Nicholas Colt

I have a 2004 S that I recently purchased. When I bought it, the interior lights never worked. I was surfing online and bought an LED kit, just the replacement bulbs. I got the in and I finally got around to looking at it and the first thing I check, obviously the fuse was blown. I wanted to see if the LED bulbs fit so I put a few in but didn't have a new fuse yet. Got a new fuse and I put it in and the lights came on. They stayed on and I replaced a few more of the LEDs. I noticed that at one point the lights had gone off in the back and I did something for them to come back on and the rear passenger reading light over the door was dim and flickering lightly. I touched the dome ligth switch up front and the rear reading light miraculously came back to full power. I then took the key out for some reason and when I put it back in the fuse blew again. (side note--- my driver's side door recognition switch does not work, so it doesn't know when it is open)

The next night I tried putting another fuse and it immidiatly sparked and blew. I tried doing it a few other times with the key in and out and a few different combos and ran out of fuses. I got a few more and went out tonight and opened the door and without doing anything tried the fuse and sparked and blew. I moved the dome light switch all the way to the right and put a fuse in and all the lights came on. (except for the two on the rear gate down on the bottom). The switch on the dome light works to turn it on and off. However, now all of the rest of the lights stay on, even when I lock the car or start driving (the backseat reading lights on each side, the lights at your feet on both sides in the front, the light on the roof over the cargo area). I could turn off the dome light with the switch. I had to pull the fuse to end for the night.

Another side note is, I also got new LED license plate lights (not just the bulbs). They are the full light and fixture that plug right into the wiring clips for the original. They worked and never tested in drive. I was out and about the next night and got back in the car and the dash flash "check license plate lights" when I turned on the headlights and put it in drive. The lights were coming on in park but then when it was in drive they would shut off. I took out the fixture on the left and plugged in the old one and all of the sudden they both worked correctly.

I know this is random and I probably should have not started switching to LED until everything was working as is. I also am familiar with the melting probelm with the dome light (map light) switch. I think that is my first step, but any help or ideas would be great.

Petza914

LEDs do not have anywhere near as much resistance as the incandescent lights do. This is why you see a lot of people who have switched their turn signals to LEDs and the blinkers are fast-flashing like one of the bulbs is out. What's happening with the license plate lights is when both LEDs are in place, the bulb control module is not seeing enough resistance from the LEDs so it throws the error. When you put one of the regular bulbs back in, it does see enough feedback resistance, so both of them work since each light is not monitored separately. The only solution for the license plate lights is to add a resistor to the wiring so the control module gets the proper resistance feedback to eliminate the warning and keep power flowing to the LEDs.

On the interior, you have a short somewhere that is causing the fuse to repetitively blow. You're going to need to find the source of the short on that circuit before you can go any further with the inside lights. Since you say your driver's door switch, doesn't work, I'd actually start there. Moving the console switch all the way to the side is probably the full on position where it circumvents the pin switches for the door lights and why the fuse doesn't blow in that position. When you move the switch back to the courtesy light position, those door switches are back in the circuit and the short causes the fuse to blow.

Also remember that LEDs only work in one direction. Once you get the lighting working with the normal bulbs, if you put in an LED and it doesn't light, take it back out and put it in the opposite way.

The flashing of an LED is also possible when the control module doesn't sense proper resistance or when current is leaking to that circuit. It's not enough to light a regular incandescent filament that has more resistance, but is enough to trigger the LED and it starts blinking.

You might find that the regular lights are just fine to avoid all the headaches associated with retrofitting LEDs.

Nicholas Colt

Thank you very much for the explanation and advice. I read somewhere the door switch was a separate part than the latch, but I have not been able to find it. I also read that there was a repair kit for the melting dome light switch, but can not find it. Any idea on those?

Petza914

The switch that turns on the interior lights is definitely integrated into the catch in the door. I just did a test on my 957 and if I open the door, then manually close the catch on the end of the door that grabs the striker when it's closed, after 30 seconds the interior lights turn off. That's with the overhead console switch pushed to the passenger side position (center is off & driver's side position is on all the time).

Can't help you with the melting dome light issue you mention.

RKD in OKC

When I got my used 2005 CT sometimes the interior lights worked, sometimes they flickered, sometimes nothing. But never a blown fuse. Found about half the lights had been replaced with LEDs. A couple of them had resistors poorly soldered in. Replaced the 2 messed up receptacles and the LED bulbs with regulars. Interior lights all work properly now.

Well, all except for one rear hatch light. I wacked it with my palm Fonzy style, it came on and has worked properly since.