How To Diagnose Dome Light and Door Jamb Switch 1992-2000 Honda Civic
Created on: 2013-12-20
This video shows how to inspect and test the interior door light assembly and the door jamb switch and also how to replace them if they are broken
-
step 1 :Testing the Interior Dome Light Assembly
- Place the switch in the "door ajar" position and open the door
- Open a second door to see if the light turns on
- If the light turns on, test the on button on the interior dome light
- Go to Step 3 if the interior dome light is working properly
-
step 2 :Replacing the Interior Dome Light Assembly
- Pry off the interior dome light lens by squeezing the sides
- Remove the bulb
- Insert the bulb into the light
- Press on the dome light lens
-
step 3 :Testing the Door Jamb Switch
- Peel back the rubber boot on the door jamb switch
- Remove the grounding screw with a Phillips screwdriver
- Test the ground with a test light
- If you don't have a test light swap the door jamb switch with another door and test it from there
-
step 4 :Replacing the Door Jamb Switch
- Connect the lead to the new door jamb switch
- Press the switch into place
- Insert the grounding screw to the switch
Tools needed
-
Test Light
Phillips Head Screwdriver
Brought to you by 1AAuto.com, your source for quality replacement parts and the best service on the Internet.
Hi, I'm Don from 1A Auto. I hope this how-to video helps you out, and the next time you need a part for your vehicle, think of 1AAuto.com. Thanks.
Here we're going to show you how to diagnose why your interior dome light does not come on when one of your doors opens. This is a '98 Civic that we have here. It's a four door. It's going to be pretty much the same diagnosing from 1992 through 2000 and for all four doors.
In this case our driver's side door is not activating a light, so we're going to start with the first place which is the interior dome light assembly. We're going to make sure that the switch is in the right position and that the bulb is still good.
Here we have the interior dome light assembly, and you can see the switch on the side here. It's got three positions: off, door ajar, and on. Clearly it's not going to be on when you open the door in off, and door ajar it should be on right now because our driver's door is open. Let's test it with the driver's rear. When you open that, okay, you can see that the door has activated the light. We'll shut it and it shuts it off. In the on position it stays on. We've clearly got an issue unrelated to this, more possibly to the door. If it doesn't turn on at all when you turn the light switch on, it's easy to replace. You're going to remove the lens to get to the bulb by squeezing it and pulling it down.
Locate your bulb and pull it out. Replace it with the same bulb you can get from an auto parts store. Put the tabs in and reconnect it. All right, so we already know that the light bulb and the interior dome lamp assembly are working. Let's take a look at the door jamb switch located down here. You can see that our door is open right now. The lamp isn't on. The switch is in the correct position. We're going to peel back the rubber here. You're going to locate a screw. This is actually the grounding screw, so it's important that this is here. This is what grounds the switch to the body. We're going to go ahead and remove that, and we're going to check to see that we've got good ground. You can see here this is in really good shape. There should be no issue with the ground. This could probably develop some rot or rust over time, but in this case, it's okay.
Here you see our switch, and you've got our power lead here that's connected correctly. When the switch is out, and when it's grounded, it should illuminate the light, allowing the electricity to pass through. Let's just check and make sure that we're getting power here. We're going to do that with a test light. I'm going to connect this to something I know is a good ground, and then I'm going to go ahead and hit this tab here where the power's coming in. You can see from our test light, we do have power, so that's a good thing.
In the case that you don't have a test light to test like we just did, you can always swap the door jamb switch from another door. It's the same switch, it's just located a little bit higher here on the rear. We got a new one from 1A Auto that we're going to use to test. I'm going to slide the electrical connector off.
See, we got the new switch from 1A Auto. I'm going to put that in. I'm going to go ahead and screw it in. Then, as you can see, the dome lights come on. The issue was with the door jamb switch.
We hope this video helps you out. Brought to you by www.1AAuto.com, your source for quality replacement parts and the best service on the Internet. Please feel free to call us toll-free, 888-844-3393. We're the company that's here for you on the Internet and in person.
How to Replace Rear Dome Light Bulb 2008-12 Ford Escape
How to replace a rear dome light assembly bulb on 08, 09, 10, 11, 12 Ford Escape
