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Interior light won't turn on w/ open door

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Old 05-06-2017, 11:25 PM
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Default Interior light won't turn on w/ open door

Hey guys! So i'm new to this. Just bought a 96 Grand Cherokee Laredo. It ain't perfect, and one thing thats up w/ it is that when I open the driver's side door, the interior light doesn't come on. It only happens with the driver's door. All other doors work. Does anyone know how i can tackle this issue?
Old 05-07-2017, 08:06 AM
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Tackle it by checking the button switch on the door pillar.
Old 05-07-2017, 09:28 AM
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Originally Posted by 97grand4.0
Tackle it by checking the button switch on the door pillar.
okay so i just checked that and nothing happens. Could this just be a wiring issue? How do i acess the button's wiring and connections?
Old 05-07-2017, 10:35 AM
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Okay, IDK about how jeep does it, BUT GM cars have a button that just presses into the hole and is held in with spring clips. Just grab it with pliers and it pulls out. The wire on the back turns on the lights when grounded. Because jeeps do this with the BCM, they may be different. Do your lights fade out or do they just go out?
Old 05-07-2017, 06:40 PM
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Just take the screw out and the sensor with wire will pull out. You can test the sensor with a multimeter on ohm setting, just touch the leads to the two metal contacts on the back. It should measure open circuit when the button is pushed in and 0 ohms or short circuit when the button is out. If it doesn't do that the sensor is bad. If it does the problem is either the ground connection to the chassis with the screw or somewhere in the wire to the body control module.
Old 05-07-2017, 06:56 PM
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Originally Posted by gturbo7
Just take the screw out and the sensor with wire will pull out. You can test the sensor with a multimeter on ohm setting, just touch the leads to the two metal contacts on the back. It should measure open circuit when the button is pushed in and 0 ohms or short circuit when the button is out. If it doesn't do that the sensor is bad. If it does the problem is either the ground connection to the chassis with the screw or somewhere in the wire to the body control module.
Thank you for the info! I will try that tomorrow and get back to you about it. Thanks again!
Old 05-07-2017, 06:57 PM
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Originally Posted by dave1123
Okay, IDK about how jeep does it, BUT GM cars have a button that just presses into the hole and is held in with spring clips. Just grab it with pliers and it pulls out. The wire on the back turns on the lights when grounded. Because jeeps do this with the BCM, they may be different. Do your lights fade out or do they just go out?
The lights just go out, no fading.
Old 05-07-2017, 08:37 PM
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Okay, that tells me it's probably not controlled by the BCM, but used by the BCM for alarm purposes.
Old 05-08-2017, 06:39 AM
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It was this very problem, a bad driver's door ajar switch, that had me tearing apart my alarm system a couple weeks ago.

KUDOS to GTURBO7....signs up on his first post to answer someone else's question and nails it. Well done and welcome to the forum.
Old 05-08-2017, 04:55 PM
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Agreed!

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