I have a 1995 Dodge Caravan le which is in perfect condition throughout. But recently the interior lights stopped working when the doors are opened and when the keyless entry thingie is activated. The overhead lights do work when manually pressed but the dashboard switch that is supposed to turn them on when in the far right position doesn?t do anything. If I hold the drivers door open and push in the activation button on the door jam, I can hear the relay clicking but nothing happens. My mechanic said he thinks it might be a bad computer part and will only charge me $400 to replace it but didn?t really want to. I can?t find a fuse for the interior lights so don?t know where to go from here. Would really appreciate any suggestions.
With a failure so minor like this and a vehicle “older” like it is I would simply live with it and save your cash.
Open your door drivers door and look for a switch…it may be a little pinpoint type or a lever…these get corrosion on them and then dont ground out when the door is open…you can usually unscrew these switches and get to the back of the switch …clean it…The other thing you can do is open the door find the switch and push it in with your finger and let is SNAP out under spring tension do this several x…that method usually breaks up corrosion for a while enabling the switch to send a ground pulse to a relay… check it… on both doors…you may find the passenger door switch works and the drivers doesnt.
After looking at some service information for your vehicle it does look like the lights are controlled by the BCM module so your mechanic may be correct about the cause of the trouble. The IOD fuse in the distribution panel under the hood provides power to the BCM and other things like the radio and cluster.
You should be able to find a rebuilt BCM at a cheaper cost or buy a used one from a salvage yard for a lot less money.
Does your dash control turn the lights on when you put it all the way left? If so I would just live with it.
He said that doesn’t work either. If it is not the fuse, then it is probably the BCM.