# 05 Sentra Dome Light



## djkid (Apr 2, 2008)

:wtf:

im having a problem with my dome light. its a three step switch. 1 - off, 2 - off but turns on when the door opens or unlock car. 3 - fully on. 

so when i put it to step 2 the light turns on. but not when i open the door. if i take it to step 3 it stays on like its suppose to. but if i take it to step 2 it still stays on. and sometimes it wont turn on . but if i open the door it still wont turn on.... what should i look for or where to test the wiring or which wiring should i look for fixing or vissual inspection.


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## Faja (Aug 31, 2009)

It's probably at the dome light switch itself. See if you can remove it from the headliner and check the contacts and the ground wires.


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## djkid (Apr 2, 2008)

ok so i did a test with a test light. when the switch is off. the negative lights up when grounded but when u go to position 2 or three the negative doesnt light up but the positive side lights up. im a bit confused there.


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## djkid (Apr 2, 2008)

also one of the screws that mount the light was used as a ground.


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## Faja (Aug 31, 2009)

djkid said:


> also one of the screws that mount the light was used as a ground.


If your switch is in the middle position #2 and the light is not coming on when you open any of the doors, try to locate the common ground for the door switches - that's the one that is probably loose. From your test results it seems like the switch itself is fine.


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## djkid (Apr 2, 2008)

ok when on position 2. the light lights up. even if the door is closed. or open. and doesnt shut off. either way.


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## djkid (Apr 2, 2008)

ok so i opened the side panel on the driver side. and one of the wire that was connected to the switch that is on the door that detect if the door is open or closed wasnt connected(guess when the first installer did my alarm took a connection from there) so i connected taht wire this was a red wire with white strip on it. but that didnt change anything. even when taht wire wasnt plugged in the system still detected when the door was open or close. there are three wires going in the switch. one if blk (ground) then solid red and solid red with white strip. the red with white strip wasnt connected so i connected it back. didnt make any difference. basically when the switch on the light is off there is power comming to the negative side of the bulb. but then switch on the light goes to positino 1 or 2 the negative gets no power but the positive side gets power. where else should i look.


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## Faja (Aug 31, 2009)

I believe it's a ground wire at the door level somewhere. Your domelight should only be grounded in the middle position when the door is open. See if you can trace how the alarm is set up for power and ground and you should find the problem. On my car the wiring harness for the domelight and map light run through the driver side A pillar - there is one power wire for both lights but two separate grounds, one for the dome and one for map - you can try taking the pillar off and see if there's anything there that might give you a clue.


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## djkid (Apr 2, 2008)

Ok so today i opened up the dome light. the side piller and more of my dash. 








Purple is the wire comming from the secu -(smart entrance control module) which is battery saver output. the red/white (R/W) is comming from secu for room lamp output. and black is ground. ( information regarding the wire came from the Service manual) when the switch is on ON the purple gets power and the negative on the bulb is connected with black which is used for ground. when the switch is on door position the negative of the bulb is connected with RW wire. meaning ground connectino is sent to RW connector. all the door switches work fine cuz when i open each door separately the dash boor light comes on for open door. im not sure where the SECU is. under my dash i saw a white box which is located behind the ignition box. and on the right side ( laying under dash looking up to wires) is a terminal box or thats what is looks like with a lot of wire connecting to others. so what else should i look for cuz the light still comes on when in door positino. also when i dismounted my light of the headliner. when on ON position it wont light as it wont get grounded as when u remove teh screw my the black line on the pic it looses the ground. but if u put it on the Door position the light lights up. as u can see in the picture i was looking at the service manual while trying to figure out. also i tried tracking teh purple and RW wire by removing the side pillar but wasnt able to see where it went behind the dash. as terminal box thingy was in the way and wasnt able to remove it. where else should i look or anyone has more info. i dont think its the door ground as the door switches are working since the dash know when the door is open or closed for all four doors. correct me if i am wrong. thanks for the Help. :wtf:


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## djkid (Apr 2, 2008)

Update got the Door switch checked out and they were fine. dont know where else the problem is.


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