Overhead Console on 1990 Grand Wagoneer

[WagonDriver]

One of the four dome lights in the overhead console of my 1990 Grand Wagoneer is stuck on, and will not turn off. It is the rear right one. How do I get in to it, even to do nothing more than remove the bulb? That may be at least a temporary fix to stop my battery from draining. Right now I have to disconnect the battery. Getting access to this light bulb should be an extremely simple procedure. But my local Jeep dealers tell me that their technicians have not worked on a 1990 for a long time, and no longer remember for sure how to do this. They have suggested that the console itself probably snaps out or down to give access, but were uncertain. I do not wish to take a chance on this and break mine. Does one of you know for sure? Thanks.

[Ristow]

there is a screw under one of the doors,and another in the front portion under the fabric forward of the compass display.

you can feel the hole through the fabric,and will then notice the hole in the fabric from when it was installed.

remove both screws,the console then is pulled straight back towards the rear of the car,off the mount bracket hooks,and is now fre.

[addicted]

Ristow is right again !

It is a little crazy to find another member with the same sticking light on an overhead console. My '89 has the same light stick on occasionally and even come on on it's own.

[ajminla]

Check out this website which another member directed me to.

http://www.thejeep.com/pilandcode.html

It shows how to get to the overhead console.
It's actually about getting into the Remote Receiver, but it's got the pictures that explain the posts above.

[WagonDriver]

Many thanks, Ristow, for letting me know how to do this, and thanks addicted and ajminla for the additional comments. You guys are great! It is amazing how easy it is to remove the console once you know how, and how impossible it is if you don't. I did get in to the light bulb and removed it. That stopped that problem.

But there is another problem that I did not mention before, so as not to complicate the issue. In fact, my rear cargo light is also stuck on, as is one (and sometimes two) of the lights just inside the front passenger and driver doors near the floor. My guess is that all these are connected. My hope was that if I removed the overhead light bulb that had a bad switch, the other lights would also go off. But they did not.

So I was able to find a replacement switch for the bad overhead light at the salvage yard, and will put that in next. In the meantime, I had also gotten from the salvage yard a replacement switch for the rear cargo light. It did nothing. Whether turned on or off, that light stays on. That is why I guessed that it (and the others) are connected to the lights in the overhead console. Perhaps when I replace the bad overhead switch, everything will magically fix itself.

[addicted]

It sounds like you have a bad door jamb switch or the dimmer switch for the dash lights and interior lights is having issues.

[WagonDriver]

Well, addicted, it appears that you are right. Thanks for the tip! I put in the replacement switch, which comes paired with the other overhead back light switch, and now both lights are stuck on. So this does look like something due to a door jamb switch not shutting off. I have had this Jeep for six years, but I never paid any attention to what lights come on when the door opens. Do you know which ones are supposed to?

My front two overhead lights do not come on when I open the door, at least now. Since only one of my back ones was stuck on, I assumed that it was a bad switch. But perhaps it is the other switches that are bad, and these overhead lights are supposed to come on when the door opens. Probably the back ones I just put in are working correctly in staying on, as if the door is open. On these, and on my old one I thought was bad, when you press the switch, the light does become slightly brighter. Then when you press it again, it just gets slightly dimmer, but does not go off.

[addicted]

The lights on the floor in front, the rear lights on the over head and the one in the cargo area come on when a door is open or when the dimmer next to the headlight switch is rolled all the way up.

[ajminla]

The lights on the floor in front, the rear lights on the over head and the one in the cargo area come on when a door is open or when the dimmer next to the headlight switch is rolled all the way up.

My lights all come on when the dimmer next to the headlight switch is rolled all the way up AND when the passenger rear door is open, but not when any of the other doors are open.

Any guesses at to what I should replace or check?

[addicted]

The switches in the door jambs like to corrode and freeze in the closed position. I would start by checking to make sure they are popping out when you open the doors and if they are unscrew them from the jamb and make sure the wires are connected to them and they aren't corroded as well.

[dflocks80]

I had a problem with the wrong lights coming on and staying on. Like mentioned earlier, start by removing all the door jamb switches, but do them one at a time as to isolate a problem switch if it does arise. The switches ground themselves to the metal door jamb of the car, so even if the switch itself is freely moving, it could still be bad.

Hopefully that will fix your problem. If not, I would pull back the carpeting on the driver's side (by removing the skid plate, which is only a few screws). Follow the wires that come from the fuse box and run under the carpet towards the rear. As soon as you progress behind the driver's seat, you should find a connection where 4 (I think) wires are interrupted by a plug. My plug was corroded (because my cowl drains were clogged, so I had some flooding problems when it rained). I bypassed it with butt connectors, and all my intermittent problems went away.

Here was my original post on it:

http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/showthread.php?t=111053

Hope it helps.

[WagonDriver]

The lights on the floor in front, the rear lights on the over head and the one in the cargo area come on when a door is open or when the dimmer next to the headlight switch is rolled all the way up.

This is really helpful to me. Thank you. I now have all my lights working properly, and none staying on to drain my battery. This is great. I could not have done it without the help of you knowledgeable folks on this forum. Your help is much appreciated.

[ghemi]

What about the fabric ??
How can I take away the screw under the fabric ??
I have to cut it ?? When I will replace the overhead you'll notice an hole in the fabric ??
How Jeep can install and fix the overhead without doing any hole ???
I need to remove the console, but I don't want to cut or break the fabric

Thanks
Mike

there is a screw under one of the doors,and another in the front portion under the fabric forward of the compass display.

you can feel the hole through the fabric,and will then notice the hole in the fabric from when it was installed.

remove both screws,the console then is pulled straight back towards the rear of the car,off the mount bracket hooks,and is now fre.