Dim dome lights

[Cynthia Grant]

Recently I noticed that my 2003 ST's interior dome lights were much dimmer than the accessory lights on either side of them (the ones that you turn on with the ceiling switches). Both the front and rear seat domes are equally dim. But since the bulbs are still coming on, I'm wondering if there's something electrical that could be going on. There aren't any other light issues that I'm aware of.



Anyone ever had this problem? Do those bulbs get dim before they burn out?



Thanks!

 

[Kevin Palmer]

If I am not mistaken, they are fed via a relay. If the relay contacts are dirty, then you can easily get less amps (electrical flow) to the bulbs.



As they are all equally dim, it is definitely something that feeds them.



Move the reastat that increases and decreases bulb brightness as it may have a spec of rust on the ring and cause the same effect..

 

[Cynthia Grant]

Thanks, Coastiejoe, for the info. I am not well versed on electrical systems, etc., but I can ask my mechanic friend to check out the relay contacts. What is the reastat? Not familiar with that term, unless you mean the switch on the dashboard that dims the dome lights. I did move that around when I first noticed the problem, but found that the lights were still too dim even on the highest setting.



Are the ceiling-switch operated lights on a separate relay? When you switch those on, they work fine (much brighter than the center dome lights). The only problem seems to be with the center lights in both the front and rear dome light groups.

 

[Kevin Palmer]

I did mean the switch on the dash...



Well,,, to some degree the lights would be wired differently.



The dome lights that come on when the door is opened are triggered by the door latch. In fact, now that I say that, that switch is a common failure area for the Trac. It may be where your problem lies but just hasn't failed yet.



The interior lights are wired directly via the switch you push (on the roof) to turn them on. So even if they are the same bulb, they are triggered by different means.



For that reason, it is plausible to have a dimness issue that is only apparent when the door opens for example as compared to you physically turn them on..