My 96 FW is doing something new, the interior lights stay on. The go off 10 min after the door is shut. I tried the light control knob with no success. Any clues as to what is happening ? ?

Thanks

When you say you tried the light control, did you try the Twilight Sentinel slider? That controls how long the interior lights stay on, in addition to the delay for the automatic headlights, it seems.

I wish there was an easy way to make the interior lights work like a normal car, or at least go off in a few seconds. I really don't care to illuminate the whole area for such a long time after opening a door at night.

I wish there was an easy way to make the interior lights work like a normal car, or at least go off in a few seconds. I really don't care to illuminate the whole area for such a long time after opening a door at night.

They do go off like a normal car. Right now they shut off after 10 minutes because of the safety timer. This timer will eventually shut off power to prevent battery drainage if say someone left a light on or a door cracked open... normally they stay on for about 30 seconds and shut off, and shut off immediately when a door closes with the ignition ON. Your twighlit sentinel switch/timer controls only your exterior lighting. With twilight sentinel engaged the sensors will detect the irradiance outside and switch on headlights automatically if needed and depending how far the slider is to the right or left will determine the amount of time the EXTERIOR lights will stay on after the car is parked and turned off... this feature is intended to illuminate your surroundings in the dark to allow you to easily enter your home.

I had the same issue with my 95 with the interior lights and I fixed it the way a couple of guys on the impalassforum did. It is very weird and I have still not thoroughly looked at the wiring diagrams as to why this happens. In the trunk, on the trunk lid where the latch mechanism is, there is a white, round, male plug with a braided stainless steel wire coming out the end of it. Usually I am not one to say this, but rip that sucker right out of there! This not only fixed my interior light problem but it also did nothing to make any of the systems operate correctly.

I replaced the headlight switch, same problem, all interior lights stay on until system shut off. Now I'm considering removing the doors panels to find which switch in the door is bad. Does that seem right to anyone. Is the switches in the door controlling these lights ? ? I started looking on the door jams but there is no "button", so a friend suggested that they must be inside the doors. Has anyone done this before and what am I looking for once I'm in the door?

Thanks - Hap

Do the lights stay on when the car is running and all doors shut?

Do your doors lock when the car is put into drive?

The lights stay on when the car is running, and the door do not lock when the car is put in drive
Thanks

Last week someone had this problem.

Check the link below. There have been doubters to my solution of disconnecting the retainer on the problem door, but over 1 yr and no problems.

In looking at the circuits, I think moisture from humid air or rain causes this retainer (which has an electrical comnnector for the security and interior lights) to get grounded. While in drive acts as if one of the doors is open (hence your lights staying on and the auto door locks not lockin when put into drive). When you turn the car off, everythin on the RAP(retained Accessory power) circuit (radio, power windows etc) would not stay on (like when you open your doors, the radio shuts off) For me this problem started intermittently, but got worse when the nights would cool down enought to create extra condensation.



http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/rwd-19xx-1984-deville-fleetwood-1985/123327-95-fleetwood-interior-lights.html





Actually I had the same problem. Lights on while in drive. Locks not auto locking etc. Does your alarm go off when it is humid or rainy?



My problem was the lock cylinder retainer which has a two wire connnector. These are no longer available through the dealer, however, you can simply unhook the wire going to it and things will be.



A quick diagnosis: While the car is running, have someone shut all four doors, when the interior light goes out (after the offending door is shut) you'll find your problem.[/quote]

I like it all, especially the diagnosis that will save me from removing all four door panels, I just can not figure how to do it. Could you please give me more detail how to do this with the car running ? The process of shutting the doors?

Thanks

It's as simple as giving the doors a good slam. Sounds hokey, but that's how I narrowed down which door had the problem. I ran through every test (the CCM/Body control computer) etc. I was thinking that maybe one of the wedge switch/latches were bad.....so I figured that maybe slamming it might loosen something (since the problem seemed intermittent and a hair trigger would set the problem off).

The manual does talk about connectors having corrosion which could cause problems.

Has your car had any paintwork..if so check that side first. Somebody replaced a door and had similar problems.....

Thanks, Of course its raining now and the car is at the shop that put in the headlight switch. But I will get on it and get back to you. And yes the car did have a paint job prior to my purchase.

Was it due to damage? Which side? Did they remove anything on the doors before painting?
If it were one side, due to damage, that is where you will need to look first.

If you know that it was definitely one side and not the other, go ahead and pull the door panel. then pull the connector off of the lock retainer for that door. Close the door (careful with anything hanging.) Start the car .

First let me state that i did try slaming the doors, and that did not work for me, (I wish it had)good try. In a local "bone yard" I found a 93 FWB with the door panels removed from the two driver side doors, and I realized that I don't have a clue what the switch look like or where it is at. I think it is the black box that the handle rods, and lock rods connect to. If that is it, how do you remove the box from the door frame? ?? Loook to be rivets in it ? ? Any how I purchase a panel tool to remove the clips, and this car give me a good ideal where they are located. Am I looking at the correct switch, darkness terminated the project for now.
PS Did I mention that the windows don't down after the ignition switch is turned off. I was sure this happened when one of the doors was opened. I think its all associated together.

The switch/connector is on the door lock retainer. It holds the key cylinder tight to the door. On the retainer is an electrical connector. Reach into the door as if you are going to remove the key cylinder, there you will find it. Unplug it, shut the doors, and start the car. If the problem goes away, you found your door...tape the wire connector to the crash beam (away from the path of the window) If the problem doesn't go away then it is the other side.
It appears that the connections may be corroded enough that the slamming of the door won't work. I was hoping to save you some time, if this was something that just happened. 50/50 shot at getting the correct one. If you do happen to take the wrong door panel apart, you may want to look and see if your window track sliders are the oval shaped ones that break, this way your taking the "wrong" door apart is not in vain. Get the round rollers that go in the track and change them before the oval ones fail.

First let me state that i did try slaming the doors, and that did not work for me, (I wish it had)good try. In a local "bone yard" I found a 93 FWB with the door panels removed from the two driver side doors, and I realized that I don't have a clue what the switch look like or where it is at. I think it is the black box that the handle rods, and lock rods connect to. If that is it, how do you remove the box from the door frame? ?? Loook to be rivets in it ? ? Any how I purchase a panel tool to remove the clips, and this car give me a good ideal where they are located. Am I looking at the correct switch, darkness terminated the project for now.
PS Did I mention that the windows don't down after the ignition switch is turned off. I was sure this happened when one of the doors was opened. I think its all associated together.

Yes the windows not going down after you turn off the ignition is tied in withe the RAP system (retained accessory power) what happens is that this connector is closing the circuit (as if you were unlocking opening the door). Worse than having the lights on while driving and the doors not locking and unlocking automatically and the radio not staying on, my alarm was going off intermittently in the middle of the night. I'd go out, shut it off and 10-15 minutes later it would go off again. Sometimes the alarm would not go off at all at night. Disconnecting the battery everytime I left the car was a nuisance too. I went through every test in the shop manual that would be tied in with the problem....It was by dumb luck and a little frustration... that the slamming door trick narrowed the problem down from the whole car to one door. In your case it may be 2 doors, but at least you don't have to go through the whole car!!!

Again, my solution sounds hokey and I wish the slamming door thing would have narrowed things down better for you.

Today I unpluged what I thought was the plug leading to the lock/latch on each door. No results, lights still on. If this switch is by the latch area / lock cyclinder area how the heck do I replace it. My hands don/t seem to be able to fit in such a tight space ? ? I guess I keep pulling plugs apart. Is it possible that there is a relay for this? ?

Thanks

I would have to look at my book to see if there is a relay. It is a tight fit, I know. If I recall there is a crash beam right where the plug is.

I kept the part the part in question, but I put it away in one of my "junk" drawers in my garage. Does the latch have a "plunger" like switch with a rubber tip attached to it? Did you push on it to see if it is not stuck?

The cylinder retainer is discontinued, which is the other part of the problem that I ran into.

Since you have the panels off, I would make sure that the window track rollers are the good ones. and clean the terminals of any of the connectors in the door (I do this on all of my cars if I'm doing repairs)

In a previous post, I had asked if the car had any paintwork/damage to one side over the other...is this possible?

Did you remove the switch from the trunk latch yet to see if that worked?

Based on the interior lights being on while in drive, the door locks not auto locking or unlocking and the RAP not working as it should would leave me to think that its somewhere in the doors.

I don't have my car here to test this out. If you start the car and then shut down, the RAP will allow you to open the trunk, correct? When this is done on a properly working car, should the radio shut off when the trunk is opened and the doors remain shut? If I recall, the trunk release stays active like the radio for about 10 minutes, if the trunk is released, I did not think that the RAP would shut down until one of the doors was opened.

The only possibility that I can think of is corroded connectors in the door locking/unlocking setup ( this would include but not be limited to the wedge switches and any other part that is involved in opening/closing/locking the doors.)

I'm still waiting to hear back to see which side if any had body work/damage etc. This could be the key as to where to start.

This is frustrating for me to say the least:
1.) I have been through this. Went through every single thing in the manual remotely related to the problems.
2.) Changed parts that did not solve the problem (The CCM, remote receiver, wedge switch, even the trunk lock release )
3.)While the manual is helpful, I only saw a small blurb about corroded connectors causing the issues mentioned above in one little section. This should be mentioned as a possible cause for any system that is even partially exposed to the elements or the extremities of temperature.
4.) I did clean almost every terminal in that car, but it was the disconnecting that stupid lock cylinder connector that solved the problems for me. (No more intermittent alarms at 2 am, RAP system works, auto lock/unlock and E brake release work, No more interior lights on while driving!!!)
Sure wish I could get my hands on it and get the problem solved....

Ok, here we go, the entire car had a paint job prior to my purchase. I did unplug the switchs in the trunk, I also unpluged all the connector in each door. Lights still stay on. . . but there is a sign of hope, after unpluging the trunk plugs the lights blinks on and off, and even stayed off till there was some vibration or some sort. I have not pin point that yet, and I must visit at the hospital now. The playing with ignition, doors, or the the car vibration make the lights blank..
Caddycrusier posted in 2007 a link to a Internal Light Relay, AC Part#1550448, I wish I knew where that was at too.
Thanks again - Hap

The lights blink with slightes virbrations, and I think I have isolated it to the trunk lid area, the trunk release is disconnected upper and lower connects, still blink with trunk lid movement. I kept fooling with the wires that lead into the hinge and the lights now will not come, not matter what I do. :-) oops I think I blew a fuse or something, I find out in the daylight whats going on.

Plug in all the connectors to the doors at this point, check the lights with the vibration that you had indicated. Do they stay off until the vibrations?

Remember any connector that you disconnect, look for corrosion. Clean and use some dielectric grease.

Good New and Bad News - Good News everything works the way its should, Bad News, I don't know what I did to fix the problem. In the trunk lid, part of the white wire was pinched on the lid body, I also shaked and pulled on the connectors in the trunk that are behind the back seat. The lights was blinking off and on, then all of a sudden everything went dark (it was late last night and all the door switches where disconnect), and I could not duplicate the problem regardless what I did. Everything I touched would not make the light come on or blink again. This morning I connect one door to test and everything works as it should. One thing it was not in the doors, its outside in the wiring, in the trunk I would guess. Oh, and I had all the plugs disconnected in the trunk and the lights where on and blinking.
Those track rollers for the windows had been replaced, I connected all of the doors, I have one door open I had to reglue the bottom plug. But last I tested every door workd find and the lights stayed off.
Thanks for the longs hours of support and brain-storming.
For what its worth, Last night I had a dream that I was working in the trunk and I fixed the problem while working in the trunk.
Thanks again for being there - Hap

Based on what you described, I had exactly the same problems. I am sorry, it seems I set you on a wild goose chase... Ironically I had found my old latch part and was going to post a pic.

I am glad everything worked out. One thing is certain....jiggling wires seemed to be the common way to isolate the problem...mine in the doors and yours at the trunk....

:2thumbs:


Thanks again - Hap