lighting problem

[hodgson316]

ok here's my problem....my interior lights (dome and map lights) are starting to piss me off. When I turn my dome switch to door (so that the interior lights turn on only when the door opens) the lights will stay on in the car whenever I stop. When i drive they will turn off, but as soon as I come to a stop sign, stop light or park my car... the damn things will turn on!
So i have to keep my dome switch to off and unplug my map light so that it doesn't kill my battery.
Also that little "door open" light that is on the gauge cluster doesn't light up when the door is open and all of the power in the car turns off when the key is out of the ignition (radio used to play and wipers used to go back into the original position when the key was taken out of the ignition). Any help would be appreciated

[b2089]

Your car has theatre dimming and other computer controled lighting. The biggest cause of gremlins in that case is, beleive it or not, ground issues. First check your batter for corrosion, then check the chasis ground and the positive wire to wherever it goes (can't recall if it goes to starter first or alt).

A possible explanation is that at idle it's normal for power to drop a little within specs due to slowing RPMS turnig the alternator. If the ground is bad then the power is already a little low or irratic and it confuses the sensitive electronics. When the car is turned off it runs completly off the battery of course and if the ground is bad then the battery may not give it what it expects so the built in battery minder cuts all unnecesary power. It thinks the battery is dying perhaps so it cuts power to save you a jumpstart.

[hodgson316]

cool thanks for the quick reply! i've already bought a new red top optima battery and new terminals so i'll check the other things you stated, i'll let you know how it goes. Thanks again

[01se2door]

I have the same exact problem with my dome light. in door position it comes on at stops so I also just have it off all the time. Did checking the grounds help? could it be a loose connection to the BCM? ( i read something about that earlier in another thread) I was disappointed to see this thread stop. I WANT ANSWERS. Help.