Cabin Interior Light

[samdazz]

My Camry 96 LX automatic; is giving me hard time to find out what is wrong with the interior light. When I open any door, it comes on, but sometimes it doesn't and after couple of days it fixes itself and works fine. I checked all 4 door's courtesy switches and they work properly. I checked them when light is working and there is no flickering or sparking at all. Sometimes light works properly and sometimes it is out for days and then again it comes back. Any suggestions on what to look for? I don't know a lot about interior of the cars so please guide me where to look for a relay, fuse, wire etc.
Thanks a lot
Sam

[Mike Gerber]

First check to see if the interior bulb is just loose in the socket. Giving the light assembly a slight tap when it's not coming on should be sufficient. If that fixes the problem, great. If not try step 2. You need to locate the driver's door courtesy switch. Pull the rubber covering up from the bottom. It will expose a 10MM hex head bolt. Remove the bolt and pull the switch out far enough to access the back of the switch. Leave the wiring attached. You do not want to disconnect the wiring as it will fall in to the door. You will probably find the back of the switch and the spring are all rusty. Use a wire brush to clean everything shinny clean. Also clean the threads of the bolt. The bolt grounds the switch to the body. Apply dielectric grease to the back of the switch and spring area to prevent the rust from coming back. Vasoline will work in a pinch, but dielectric grease is better. Now reassemble the switch back in to the car. Go around and inspect/clean the other 3 switches. This should only take about 5-10 minutes for each switch. Most likely this will solve your problem.

Mike

[samdazz]

I'll try your method.
No matter which door I open, interior light does not lit up. Some times it lits up with any 4 of these doors with no problem. This car has a history of doom light fuse changed in 2005. Does that plays any role in this problem? What other options are there to check? Where are these fuses located at?

[marc780]

what do all the switches have in common, answer = the dome light. Is it possible you have four bad switches? Yes but very unlikely - so i'd have a look at the connections to the dome switch. you may have to remove some of the headliner, carefully as the headliner is easy to damage. Check the connections, clean em if need be like mike said, maybe a spring is loose inside the dome light connector or something.

Or maybe just get a new dome light housing, a junkyard would be cheapest, and wire it in and see if maybe this will fix your problem.

[Mike Gerber]

The more I thought about this problem, I realized I forgot to mention to check the doom light bulb itself for a broken filament. I have seen bulbs have broken filaments, that sometimes make contact and sometimes don't. Shaking or tapping the light housing may cure or even bring on this problem. It would be best to check the fixture's bulb contacts with either a simple 12 volt test light or a digital volt/ohmeter if one is available; when the light is both working or not working. You may even want to just replace the bulb for a few dollars to eliminate that as the possible problem.

Mike