[sisham]

Hi all,

I have a 1996 Cherokee Country. Starting a couple of days ago, the interior dome lights won't turn off when I shut all 4 doors. I carefully reshut all doors and made sure that the dome light switch on the headlight pull handle was not turned on. I have sprayed WD-40 on the switches, in case they were sticking and they don't seem to be.

In the meantime, I have pulled the interior dome light fuse so my car is not illuminated all night long and to save my battery. The only sucky thing is that is the same fuse as the stereo...

Replacing the door jamb switches the first thing I can think of since they're cheap, about $7 a pop. Before I do that, does anyone have experience or suggestions?

[sisham]

Before buying 4 door jamb switches, I decided to try to isolate which door jamb switch went bad. All switches should not go bad at the same time.

I put the fuse back in and then with all other doors closed, I pulled the switch in the driver's door. Since the driver's door is used the most, it is most likely to break. No change - interior light still on.

Then I pulled the rear, left-side door jamb switch, the light goes off. Eureka! I checked the switch and it seemed fine, put it back in and now it works. Perhaps, the switch was loose or something, who knows, I really don't care. Now I have proper working interior dome lights and stereo. Yeah!

[Guswut]

Good stuff man! My '96 Cherokee Country is currently running sans dome light as that fuse blows after a few days of being replaced. The electrical in my Jeep is SUCH a mess I'm surprised it drives. That's what I get for buying it for 1.8K$... No piece of mind at all!

[sisham]

Guswut,

Have you also checked fuse #19 (20 amp) in the engine compartment panel? The interior dome lights/stereo/electric door locks also use that fuse, in addition to the fuse in the passenger compartment by the brake pedal. The engine panel fuse was an issue for me in the past. You may also want to check your stereo connections and fuse on the stereo power (red) wire.

[AZ Jeff]

Originally Posted by sisham

Before buying 4 door jamb switches, I decided to try to isolate which door jamb switch went bad. All switches should not go bad at the same time.

I put the fuse back in and then with all other doors closed, I pulled the switch in the driver's door. Since the driver's door is used the most, it is most likely to break. No change - interior light still on.

Then I pulled the rear, left-side door jamb switch, the light goes off. Eureka! I checked the switch and it seemed fine, put it back in and now it works. Perhaps, the switch was loose or something, who knows, I really don't care. Now I have proper working interior dome lights and stereo. Yeah!

GOOD DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUE!! Glad it worked out for you. Just be prepared--that switch may flake out in the future again...