I have a 97'runner and my rear dome light won't come on when the hatch is open and switch is on the door pos.The bulb is fine cus it works in the on position.My alarm is wired thru the door pins and dome light and I can't seem to find it-maybe in the lock?? I've read other similar posts and also tried past remidies(clean light with elec contact cleaner/silicone lube lock mechanism)and still no dice.The guys at Toyota(5 places) have no clue and were of no help..Any ideas? Thanks ya'll!

 

The manual for my 2001 4Runner shows it inside the liftgate, I'm guessing it's a mercury tilt switch. I would think a 97 would be the same.

 

It is not a tilt switch, out of curiosity I searched for it one day, it is connected to the latch mechanism somehow, if you close the latch with a screwdriver the light will go off no matter what position the tailgate is in. The light is controlled by the rear door window relay (that relay box controls the wiper/dome light/keyless entry/rear window/defrost, and probably other stuff too that I cannot think of, lol. Hope that helps in your search for a solution.

 

Thanks dibble I really appreciate the insight. It all seems to make more sense now..I'll check it out first thing in the morning and see if I can either remedy the relay or just replace it.