gravy

my 86 runner dome light isnt working. hasnt worked since i had the truck. never really thought twice about it. after a while i forgot i had a dome light. today i started looking at it more, and found the bulb is fine, the wired are fine, fuses....fine. it sucks when i'm lookin for something at night, and cant see squat. any suggestions?

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MMA_Alex

flashlight?

if the wires, bulb, and fuse are fine then its the switch. one of those has to be broken or it would light up. got a multimeter? start tracing, and see if all the connections are good. If the bulb is good it should have some resistance, but not too much, a few ohms tops.

shoes138

go to the junk yard, n get another unit cuz mine did that only the ON would work and not the DOOR. so i went to the junk yard bought myself a new one n BAM fixed!

gravy

thanks, i gotta investigate more. i'll check the local yards. thanks again.

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MMA_Alex

figure out where the issue is first. get a multi meter and trace things. if theres a break in a wire putting in a new fixture wont work. dont throw parts at your problems, but instead diagnose whats wrong first, then put in the right part

javadoody

i 2nd the continuity test.
if it proves broken, check on ebay, you may find one that you know works.
anyone know if there an aftermarket that actually throws light? you'd think someone would have a fixture that was more directional--like a low profile RV.

dijlop

just had to throw my 2cents in. girl at schools got a switch that says dome on/off. i love turnin it on. gets a reaction everytime. *evil laugh*

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

Dome should have power all the time, if not check the fuse/wiring. If the ON switch turns it on, then power and light are OK. Door switches ground the light to turn it on. They often have blocking diodes at each switch (if you have courtesty lights in the doors). Wiring runs up the a-pillar, behind the trim.

gravy

thanks guys for your thoughts. i'm gonna hit it with the test light in the morning, if that proves to work, then the yard i hit.

MMA_Alex

theres a thread somewhere on here where someone used ricer colored lights to test how bright they'd be, and found out that the blue ones in the dome make it look real bright compared to stock, and make the light white, as opposed to the incandescent yellow.

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

Or drop in a 1watt Luxeon LED, very bright and 1/10th the power of the regular bulb:
http://taskled.com/dome.html