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Interior lights not working after getting tint?

Discussion in 'Prime Main Forum (2017-2022)' started by mistermojorizin, Jul 3, 2019.

  1. mistermojorizin

    mistermojorizin Active Member

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    Like the title says. I got tint today and didn't drive much after. Now I notice none of the interior lights work. I remember another thread on here about headlights not turning off after getting tint, and it might have something to do with tint installers disconnecting the battery while doing tint. I did notice my headlight switch was changed from "auto" to "drl off." Headlights work fine though (and turn off ok in auto).

    Only other possible factor is I did my interior lights to LEDs yesterday, but they were working fine today, up to the point I dropped off the car for tinting. Also, I did not change the footwell lights and those don't work either.

    Is there some setting I need to check? Or could it be a fuse? Any other things I should check for/setup if battery was disconnected for a few hours?
     
  2. Hidyho

    Hidyho Senior Member

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    Have you checked the dimmer rotary wheel on the lower left of the steering wheel, make sure it is full brightness.
     
  3. jb in NE

    jb in NE Senior Member

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    I believe that controls the dashboard (instrument cluster) light brightness, not the dome and other lights.
     
    #3 jb in NE, Jul 4, 2019
    Last edited: Jul 4, 2019
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  4. mistermojorizin

    mistermojorizin Active Member

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    I did find the one setting that controls interior lights duration, it was in the Nav under settings-->vehicle-->lighting. It was not set to off. I turned it to off and back to 15 secs. It made no difference.

    The only interior lights, if you can call them that, that seem to be working are that little pinhole light in the light aimed at the shift knob I beileve, and tiny little led on the SOS button (looks like there's 2 tiny leds there and it's the left one that is on).

    The dashboard seems to be at full brightness, so I doubt it's the dimmer switch.
     
  5. mistermojorizin

    mistermojorizin Active Member

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    i went ahead and checked the dimmer. But it's not a wheel. It's like buttons pointing up on the right and down on the left. It didn't help, but thanks for the suggestion.
     
  6. mistermojorizin

    mistermojorizin Active Member

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    So I've been trying to do some research and learned that the dome fuse for the prime is located in a fusebox on the left side of the driver under the dash. Does the dome fuse also control all the door lights, trunk light, and footwell lights? My other though is I should try to change my bulbs back to stock, but then I remember at least putting the LED bulbs in, they have polarity, so half the time they wouldn't work and had to be reversed. Do the stock bulbs have polarity? Is this worth a shot?

    I've never done anything with fuses before. I've changed LEDs before and never had a need too. I've never gotten a car tinted though. I am starting to get pretty upset about a pretty new car that I might have messed up.
     
  7. jb in NE

    jb in NE Senior Member

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    The stock incandescent bulbs have no polarity. Since the new LEDs worked after you installed them, they are likely not causing the problem. I would take the car back to the tint shop and speak with them.
     
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  8. mistermojorizin

    mistermojorizin Active Member

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    I'll have to see if they're open Friday. Nothing's open today. I keep thinking it's the fuse, how would I even check that? I mean I could probably get to the fuse box and figure out which one is the "dome," but I have no clue how to check if it's blown. I have an obd2 code scanner, would there be a certain code to look for?
     
  9. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    Check the door switches for tape.

    It's SOP to disable the dome light while working on a car with doors open; this prevents a low battery.

    Most cars have a switch that's easy to find and understand, and the shop uses it to disable the lighting. Sometimes they can't find it or figure it out, so they tape over the door switches in the door jambs.

    Either way it sounds like they forgot to normal-up afterwards.
     
  10. mistermojorizin

    mistermojorizin Active Member

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    I will look into that, not exactly sure what the door switch means. They did put tape over my window down button.

    Would that affect the light not turning on even if I press the map light, put the dome in the "on" position, or put the cargo light in the "on" position?

    EDIT: ok I think I figured out what the doorswitches are, and no they're not taped or anything. i've got the dash light up all the way, I've got the vehicle/lights setting on the Nav *not* on "off". I don't know what else they could have done.
     
    #10 mistermojorizin, Jul 4, 2019
    Last edited: Jul 4, 2019
  11. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    I haven't validated it on a 2019 Prime but I would expect they followed a popular convention for cabin lighting. If they did, the door switches would have zero effect on the map lights, and should be overridden by the "on" selection at the dome light(s).

    Another bit to check on your LEDs- I've bought a few that relied on spring fit, such as a T10. Some LED replacements were just a bit too thin and didn't create enough pressure across the terminals. They wiggled out.
     
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  12. mistermojorizin

    mistermojorizin Active Member

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    That might be the next thing to look at before looking at the fuses and such, but it just seems super unlikely that all of the interior LEDs would wiggle out at the same time, including the rear dome which is a fastoon type and not a T10. But I appreciate the suggestion, please keep the thoughts coming.
     
  13. mistermojorizin

    mistermojorizin Active Member

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    The dome fuse looks broken. Is there a spare provided anywhere?
     
  14. mistermojorizin

    mistermojorizin Active Member

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    Bought a few replacement 7.5 fuses from autozone. Replaced the fuse and it's still not working (it blew, see edit below). Only thing I'm wondering is do the fuses have polarity where they have to be installed with a certain orientation? I don't think so since the other fuses seem to be installed in both directions.

    EDIT: tried another one. As soon as I touch the fuse to it's spot in the fuse box there is a spark and the fuse blows.
    Should I try to change the interior bulbs back to stock? Think the tint affected the rear defroster or something or if water got in somewhere it shouldn't have? Don't know if that is on the same fuse with the dome lights. Doing some internet searching seeing a lot of "speakers won't work after tint" kind of threads, some with fuses blown, some without though.
     
    #14 mistermojorizin, Jul 4, 2019
    Last edited: Jul 4, 2019
  15. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    @mistermojorizin Time to check your work.

    It sounds like there is a short to ground somewhere in the lighting branch. I would verify this with a meter, and then go back through the car and remove each of the new LEDs, and re-check the meter after each removal. This will let you narrow it down.

    The LED itself may be faulty, or it may be a problem with the fixture. It may or may not be related to the tint- it could be that the problem condition was completed by vibration & road shocks while driving to or from the tint shop and had nothing to do with the work itself.
     
  16. Washingtonian

    Washingtonian Senior Member

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    I agree with Leadfoot. However, it sounds like you have very little electrical experience, so I am assuming that you don't own a multimeter. I would suggest that you remove all of the LED lights you installed. Then install a new fuse. If the fuse blows without the lights, take the car to an automotive electrician. If the fuse does not blow, carefully reinsert the LEDs, one at a time until the fuse blows again. If that happens, you can then see if there is a problem with that light socket or the LED itself. If you are lucky, just carefully reinserting the LEDs will cure the problem.
     
  17. mistermojorizin

    mistermojorizin Active Member

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    I don't have a meter and don't know how to use one, to be honest. Do you think it is worth just changing all the lights back to stock and putting in a new fuse to see if it will blow again of if it works?

    The drive to the tint shop was about 1 mile so somehow I doubt it was that drive. But it may be that a lot of the water has dried by now and it starts working because of that rather than the bulbs.
     
  18. mistermojorizin

    mistermojorizin Active Member

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    pretty much my thought, except what about the possibility of it being water from the tint installation, which may have dried by now and that being the reason it starts working rather than the bulbs?
     
  19. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

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    Never say never but I'd put that waaaay down the list of possibilities. Washingtonian has the right suggestion for getting back on track without a meter or electrical education.
     
  20. mistermojorizin

    mistermojorizin Active Member

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    Thanks for all the help guys! I did what @Washingtonian suggested and I'm back up and running! It was one of the t10 aftermarket bulbs.

    When I uninstalled all the aftermarket LEDs and put in a new fuse, the second I touched the fuse to it's spot, instead of a spark and blown fuse, the stock footwell LEDs came on. I installed the LEDs back one at a time. As soon as I put in the faulty LED, I heard a click from the fusebox and of course another fuse was blown. I threw the faulty LED away but did not uninstall all the good ones that were already in.

    Here is the part that gave me some confusion and I have questions about if you guys wouldn't mind offering me some more insight. I took a new fuse, popped it in, and....nothing. No spark+blown fuse, no stock LEDs coming on. I took out the fuse and it did not look blown. So here I did 2 things (which is why I'm confused, since I didn't isolate the variable here). 1) I figured maybe after having all the lights on for a while, the car just turns off the interior lights like previous cars I've had, turned all the switches to off and locked the car. 2) I installed a new good fuse, my last one in the set of 5 that I bought yesterday for $5 (Bussmann 7-1/2A low profile mini fuses from Autozone). Immediately the stock LED in the footwell came on and then I turned on the other lights and all the aftermarket LEDs were working aswell.

    So my questions, does the Prime have a mode like most of the cars I've ever owned (about 8 cars including two Scions and a Lexus) where it shuts off the interior lights after a while? Or was it just a bad fuse in the pack even though it didn't blow? Or was it because a fuse had just blown a minute ago it caused the lights to turn off and even with a new fuse not to turn back on?

    Edit: Another question, should I buy different better quality bulbs? Any suggestions? Now I'm paranoid another bulb will short and I won't have time to mess with it.
     
    #20 mistermojorizin, Jul 5, 2019
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2019
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