Dome light staying on after doors are closed and door open indicator not on

[alia176]

This is an interesting issue I'm having. My dome lights turn off after I close the driver door and activate the key fob to lock all doors. Cool, this is normal.

I unlock the doors with the fob and the lights come on. Another normal behavior.

However, I get in, close the door, then go for a drive while the dome lights are staying on. Now, this is weird. Yes, the dome light slide switches are on the DOOR position

I get out, close the driver door and the dome light stays on. I'm guessing the lights are timing out after half hour and turn themselves off.

All doors are closed and all door switches are working. How do I know this? The little red color door open indicator light in the instrument cluster is NOT on! So, the BECU knows that all doors are closed, including the hatch.

Another clue is that the puddle lights on the doors are turning off when the doors are closed, or the door switches are pressed in.

I did change out the center dome light bulbs to LED but I wouldn't think that'd be an issue. I can easily swap them back to test out this theory.

What am I missing here?

 

[alia176]

Seems like I stumped everyone!!

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[gaber6]

Dunno. I always forget to turn the dome lights back on after I clean the car and don't want the lights on for awhile. Yea maybe the LEDs have some effect?

Maybe a dirty connection on one of the dome switches. Spray some contact cleaner in there perhaps?

 

[alia176]

Dunno. I always forget to turn the dome lights back on after I clean the car and don't want the lights on for awhile. Yea maybe the LEDs have some effect?

Maybe a dirty connection on one of the dome switches. Spray some contact cleaner in there perhaps?

Remember the hint I gave up above about the instrument cluster indicator "door ajar" light that goes off when all doors are closed? This is why I know the door switches are working fine.

 

[Sabaka]

You mentioned in your post in the thread I started that you were looking for a wiring diagram. Here is a link to the diagram I found: INTERIOR LIGHTS – Toyota 4Runner Sport 2008 – SYSTEM WIRING DIAGRAMS – Wiring diagrams for cars

If the dome light should stay on for 15 seconds after you get out and close the door, but now stays on for 30 minutes, it seems to me whatever device is keeping track of time isn't measuring time correctly or whatever device is telling the timer to start isn't doing its job right. I didn't see anything in the wiring diagram about a timer circuit.

The LEDs are going to draw less current than the incandescent bulb. Maybe current is somehow related to the timer mechanism. I'd swap the bulbs out and see if it makes a difference.

 

[gaber6]

Right. Could be the LEDs.. but I said dome switch.. not door switch. There are a few times mine didn't function perfectly in their position and needed a few wiggles to get the right spot.

 

[alia176]

Right. Could be the LEDs.. but I said dome switch.. not door switch. There are a few times mine didn't function perfectly in their position and needed a few wiggles to get the right spot.

Ahhh, my bad. The dome switches are in good working order and the other clue I gave on my first post is that the dome lights DO shut off in half hour on their own.

 

[riceandpho]

i think the dome relay could be bad, or your door pin switch might be dirty. it only takes a few minutes to clean out and re-lube the pin switch at the door jams.

 

[alia176]

i think the dome relay could be bad, or your door pin switch might be dirty. it only takes a few minutes to clean out and re-lube the pin switch at the door jams.

Hmm, the dome light relay could be bad. Let me diagnose it and see what's up with it. The door pin switches aren't dirty. I gave a clue on my first post. The door open indicator in the instrument cluster shuts off when the last door is closed. This means the switches are operational.

Thanks.

 

[MikeinNH67]

Some of the relays in this car do seem to stick on. You could tap on the proper one to see if the lights go out when the lights are on but should be off.

 

[alia176]

Time for a quick update. I reverted back to the incandescent light bulbs in the dome light and the problem still persists. I'm going to do a more thoro testing when I have more time, but I don't think the LEDs are causing this issue. As mentioned previously, perhaps one of the relay is sticking or something.

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[riceandpho]

undo the door switch pins at the jam, check for frayed wired at the plug. very simple to do. I do suspect a bad relay, dome relay is at the engine fuse box.

View attachment 049007.pdf

 

[alia176]

If the door switches were bad, why would the "door warning" light in the instrument cluster turn off when the last door is closed? This has me scratching my head!!

I'll check out the dome light relay though, that's easy enough to do. Thx.

undo the door switch pins at the jam, check for frayed wired at the plug. very simple to do. I do suspect a bad relay, dome relay is at the engine fuse box.

View attachment 407355

 

[alia176]

the dome light relay isn't the issue, unfortnately. it checked out fine and there are two other relays that are idential I tried with the same results.

Here's how it went:
open door, light came on, closed door.
pulled out dome relay, light went off.
put in a diff relay, light came back on.

So, the relay isn't responsible for keeping the light on for 30min. However, the relay is being TOLD to keep the light on, which is coming from the BECU.

 

[riceandpho]

have you undo the dome light it self at the headliner? remove and check the wires and contact points. did you also happen to do any dome light mods? wrong wire might be grounded to the body? maybe the LED bulb is touching a part of the body.

to remove the dome light, undo the cover, then you'll see another 2 side cover piece, then you'll see 2 slots, that has tabs that hold the dome in place in the headliner, do not force pull. you'll end up damaging the headliner and dome light.

also you mention BECM, if you have water that leaked in there, that can cause a lot of issues.

also check if any work was done inside the fuse box area by the knee, any alarm/remote start installed. something could be grounded out,
2007 Toyota 4Runner, Compustar CS7502AS, Alarm Only

the dome light relay isn't the issue, unfortnately. it checked out fine and there are two other relays that are idential I tried with the same results.

Here's how it went:
open door, light came on, closed door.
pulled out dome relay, light went off.
put in a diff relay, light came back on.

So, the relay isn't responsible for keeping the light on for 30min. However, the relay is being TOLD to keep the light on, which is coming from the BECU.