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Interior lights won't turn off

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Old Jun 27, 2009 | 08:51 AM
  #1  
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SC Interior lights won't turn off

04 RX-8gt MT no navi
I have had the car for over a year, had an issue with the room fuse 10 months ago. Dealer replaced sunroof motor, pinched a wire causing the room fuse to blow (left rear sail panel). They made the repair under warranty. All has been ok until now. 2 nights ago, I saw that the interior lights were stuck on ( dome, 2 map lights, both door lights). To avoid a dead battery, I pulled the room fuse. I am a mechanic, but work on semi trucks, so my knowledge of car troubleshooting is not up to date. Reinstalled the fuse to hopefully diagnose, checked pdm for a relay but found nothing to do with interior lights. I rechecked the repair to be sure this had nothing to do with my issue now. I also checked the door ajar light on the dash to be sure that the pins were working properly. with doors open it is on, with them closed it is off. Keyless entry lock button pressed, doors lock but lights do not go off. I removed the battery cable, to possibly reset the system, this solved it! After driving 50 miles home without problems, got out of the car, lights were staying on again. I would guess that there is a relay or something that causes the delayed off with dimming but am clueless what to check now. I am a single father with 3 boys, no child support, so a dealer repair/diagnosis is out of the question. Any help would be great and appreciated. Thanks everyone!
Pete
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Old Jun 27, 2009 | 02:09 PM
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There are no relays in that particular circuit, so it can't be that.
Have you checked the actual switch for the lights?
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Old Jun 27, 2009 | 02:57 PM
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Charge your battery and remove the room fuse when you park the car.

Good luck finding the problem. I'm yhinking its a door switch.
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Old Jun 27, 2009 | 04:53 PM
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Originally Posted by Razz1
I'm thinking its a door switch.
I would have never considered that!
Good one
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Old Jun 27, 2009 | 05:20 PM
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well you could also flip the switches on the map and dome lights as to be in the "off" postion. Not the "door" position. It won't really do anything, but it's one less light to have on if you forget to remove the fuse. I assume you've checked and the trunk is not open right?
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Old Jun 27, 2009 | 08:29 PM
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Yes, the trunk is closed and the door switches are working properly, as the door ajar light is on when doors are open, but light goes out when they are closed. Any ideas what might control this circuit? I am guessing it would have to be a timer/relay or in some control module? does anyone have a wiring diagram for this ?
Thanks
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Old Jun 27, 2009 | 08:42 PM
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When you close the doors an the lights stay on are you able to lock them with the remote?
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Old Jun 27, 2009 | 08:43 PM
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ooops never mind I just read ur first post
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Old Jun 27, 2009 | 08:45 PM
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I have a similar issue with my 05, But I know i have a short somewhere in my center console wires
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Old Jun 27, 2009 | 10:50 PM
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As long as I don't pull the room fuse out, keyless entry works, other than the lights, there are no other signs of problems. I have checked the pins on the rear doors, guessing that they are for the front doors. With the key on, pressing the pin, I can hear a clicking inside L & R rear door as well as a relay (or something) in the right dash (airbag control?). I do not see any pins for the rear doors, but there must be as the door ajar light on the dash stays on with the pins pressed with rear door open. ? Hmmmm.
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Old Jun 27, 2009 | 11:02 PM
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one more question do the lights stay on if you are outside of the car and its running?
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Old Jun 27, 2009 | 11:51 PM
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Is your trunk closed?
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Old Jun 28, 2009 | 10:02 AM
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Yes the trunk is closed. The lights are on, engine running or not. I pulled the neg battery cable off to reset it yesterday, surprisingly, it didn't work (it did the other day). But, i retraced my steps, remembered I had the ignition on when I did it the other day. I turned on the ignition removed the cable for about 5 mins, and it reset. Everything was working well again. I had to go shopping yesterday, by the third store, they were sticking on again.
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Old Jun 28, 2009 | 12:51 PM
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My car dose the same thing I have my door switches replaced an that didn't work, My lights would kick on while I was speedin down the highway an the door ajar light would turn on to so when I got home I sat in the driveway and played around with my seat an learned that I had to set it up to put pressure on the center console that's how I found out I had a short in the wires
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Old Jun 28, 2009 | 06:16 PM
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soundls like a short to power!
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Old Jun 29, 2009 | 10:28 AM
  #16  
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Ok, I had some time to do some research. I was about to purchase a subscription to alldata for $27 and saw a link at the top of the page for autozone.com . On a hunch, figured I'd see if they had a discounted price through the site, as I have been unable to locate a repair manual with wiring schematics. To my surprise, after signing up (Free), they have repair manuals for all amkes and models. Everything, including tsb's and recalls. I checked the diagram and found that the trigger for this "Door" circuit is the keyless entry unit in the right kick panel or behind the dash, I will try this and let you knoww how it goes.
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Old Jun 29, 2009 | 09:21 PM
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Ok, here goes, thanks for all the input, I was able to track down the issue. It was a poor repair by mazda before I got the car last year. They replaced the sunroof tracks and motor, but I had no invoice because it was being done at the eime of purchase. after pulling upper and lower left sail panels in the rear off, I unplugged the main lead going up to the dome and map lights and the problem stopped. After searching the wiring, found that at the map light assy, there are 4 lighting wires that were smashed and rubbing the sunroof motor mount. Repaired the wires and reinstalled. Once again, thanks for the speedy response, my baby means alot to me!
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Old Jun 29, 2009 | 09:36 PM
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Lucky I still need to remove my front center console and find the loose wire......I got it under control for now tho
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Old Jun 18, 2010 | 11:43 PM
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Similar problem on my '04.

the door ajar light stays on after i shut all the doors. when the doors are open, the door ajar light is brightly illuminated like normal, and then once i shut all the doors, the door ajar light dims, and stays dim until i open the doors.

any idea's??
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Old Oct 21, 2010 | 02:42 PM
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Hi guys - Sorry to revive an old thread but I was doing some research before posting a new one and found this. I have an '04 M/T with about 26k miles (no sunroof) and recently began having a similar problem as mentioned in the OP. My dome, door, and glove compartment lights stay at all times. I can turn off the dome using the switch but when on the "door" position they remain on. The door switch appears to work properly as the door light is off when the doors are closed and on when open. I was hoping to get some help as I don't know where to start looking.

Thanks guys!
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Old Oct 21, 2010 | 04:54 PM
  #21  
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just to update, my car hasnt been doing it in a long time now...it only lasted less than a month. i didnt change anything. not even a bulb. kind of just went away on its own.....hmmmm
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Old Oct 21, 2010 | 07:00 PM
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it could be the lock switch. Get in the car and make sure your lock both doors. If the lights stay on I would be looking into the mechanism in the lock that controlls the lights.
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Old Oct 23, 2010 | 04:35 PM
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Thanks for the reply guys, I've had this happening for nearly a month now. I'll check the lock switch, the lights do stay on when the car is locked or unlocked. They also stay on whether the car is on or off and with the doors open or closed. Basically they do not go off at all.
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Old Oct 23, 2010 | 06:41 PM
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have you tried to do any mods? played with the wiring at all?
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Old Nov 8, 2010 | 03:34 PM
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Sorry for the delayed reply guys, I was away. I do not have any mods other than some LEDs (Break lights, side markers, interiors). Thanks.
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