Dome light wiring

[Chuey]

The driver side dome light switch on my 1990 Doka works. The passenger side does not work. I'm trying to find out how to make the passenger side work.

The wire on the passenger side is not connected to anything. I tried hooking it up to a hot wire and that must not be the right way because it only sparked when I did that and the light didn't come on. Do I hook the wire up to ground and that will make it work? I'm not good with theory on electricity, though I do a good job of the physical connections when I hook up electrical components.

I tried searching this but had to go to google search because the search function isn't working on the site right now. I'd like to fix this tomorrow, hence asking here tonight, hoping it's a simple thing.

Thanks in advance for any help offered.

Chuey

[1vw4x4]

You should have 3 wires to every dome light. Power, ground, and switched
ground. When you turn the light on, power goes thru the light to ground.
When the door opens, (provided the switch on the light is in the proper
position) power goes thru the light, thru the door switch it ground.
Simple.....

[Chuey]

[madspaniard]

[crazyvwvanman]

I can't tell for sure if you are talking about the dome light switches or the door switches for the dome lights. There are more wires on the driver side, for both the dome light itself and for the door switch. Lets start with the door switches.

The driver side door switch has 2 wires because that switch does 2 things. It makes the dome light work and it also makes the warning chime sound if you open the driver door with the keys still in the ignition.

The pass side door switch only has 1 job and only needs 1 wire.

Both sides use the screws that hold them in place as their chassis ground connection so they won't work without that screw.

If you measure the voltage on the 1 wire for the pass side door switch you should get 12 volts or the switch won't do anything with the wire hooked up. To test this first make sure the dome light is switched to come on when the driver door is opened and go out when the door is closed. Then leave it switched that way, close the driver door and open the pass door. The light should come on again. If not, pull the pass side door switch and check for 12 volts on the pass door switch wire. If the door switch wire has 12 volts then touching that wire to ground should make the dome light come on. That is what the door switch does if the switch is working.

Mark

[Chuey]

Thanks Mark. I guess it wasn't clearly worded in my first post. When I read it, it sounds like what I meant but it must have seemed like I was asking about a second light. I was actually asking how to get the light (the only one, and it is above the driver's door) to come on when I open the passenger side door.

I thought I was hooking up the wire to power (it was just coiled up behind the dash by a previous owner). I'll try again.

Chuey

[crazyvwvanman]

Chuey, the factory dome light has 12v power 100% of the time. But it only turns on when it gets a ground connection too. That is what the door switches do for it. The door switches provide a ground when the door is open.

So the light has power to it all the time. But it has a 3 position switch. The middle position is "no ground" so the light is off no matter what. One of the other positions connects a constantly grounded wire so the light comes on no matter what. The opposite switch position connects the door switch wires to it so if a door is open that door switch will ground the wire and turn on the light.

Mark

[Chuey]

When I went out to try hooking up the wire, I realized that (I think) the female spade connector should have two wires coming off it. It has only one so nothing hooks it up to the light above the driver's door. I will need to see if the wire still exists - the one that goes to the light. I'm not very experienced at looking at wiring diagrams but it helped me get my BMW airheads working so I'll see if I can find out where the other wire goes.

Chuey

[creative native]

Chuey, I also recently solved this problem on my '86 Bus. When I opened the passenger's or driver's doors, the dome light would sometimes work and sometimes not. I removed the contact switches on the door jambs, cleaned them and lightly sanded the contact metal, which looked oxidized, but that did not seem to help much, so I just bought new contact switches from GoWesty and now the light comes on every single time I open either door. Good luck!