sal826

Well here's a new one (at least for me). My interior courtisy lights will not turn off. I checked the dash dome switch, each door, and the hatch - none seem stuck. The only thing I did was pull the car out of the garage and washed it - that was it! Now the only thing I can do is pull the fuse to turn it all off to save the battery. By any chance do any of you have an idea what's going on here?

TIA

BlackbirdZ07

Common C4 problem... the water from when you washed the car caused the problem. It lubricated the pin on one or both plungers of the door switches. Look at your switches, one on each door at the lower rear corner. If you look closely at the end of the plunger (the part that gets pushed in when it contacts the body of the car) you'll see that there is a small round head that actually contacts the body of the car. That head can be pushed in or pried out. Probably some water got in there and allowed it to be pushed in too much, which makes the plunger too short, which doesn't close your switch when you close the door.

With a small flat blade screwdriver, pry out the pin on the each switch slightly. The first time you close the doors, they'll get pushed in to the right length.

gbrtng

The plastic switch bumper in the sill sags from the force from the switch. My caveman fix is to shim the bumper with a couple layers of duct tape so the offending switch switches.
But first make sure with the door switches pushed completely in that the interior lights go off. The hatch switch can cause the same problem. And I've never had any trouble with water ...

sal826

Thanks for the info. The only door I opened was the driver door, but I checked both to be on the safe side. I first opened the driver door and pushed the door switch/plunger all the way in, but the light still did not shut off - I did the same thing on the passenger side with same results. This leads me to believe it's not the door switches. I'm wondering if the hatch has anything to do with this?

VetteMed

If it was a door switch, the light should shut off anyway after 10-15 mins. The hatch switch, however, will cause the light to stay on indefinitely... That's where I'd be focusing my attention.

Also, make sure you didn't accidentally turn the dimmer to maximum, as this will activate the interior lights.

sal826

So basically your saying there is an automatic shutoff which will kill the interior light even if I had my door opened (after 10 minutes) - I did not know that. So where exactly is the hatch switch located - I have an idea, but I'm not sure.

sal826

Update - it looks like is was the hatch switch. I just pushed it a few times and closed the deck - then the lights went off. Must be a ghost or something.

Thanks.

VetteMed

glad you got it localized.

The CCM has a timeout for the interior lights, when activated by either door. Unfortunately, for some reason, this timeout does not exist for the hatch.

Goldcylon

ADD a rubber vaccum nipple to the hatch glass striker. Adds a little rubber tip to the end of it which engages the rear hatch switch fully. Works great. You can get an assortment on these nipples in the help section at any autoparts store.

VetteMed

Good idea Daryll.

Goldcylon

Thanks thats what I have to use. Its a common C4 issue.

michaelgaure

Glad I found this thread just got a 90' hatch back and interior lights wouldn't shut off.

Was the key cylinder on the Door!

Thanks Again

ZR-71

Glad I noticed how old this thread was as I had thought Sal sold his Z a couple years ago

michaelgaure

yea pretty old thread really am appreciative though. I have never owned a vet and I never would've thought the lock cylinders could be at fault