Door ajar / Dome light not working

Discuss any maintenance you've done to your Vibe & Matrix and ask how to perform maintenance on your vehicle
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Jking
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Feb 02, 2018 9:04 am
Location: Canada

Door ajar / Dome light not working

Post by Jking »

Hi folks, I recently purchased a second hand 2009 Vibe Basic model 1.8l. I noticed that the dome light and the door ajar warning light do not work. I do have the dome light set to door. It does not matter which door I open. I tried a search but can only find issues where the light stays on. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
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joatmon
Posts: 10018
Joined: Fri Mar 21, 2003 5:19 am
Location: SMC MD

Re: Door ajar / Dome light not working

Post by joatmon »

First off, welcome to genvibe!


I can't speak for the 09-10's, I have an 03 and only have wiring info on the 03-08s. However, on the 03-08's, both the dome light itself and the door ajar light in the instrument cluster are both powered by a DOME fuse. So, the first thing I'd try is to check the DOME fuse. Looking at the 2009 Vibe owners manual, page 9-40, looks like its fuse #26 in the engine compartment fuse block. If you're lucky, that's all it will be. Otherwise, I got nothing

DO the interior lights light up if you switch them from door to on?
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Jking
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Feb 02, 2018 9:04 am
Location: Canada

Re: Door ajar / Dome light not working

Post by Jking »

Thanks for the reply much appreciated :) I checked the fuse and it is good (thanks for the number). The dome does turn on when I switch it to on.
New update though. So about an hour ago I had the rear left door open (no lights or door ajar warning) and was feeling between rear left seat and the side pillar. When I pushed the plastic pillar all of a sudden the dome light came on and the door ajar warning. I then closed the door and opened it again and it worked. I went around and all the doors now work apart from the drivers door. So am I correct in assuming there is a loose connection somewhere behind the pillar? I hope that makes sense.
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joatmon
Posts: 10018
Joined: Fri Mar 21, 2003 5:19 am
Location: SMC MD

Re: Door ajar / Dome light not working

Post by joatmon »

It does sound like some connection in there is either loose, as that is obviously not the way its supposed to work. I don't know how involved it would be to take off the trim to see whats going on.

For the driver door, there is a switch int he door jamb, maybe either the switch is not working or perhaps its somehow disconnected. Given the other loose connection problem, I wonder if the previous owner did something involving removing the trim and somehow messed it up.

Other than the inconvenient dome lights, how's the car treating you?
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Jking
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Feb 02, 2018 9:04 am
Location: Canada

Re: Door ajar / Dome light not working

Post by Jking »

I did notice that when I put pressure on the top of the two non working switches that they do turn the dome light on and illuminate the door ajar light. My guess is that the contact points on them need to be cleaned. I will try to remove the switches and clean them up. The car was great but just had transmission bearing issues diagnosed. Will have it fixed and should be good to go but definitely unexpected.
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