Interior Light Not Coming On When Opening Door

[Mike Wenrich]

On my 2004.5 2500 crew cab all the interior lights work except when opening the driver side rear door. I'm guessing something in the door latch triggers the light since I don't see anything else on the frame. Anyone know what to look for?

 

[seafish]

Likely there is a broken wire that runs between the B-pillar and the drivers side rear door.
The wire harness unplugs from the pillar and then you can push the loom back to inspect the wires.
The wire(s) tend to break from metal fatigue due to the repeated opening and closing of the doors and the cheaper wire that Chrysler used on the harness. Sometimes the wires do not even appear to be completely served through the insulation but in fact are broken UNDERNEATH the insulation...it is best to actually palpate each and every wire along its length with in the loom in order to FEEL for a hard/brittle section that is indicative of wire fatigue and is likely the cause of your problem if you do not actually SEE a broken wire,

Any of the broken wires can be repaired by properly cutting and splicing in a section of new wire, preferably a more flexible multi strand copper wire of the same gauge (the wire made for RC toys is an excellent choice) with solder and shrink-wrap.
That being said, the entire harness can be replaced if you have multiple wires that are broken and/or you do not have the skills to do the repairs your self.

FYI-- Dorman aftermarket parts offers a door harness that use a slightly more flexible wire then that used in the oem door harnesses though some people feel that their rubber loom is of inferior quality to the oem harness.

 

[Mike Wenrich]

Thank you. I just did not know where to start looking and this all makes sense as I have seen posts before that mention poor wire in the looms.

 

[Ozymandias]

Pull back the rubber, you'll see it at first sight.

 

[seafish]

Pull back the rubber, you'll see it at first sight.

NOT necessarily at first sight ... like I mentioned in my post, sometimes the wires break INSIDE of the insulation as the wire is more brittle and fatigues quicker then the plastic insulation. On my truck, I found 2 wires that did not look broken but I could FEEL the hard, brittle section caused by metal fatigue and they only broke open AFTER I pulled the wires in the harness apart to inspect them more closely. IMO, the break inside the insulation still allowed enough point contact of the wire to lower the window but not enough amperage to raise it back up again, which was EXACTLY my symptom.

All that being said, you are correct on that some of the broken wires will be obvious, just be sure to feel along the length of each of them to make sure there are no others about to break.

Just my .02

 

[jgillott]

It's definitely in the door wiring. I've seen them go on the B pillar side also, so you may have to search a little for it.

Where are you located, I have a guy here in Western PA that is a guru with these 3rd gen electrical problems if you can't find it.

 

[Mike Wenrich]

Thanks to all. When it quits raining I will check this out. Opened the door today and saw the rubber covering. Thought it was just for the locks, open door alarm and windows but it makes sense the door light would be in there somehow. Must be wired to the latch or handle. Gotta be a broken wire though.

 

[WalterJ]

Greetings; My Glove Box lamp was burned out, and it seemed to affect the lighting circuit logic. LED array in the overhead console also has an affect. I have to open the passenger vanity cover to turn on cabin lights. LOL I know it's funny, but long as something makes it work I'm cool with it.

I'll be posting my "Lamp Out" issue, now that I'm on a roll.

 

[jgillott]

Greetings; My Glove Box lamp was burned out, and it seemed to affect the lighting circuit logic. LED array in the overhead console also has an affect. I have to open the passenger vanity cover to turn on cabin lights. LOL I know it's funny, but long as something makes it work I'm cool with it.

I'll be posting my "Lamp Out" issue, now that I'm on a roll.

Welcome to the wonderful world of 3rd gen electrical systems. There was a while when in order to have dash lights in my 07, you had to have the high beam headlights on (only the passenger side would work) and the left turn signal......lol

 

[seafish]

You guys who are having odd 3rd gen interior light issues may want to try safely disconnecting both battery grounds for 15 minutes or so in order to force the ECM/TIPM or PDC/IPM or BCM (depending what year truck you have) into a "hard reset" back to factory parameters and see if that fixes your strange electrical issues. I know that on my 2005 when I was having the interior cab light stay on instead of shutting off, this process fixed it!!!

Of course adding LED light bulbs into the mix without also adding proper resistors to fool the BCM/TIPM into knowing that there IS in fact a lightbulb can definitely mess up what the control module is "thinking".

 

[jgillott]

You guys who are having odd 3rd gen interior light issues may want to try safely disconnecting both battery grounds for 15 minutes or so in order to force the ECM/BCM/TIPM (depending what year truck you have) into a "hard reset" back to factory parameters and see if that fixes your strange electrical issues. I know that on my 2005 when I was having the interior cab light stay on instead of shutting off, this process fixed it!!!

Of course adding LED light bulbs into the mix without also adding proper resistors to fool the BCM/TIPM into knowing that there IS in fact a lightbulb can definitely mess up what the control module is "thinking".

Very true. Unfortunately, my TIPM's (I'm on my 3rd one now) would never reset. It's worth a try though.

 

[WalterJ]

"...LED light bulbs into the mix without also adding proper resistors to fool the BCM/TIPM..." is, of course what manuf. guaranteed, eh. It's all good, still not willing to trade problems with anyone!