Interior light question

[Rob P.]

Ok, So I bought the little woman her 4Runner and now she's complaining that the interior courtesy lights don't light when the door is opened. The map light works on the switch so I know the bulbs are good.

I don't have immediate access to the truck since I'm in 1 city and she's in another that's 130 miles away (don't ask, it's complicated and work related).

The result is that I only get to see the truck on a very limited basis and don't have a lot of time for fixing things that are broken. I need someone to point me to any "known error" on this circuit or to a starting point to diagnose it.

2002 with the V6 & automatic. 2wd only. I thought it was a sport but apparently it's an SR5. Only mod I know of is that the PO replaced the original radio with some Kenwood POS.

So, where do I start looking?

 

[zacattack20]

The only light that comes on when the doors open is the center dome light. If you are asking about the front map lights by the rearview mirror then those dont come on when the doors open.

 

[Dezert4Runner]

There's a plunger/ sensor thing on each door. They do break. I had to replace 3 of them somewhat recently. I got them off of a partout in the classifieds section. Easy fix.

 

[jsukey]

Haha, how ironic! As long as I've been on this forum, and I've never even read about this problem...I start having the same problem and get on here to ask around, and find your post on the first page! The crazy thing about mine is, my '02 is at 160,000 miles. I've really only used it as a work truck for the last 6 years so hardly anyone ever rides with me. The passenger seat looks slightly worn while the back seat looks brand new. I thought it was weird that all of my open door switches started going out at the same time. If I grab the switch in the door jamb and wiggle it, the light comes on. Where it has bitten me has been different though. Whenever I unlock the doors with the remote, the truck will automatically lock itself back a couple of minutes later if one of the doors were never opened. Locked my keys in my truck twice because of that so far! Unlock doors, open door to get something out, set keys down, retrieve what I was looking for, shut door and walk off, truck locks automatically...instantly stranded!

 

[Rob P.]

Haha, how ironic! As long as I've been on this forum, and I've never even read about this problem...I start having the same problem and get on here to ask around, and find your post on the first page! The crazy thing about mine is, my '02 is at 160,000 miles. I've really only used it as a work truck for the last 6 years so hardly anyone ever rides with me. The passenger seat looks slightly worn while the back seat looks brand new. I thought it was weird that all of my open door switches started going out at the same time. If I grab the switch in the door jamb and wiggle it, the light comes on. Where it has bitten me has been different though. Whenever I unlock the doors with the remote, the truck will automatically lock itself back a couple of minutes later if one of the doors were never opened. Locked my keys in my truck twice because of that so far! Unlock doors, open door to get something out, set keys down, retrieve what I was looking for, shut door and walk off, truck locks automatically...instantly stranded!

Mine does this too. I think that the computer is set to keep the doors locked as the default mode. But, if you open the door with the key it doesn't do this.

 

[TheDurk]

Mine does this too. I think that the computer is set to keep the doors locked as the default mode. But, if you open the door with the key it doesn't do this.

But the self-locking program is normally canceled when a door is opened. It is really a protection against a random unlock from a freak radio wave or matching fob in a garage. Of course, the body ECU uses the door light sensors to trigger this so if the door lights don't work, HOLD ON TO YOUR KEYS!

 

[jsukey]

That's where I screwed myself. It was right around the time the problem had started. Hadn't quite sunken in yet!