Do the interior lights on a 1988 C4 Corvette Coupe stay on as long as the door or glass top is open?

Asking as I'd like to display the car at shows with the doors open but am concerned this vintage vehicle doesn't have automatic shut off if doors remain open as the new vettes apparently do these days.

 

Just find the fuse that controls the interior lights and pull it.

 

The courtesy lights in my '96 will go out after several minutes with the doors or hatch open, but I'm so new to the world of C4's I don't know if your '88 has the same feature. That said, it'd be easy to test on your car, and if you're hooked to a battery tender during this test then you won't experience any electron anxiety while you wait.

 

Thank you everyone. I think I'm going to create some wedges that will keep the door light switch plunger compressed if I can get the proper door bars.

 

just pull the CTSY fuse

 

I would rather not have to re-program the radio and clock after every show.

 

Replace those bulbs with LED's and never worry about it again. And while you're at it, do the underhood lights as well. It's always fun at car shows when people get very concerned and tell you your lights are on! Actually a good conversation starter.

 

Using the "Timers" product I created a circuit board that allows you to solder the leads of the Timer product to it, labeled by color. The circuit board mimics the factory one so it can slide back into the factory mount. I've been enjoying theatre dimming, auto turn-off and my C4 battery never goes dead anymore between drives; turns out the old module was defective and drawing the battery down. I added a small switch to activate the module's programming mode so you can setup the car how you want it to behave using your phone's web browser, labeled "CFG" on the back side. It's really a neat solution. The factory circuit board is very strange with dimensions that sometimes just do not make sense, but I persevered and made it 100% plug-n-play with the car's connector.

The factory module holder is sort of an odd design, literally using masking tape to hold it to the car. I designed a custom case for the Timer module and circuit board so so they both fit inside. The case was designed for injection molding potential for a true plug-n-play product. As it is shown 3D printed and installed in my car now it works fantastic. The Timer module and circuit board all fit inside and locked in place by the cover.

The factory dimmer module is heavily documented here: C4 Corvette Courtesy Lights Dimmer Module if you desire more technical information.

Honestly, just tonight, someone else commented how nice my lights function, something I get often.

I was in discussion with one of the big Corvette supply houses to sell these, and they were ready to purchase and include in the next catalog, but life got in the way so I'm still sitting with quite a few of those circuit boards waiting for Timer modules and possibly cases. I had quantity purchases of the Timer module in place and was working on the molds to make the two-part clamshell case and then my ability to continue funding this project was suddenly curtailed greatly. I've had this module in my car since 2020 and there literally doesn't go a day when I don't appreciate it. I know it's silly, but there is something soothing about it and how it upgrades our elderly vehicles. If anybody cares to solder the Timer module themselves I might be interested in selling a few of the circuit boards, sure makes it a LOT easier to install! Send me a private message if interested.

As mentioned in another posting, I also replaced all of the interior lights with LED which makes for an even warmer environment. If anyone wants I can go video the effect in a C4, and post it on YouTube.



This is one of the early "test" runs of the case, with minor tweaks it looks better now, and what I ended up installing in my car. I feel bad that nobody ever gets to see the end product that took so much time to build. This case included a small loop to use quick-ties and tie it to the car, unlike GM's masking tape.

 

BTW, this is what the factory module looks like, including the masking tape residue that used to hold it to the car

 

I might add that if you use the Timer module you will discover that the interior lights do in fact turn off automatically after XX number of minutes with the door(s) left open, and you lose the ability to open your rear hatch using the door switch. Once the timer module has turned off the interior lights as the doors have been left open you must use the rear hatch open button in your center console, the door switches are deactivated when the interior lights are off.

 

Those modules are genius. I use one as a power antenna delay for my aftermarket head unit. Otherwise it will raise the antenna everytime the car starts and then promptly stows it if I am not using the Am/fm tuner.

I considered using one of those modules for courtesy lights like dkirk, that 3d printed case is super cool!