now Ide like to figure out why it's not working properly so I traced the wires and I didn't find a switch to turn it on and off. What controls the light???

 

[twomanymontes]

I really don't know how it works, but there is something in the lamp assembly itself that works with the hood angle.

 

[df2x4]

Yeah, if you're talking about the one in the silver housing that just hangs over the engine on the hood there's some kind of internal switch in there that senses the angle it's sitting at. The one on my truck is very sensitive and will stay on if I park on too steep of a hill. It used to be stuck on for a while, but I tapped it a few times lightly with a rubber mallet and it's worked fine since. Percussive maintenance!

 

[Dr.Zoom]

I've read they're problematic and can leave you with a dead battery. The bulb was out of mine when I got it and I kept it that way and just use the retractable corded light.

 

[eg30.06]

Thanks for the replys all! I'll start looking for a new one then

 

[badazzbulldog]

its a mercury switch like the old style thermostats for home heating furnaces

 

[hiredgun8]

Mercury or ball bearing. Either way you can bend it just slightly to make t work right.

 

[someotherguy]

its a mercury switch like the old style thermostats for home heating furnaces

Mercury or ball bearing. Either way you can bend it just slightly to make t work right.

This, and this. No big mystery to them and they're generally very reliable. Bend it a little bit at a time while raising/lowering the hood to see how sensitive it gets to activate.

Richard

 

[eg30.06]

Great I'll try bending it and see how it works. Thanks