Toyota starlet 1996 dome light is not working

sumcyyxjum15, Mar 28, 9:24pm
Hi guys, I was wondering if any of you guys can help me fix my car dome light, It is not working at all. I switch on and off, open the door to see if it's on but no, none of it working. I have tried to change bulb and the fuse, nothing make it work. I've tried to search on youtube but all they suggested was to change the Fuse which I did.
The fuse box in my car look something like this http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee100/texx10/EP82GTfusebox.jpg

Would be really appreciate it if anyone could help me to fix this.

ceebee2, Mar 28, 10:42pm
You need to see if there is voltage using a voltmeter at the bulb terminal +ve side. If yes then remove the door switch and make sure it is earthing properly. If no then check the dome contacts very carefully for melted plastic. You can still use the voltmeter to check for continuity through the fitting. If all those checks are good then issue may be somewhere in the loom. Check the easy stuff first.

frytime, Mar 28, 11:07pm
properly crook switch in the light

howz_that, Mar 29, 2:09am
Girlfriend also has a 96 starlet that had same issue. Worked out that the scrw that goes through the light fixture wasn't earthing to the body due to corrosion in the thread. Remove the screw and clean up with a wire brush, spray some crc up the threaded hole and reinstall screw.

sumcyyxjum15, Apr 2, 9:04pm
@howz_that: thank you very much. That is exactly what happen to my car dome light as well. After pulling the dome light out and have a polish with a fine sand paper, put it back, it works like a charm.
Although, I did check the voltage that come out of the socket and it says 12v and i check between the 12v (+) to the earth, it says 12v, therefore, must be the dome light swich it self, so i polish it with wire brush and sand paper around the screws and rusty part, put it back, it works like a charm.

Thanks to @Ceebee2 and @frytime too, you both are also right.

Glad its working now.

intrade, Mar 31, 6:03pm
its called a voltage drop if you did a propper voltage drop test there would have been like 3 volts before you did clean the high resistance points .
might be all sounding complex but that is what to learn how that works to find faults as these exact same faults are hidden in electronic cars making engines not run right with no check engine light or even no start and no comunications on the diagnostic port. all caused by the same problem you just fixed called high resistence corrosion in wiring and plugs