1990 Interior illumination

The inside courtesy lights, not the dash, but he overhead and door lights, are acting up. mostly at night , when i go over dips, use the brakes, turn signals, or high beams, the interior lights come on, then go off.

has anyone had this problem with their 90-93 Riv? Im hoping for $$$ sake that its a bad ground and not the BCM. but the BCM is easier to find.

The car has been sitting for a while, and I need to put a good charge on the battery to make sure that is not the problem. please post your comments and experiences with interior overhead lights.

I've never heard of this problem, but has this happened since you got the car, or did it start recently?

Do the lights come on for a specific amount of time, or does it vary?

Do they flicker or dim, or is it full on - full off?

Can you repeat the symptom over and over, or is it somewhat random?

Sounds like a loose wire on one of the door pin switches.

When the problem is happening i can repeat it over and over. however making it start is the random thing. I have only had the car a week so its been doing it the entire time. i noticed when i test drove the car that the interior lights stayed on the whole time. i figured since it had been sitting for months, that the relays had gotten moisture in them and would take some time to dry out and work properly. Im hoping that a weak charge on the battery was causing it, i charged the battery but havent had a chance to drive the car since to see if thats the problem.

i will also pull the door buttons to see if anything is loose behind them. there is a possibility that its loose on the passenger side where i can see some paint work has been done. id like to try everything thats cheaper than replacing the BCM first.

Also look around near where that paint work was done, to see if the wiring harness was spliced.

Does the DOOR AJAR warning come on also?

If so I'd suspect a general wiring fault or error. Folks who do body work are not necessarily electrical geniuses, by their own confession, although better body shops usually know where a genius is. My initial guess (worth what you are paying for it, of course) is if you both have lights coming on and DOOR AJAR lit when a door is not ajar is a mistake or failure in a wiring harness repair, a failed BCM, a very weak battery maybe (charged up now but with a bad cell - there's ways to tell), or possibly both the lighting and DOOR AJAR switches are bad.

If DOOR AJAR is not also on, I'd suspect the lighting pin switch. It's Delco D6052 (GM 3520112), Both GMPartsDirect.Com and RockAuto.Com sell 'em for less than $25 each. These same switches were used on the venture/silhouette/montana minivans (and the '05 Saturn Relay) thru about 2005, so you may be able to remove a fistful from the local pick-and-pull junkyard for a lot less than $25 per, take 'em home and test 'em.

Happy Electrical Fault Hunting

Albertj

no door ajar warning. and no chimes. just all of the interior lights coming on and off...

LIke I said above I'd suspect the lighting pin switch. You can check it for contiuity and problems by taking it out and testing it with a voltmeter. If you do not have such a meter they are about $10 - $15 at WalMart in the automotive department near the replacement headlights and stuff. You might need a helper to work on this - disconnect the switch from the wiring harness. While you are doing that, check for chafed/bare wires. You might have a wire that is scraped and touching another wire or the car frame - this could easily be all that is wrong. Next, connect the test probes to the wires that lead to the switch (meter set on continuity buzzer if it has one, or on Ohms if not). push the switch plunger and see what the meter needle does. When the plunger is not pushed in it should read zero ohms. When it is pushed in it should read infinity (just like when the door is open).

FInally, you might want to get a factory service manual - it will have trouble shooting guidance in case this is really a computer or other systems-problem, not just a switch.

Albertj

Today i got it back from having new rear brake lines installed. The brake warning lights take a while to turn off, and the antilock light will come on if you pump the brakes..

also, the significant thing is the Service Engine Soon light comes on after the engine is off and the doors are locked. the SES is not on while the car is running. its now been parked for an hour and the SES is still on..... a few weeks ago when i cranked the car, all of the warning lights stayed on till i shut it off again, and that hasnt happend yet. does that sound like a bcm, or something else now?

hard to tell, with a car that's been sitting. Could be crud in the brake lines... could be a computer... could just be corroded ground lines (this is more likely than you think).

Albertj

someone had mentioned that it could be bad ground wires. there is a little corrosion under the car, but not much. i would check all of the ground wires, but i dont know where to look for them all, i know there is one somewhere from the engine block to the body, one from the firewall to the dash, but have no clue how to check them to make sure they are clean with a good connection.