1969 Interior Lites Won't Shut Off

[Mark A.]

Hi,
All of the sudden my interior lights will not shut off. I have pulled the front door switches. The left front turns the buzzer on and off when I push it in, so I know it is working. The right side switch looks fine. I would think the light switch would be the other source of power to the lights. Before I start tearing the dash apart, I thought I would ask if anyone else ever encountered this problem? Where should I look first? Thanks, Mark

[Jim T.]

Re: 1969 Interior Lites Won't Shut Off

Is your headlight switch turned all the way counter-clockwise?

[Rich P.]

Re: 1969 Interior Lites Won't Shut Off

Mark,

are the dash lights on also?

If not it is most likely in the jamb switches. This requires the help of someone else open both doors and and manually push the door swithches in and watch the lights if they go off it is a matter of adjusting the switches by how far you screw them in.

Rich

[Mark A.]

Re: 1969 Interior Lites Won't Shut Off

Yes I have turned the switch all the way off. The dash lights are not on, just the courtesy lights. Do you know if the courtesy lights are tied into the alarm circuit anywhere? I just finished hooking up the alarm. The last thing I did was hook up the ground wire to the frame of the alarm horn as per the wiring diagrahm. The door switches look good. Mark

[Chris L.]

Re: 1969 Interior Lites Won't Shut Off

Check your fuse....on some of the older cars if the fuse blew out the interior lights would stay on. Never quite figured that out, but have solved the problem many times like that over the years. Learned it from an old mechanic I worked with.

[Mark A.]

Re: 1969 Interior Lites Won't Shut Off

Chris,
I checked the fuse, and it is good. Guess I may have to tear the dash apart. Thanks, Mark

[Jim T.]

Re: 1969 Interior Lites Won't Shut Off

Mark if you search the archives you may find some help.
Entry by Jack Humphrey on how the switch adjusts.
Hooking up the horn ground has provided the ground to activate your interior lights with the doors closed.

I assumed for years that the wiring for the alarm was in the switch for the door ajar, and was wrong. I don't have a factory alarmed C3.

[Wayne B.]

Re: 1969 Interior Lites Won't Shut Off

I had that problem with my 71. Drove me nuts looking everywhere. I pulled the door switches and found a chafed wire where it was rubbing against something in the door, resoldered it and wrapped it with electrical tape to keep it insulated. Guess it had been grounding out and acting like it's own switch. Don't know if that's your problem but hope that helps. Electrical problems are heap of fun tracking down aren't they? Nine times out of ten it's something simple though.

[Jack H.]

Re: 1969 Interior Lites Won't Shut Off

Yep, that's the common cause... The circuit path is power to/through lamps, to/through switch to ground. Any insulation breach along the path(s) from the lamp(s) to the switches making spurious contact will cause the lights to stay on.

So, will door jamb switches that aren't adjusted properly and defective HL switches...

[Tom S.]

Re: 1969 Interior Lites Won't Shut Off

I agree I found a chafed wire on the right side of my 69. Check your wiring. Tom