dome lights

[robmedina]

the very thing that caused me to find TRS was my search for how to fix my dome light that stayed on all the time. When I bought my Ranger 4 months ago, the guy said he took the bulbs out because the light stayed on. There were also no lights in the dash except for one all the way to the right and down- I think the fuel tank level was illuminating.
I did a search and the majority of people said to spray electrical contact cleaner in the door latch area because that is where the switch is.
I never did and had been using a flashlight to see what I am doing after dark....until yesterday!
2 days ago I bought MAF cleaner, Throttle body cleaner and electrical contact cleaner to clean my MAF & IAC. I sprayed some electrical cleaner in the doors, opened and closed several times and then put the bulbs in and the light still stayed on. I tried opening and closing several more times and sprayed a few more times and nada, the light stayed on. So I figured I did not have the simple solution- oh well.
Well last night, out of severe boredom (and my daughters boyfriend came over so I wanted to get out of the house) I went out and put the bulbs in and closed the door and WHALA the lights went off!!! So apparently the spray took some time to work, but they work now!

 

[strvger]

excellent!! if it had not, i was going to suggest you check the ground where the fixture is in case something had loosened there. lots of good info at this site for sure.
welcome to TRS!!

 

[rtg143]

WD40 works better in the latches. Glad you got it going.

 

[Mac]

It seems to be a very common problem, had it on my '98' and the WD-40 finally did work. Bought an '03' and noticed the same thing, not knowing the light was on a time delay due to the after market alarm/remote start.
Dave

 

[colby450xc]

I dont think the dome light has anything to do with the actual latches. It is a button that is compressed with the doors are closed that turns off the dome light. Pretty sure that button is on the front door jam, look at the parking brake then turn your head to the left and u should see it.

 

[Mark_88]

Congrats on the fix...I've been trying to figure out why my dome light doesn't come on with the light switch when you rotate it all the way to the left...and why the cargo light doesn't come on for the driver door but it does for the passenger door...wiring is from an 88 2.0 litre combined with options (like cargo light) from an 88 2.9 engine...the 2.0 didn't have a cargo light...

I haven't really looked at the wiring in the dash because that means pulling things apart...but they usually are simple fixes...eh!

 

[robmedina]

I dont think the dome light has anything to do with the actual latches. It is a button that is compressed with the doors are closed that turns off the dome light. Pretty sure that button is on the front door jam, look at the parking brake then turn your head to the left and u should see it.

I looked all around and there is no external button. I don't really know where they are in the latch, so I just sprayed the crap out of it and that fixed it.