Interior Lights Staying On

[Weatherman]

I've seen other threads on this with no resolution, but...

Got back from Thanksgiving vacation, hadn't driven my '91 explorer in a month or more, pulled into the driveway in the dark and the interior lights were on! I know the truck hadn't been touched in several weeks, so the sudden nature of it really suprised me. Checked the dimmer switch and played with the doors, but guess I need to pull the door contact switches. Big question: what and where is the switch that triggers lights from opening the rear hatch? Anyone else know what is most likely to fail in this circuit?

Thanks,

Ben

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

I believe the sensor for the hatches is in the latches that keep it closed.

when I go to the drive in, I always keep the hatch up, but close the latch by hand to turn off the light. I want to say it's the left one, but I'm not sure.

 

[DeRocha]

The driver's door is the most common to go (because of the frequency of use).

The rear hatch dome light circuit is located on the drive's side latch. You can spray penetration oil (pb blaster etc) in the latch and manually work it back and for (open and closed) to help free it up.

For the door switches they are simple plunger switches that will connect the switch wire to ground when the door is opened. Rust can form on the inner contact causing the wire to be grounded out when the door is closed. Work these switches in/out to help free them up.. Only do one at a time and recheck the dome light to verify which switch is the problem.

dome light fuse #14