Dome light issue

[RyanM]

Hi,

I have an 02' Explorer with an odd issue with dome lights.

To start off, I also have a door ajar issue, probably one of the switches, but don't really care enough to worry about it since it doesn't seem to affect much.

The issue I have with the dome lights is that it seems as it seems like there's a loose/damaged wire somewhere, but I'm not sure.

If, for example, I come out in the AM and try them, they don't work, but after driving for a bit or going over a notable bump, they'll start to work. I've also noticed, that sometimes if I just hit the fuse panel under the driver side dash, it'll come on.

It also seems(I might just be crazy) that sometimes if I go to the high-current fuses/relays and I hit that box a bit, then the dome lights will also start to work.

Once they start to work, they usually work for a bit(or after turning them off/on a few times, they'll stop, requiring another hit under the dash to get them on). But, it seems, after the vehicle sits for a bit, hitting under the dash seems to become pretty ineffective.

I'm not too vehicular-savvy, but I've spent a fair amount of time under the dash checking fuses, trying to look for any broken wires, etc. Just wondering where exactly I should start looking for bad wires, or if this is a fairly common issue.

 

[TechGuru]

Do you have a aftermarket alarm? They're wired to the dome light for trigger and a bad wiring job of one could be causing a short.

 

[RyanM]

Do you have a aftermarket alarm? They're wired to the dome light for trigger and a bad wiring job of one could be causing a short.

Negative, though, if I recall right, there may have been a stray wire from something that may have been removed when the previous owner sold the vehicle. Then again, there's no obvious place anything would've been mounted, and the previous owner was pretty much a soccer mom, so I might just be imagining things.

 

[TechGuru]

Could be the dome light relay going bad...

 

[RyanM]

Could be the dome light relay going bad...

Already tried switching out the relay, no avail

 

[TechGuru]

Already tried switching out the relay, no avail

Bad dimmer switch? or loose connection in it? All the way up forces on, all the way down forces off.

 

[D Hook]

Broken wire in the accordian door hinge area? That's what mine was when it did the same thing.

 

[RyanM]

Bad dimmer switch? or loose connection in it? All the way up forces on, all the way down forces off.

Doesn't seem so, it appears that hitting below the dash is the only thing that helps, though, occasionally, it does seem the dimmer doesn't want to fully activate and a slap in that area helps, but I suspect it's just the bit of vibration that may be doing it, and not the actual switch being bad/having a bad connection.

Broken wire in the accordian door hinge area? That's what mine was when it did the same thing.

Possible, but it does seem like it's probably under the dash, since even a light tap in some cases will get it back. Definitely has to be a wire, I believe, as today it was especially noticeable that it'd repeatedly flicker on and off on bumps and come right back after a tap under the dash. I guess it's just a matter of getting up under the dash and figuring it out. Fun.

 

[D Hook]

The wires that come through the door exit right there at the dash, near the light switch so it's not surprising hitting the dash in that area will make a connection maybe? It might be worth taking the door panel off and giving a gentle tug on the wires and see if find anything loose. Mine would intermittently come on and off when I closed the door. It's a pretty common problem on these Explorers. The wiring harness running into the door is just a tad short and stretches the wires, especially the black ground wire, IIRC. I found two broken wires when I opened up the harness inside the door boot that effected the dome lights, auto locks and the passenger side rear view mirror. If you do a search there's a bunch of threads about it.

 

[RyanM]

The wires that come through the door exit right there at the dash, near the light switch so it's not surprising hitting the dash in that area will make a connection maybe? It might be worth taking the door panel off and giving a gentle tug on the wires and see if find anything loose. Mine would intermittently come on and off when I closed the door. It's a pretty common problem on these Explorers. The wiring harness running into the door is just a tad short and stretches the wires, especially the black ground wire, IIRC. I found two broken wires when I opened up the harness inside the door boot that effected the dome lights, auto locks and the passenger side rear view mirror. If you do a search there's a bunch of threads about it.

Yeah, seems about right, the area where it's most effective to tap is right around the boot. Will have to look into that further.