[kalel34]

Door light not working, electrian help?

After replacing my passenger door speaker, the courtesy light stopped working. I tried replacing the bulb and checking both interior fuseboxes, those things were okay. Driver's side still works, any ideas? :dunno:

 

[Stuff]

For what its worth, the diagram shows pulling it straight up after removing the screw.

 

[Zembonez]

Your passenger door light not working would not be the result of any underhood fuse blown. It would be on the same circuit as the driver's door. If that works, you have a connection issue or a bad bulb.

 

[kalel34]

thanks for the info, folks. i'll check the driver's side fuseobx now. i hope it's an easy fix like that!

 

[Stuff]

If the driver's door courtesy light works when you open the driver's door then it is not a fuse as both are powered by a common wire. Do the other interior lights work when you open the passenger's door?

And, of course, did you replace the bulb?

 

[kalel34]

If the driver's door courtesy light works when you open the driver's door then it is not a fuse as both are powered by a common wire. Do the other interior lights work when you open the passenger's door?

And, of course, did you replace the bulb?

Hey bud. Yes, the driver's door light still works, and yes, I replaced the bulb =). the rest of the interior lights also work (front dome lights x2, 1 rear dome light) when i open the passenger door. just the passenger door light stopped working.
i'm scratching my head as to what's going on?

 

[Stuff]

Sounds like a wire issue,. Worst case it is the passenger fuse box/MCU as it is an electronic switch. Get a meter and measure voltage at the bulb. One pin should always be at 12V - measure from there to chassis ground. The other pin grounds out when the door opens - you should see that with a good bulb installed it goes from 12v to close to 0v.

From the manual - Hot is white pin 5 at the door connector which comes from a splice feed from the driver's side. The switched ground is yellow pin 6 that goes to the passenger MICU.

 

[kalel34]

Sounds like a wire issue,. Worst case it is the passenger fuse box/MCU as it is an electronic switch. Get a meter and measure voltage at the bulb. One pin should always be at 12V - measure from there to chassis ground. The other pin grounds out when the door opens - you should see that with a good bulb installed it goes from 12v to close to 0v.

From the manual - Hot is white pin 5 at the door connector which comes from a splice feed from the driver's side. The switched ground is yellow pin 6 that goes to the passenger MICU.

Hey Stuff,

I'll try the voltmeter test. Can you explain to me the testing a bit further please? I'm testing the bulb socket leads, right? With the door open, I should touch one socket lead, then chassis ground? I'm not an electrician, so I need the technique as to the voltmeter test you're describing. Thanks!

 

[Stuff]

There are a few different tests. You are lucky that you have the driver's side to compare to as it is working. Note that a 12V car usually measures higher or 14+ when the engine is running.

1 - Verify power. The way that Honda does things, there is always power but the return (ground) is what gets turned on and off. With bulb removed. Multimeter on DC setting (assume you have a digital auto-ranging device). Black (ground/negative/neutral) lead from multimeter goes to a good ground point - exposed metal bolt going into the chassis or the cigarette/power outlet's outer ring. Touch the red (hot/positive/live/active) lead to each of the wire contacts in the socket. One of the two should be over 12 volts. If not you have to trace the wire back - try at the connector to see if it is ok there.

2 - Verify ground. This is tricky for a modern car, especially with switched dimming circuits. The best way I know is to put a known good bulb back in the socket. First make sure that there is power (see #1) as the theory is that the bulb will bring the negative lead up to 12v when it is not grounded properly. Attach a short piece of wire to the red lead so that it can touch the socket when the bulb is in. Then push the door switch in and release so that the car tries to turn on the light by gounding it. You should see the negative side go to 0 volts. If both sides stay at 12v then try back at the connector.

 

[kalel34]

There are a few different tests. You are lucky that you have the driver's side to compare to as it is working. Note that a 12V car usually measures higher or 14+ when the engine is running.

1 - Verify power. The way that Honda does things, there is always power but the return (ground) is what gets turned on and off. With bulb removed. Multimeter on DC setting (assume you have a digital auto-ranging device). Black (ground/negative/neutral) lead from multimeter goes to a good ground point - exposed metal bolt going into the chassis or the cigarette/power outlet's outer ring. Touch the red (hot/positive/live/active) lead to each of the wire contacts in the socket. One of the two should be over 12 volts. If not you have to trace the wire back - try at the connector to see if it is ok there.

2 - Verify ground. This is tricky for a modern car, especially with switched dimming circuits. The best way I know is to put a known good bulb back in the socket. First make sure that there is power (see #1) as the theory is that the bulb will bring the negative lead up to 12v when it is not grounded properly. Attach a short piece of wire to the red lead so that it can touch the socket when the bulb is in. Then push the door switch in and release so that the car tries to turn on the light by gounding it. You should see the negative side go to 0 volts. If both sides stay at 12v then try back at the connector.

Stuff,

awesome info, and thank God I have a multimeter. i'll do some testing this week. crossing my fingers that i don't have to go to the dealer for a little thing like this. thank you again and wish me luck!

 

[kalel34]

Tested with multimeter

There are a few different tests. You are lucky that you have the driver's side to compare to as it is working. Note that a 12V car usually measures higher or 14+ when the engine is running.

1 - Verify power. The way that Honda does things, there is always power but the return (ground) is what gets turned on and off. With bulb removed. Multimeter on DC setting (assume you have a digital auto-ranging device). Black (ground/negative/neutral) lead from multimeter goes to a good ground point - exposed metal bolt going into the chassis or the cigarette/power outlet's outer ring. Touch the red (hot/positive/live/active) lead to each of the wire contacts in the socket. One of the two should be over 12 volts. If not you have to trace the wire back - try at the connector to see if it is ok there.

2 - Verify ground. This is tricky for a modern car, especially with switched dimming circuits. The best way I know is to put a known good bulb back in the socket. First make sure that there is power (see #1) as the theory is that the bulb will bring the negative lead up to 12v when it is not grounded properly. Attach a short piece of wire to the red lead so that it can touch the socket when the bulb is in. Then push the door switch in and release so that the car tries to turn on the light by gounding it. You should see the negative side go to 0 volts. If both sides stay at 12v then try back at the connector.

Hey Stuff, just in case you don't see my private message...I tested the driver's side first (which works) and I get about 12V across the leads.

Then I tested the passenger side (the problem), and I got only 5V across. I'm not an electrician, but because there is some voltage, there still exists a circuit, so that means it's not a fuse problem, right? But because the voltage is only 5V, something else must be wrong. Any ideas? I'm stumped! :dunno:

Thanks for your time.

 

[Stuff]

Yes, probably not a fuse. Sounds like the passenger MICU (part of the fuse box) or, more likely, a ground issue. To be clear that power is ok you really need to measure to body ground for both sides of the bulb as the 5V you see is between the leads is relative. If the power feed is good then one will be around 13v and one 8v (5v less that you already measured).

One thing it might be is the connector - either the door or the MICU. If it is a corroded contact sometimes just pushing on them helps.

 

[johnyturbo]

So did you get it fixed? what was the problem? I changed my door bulbs for brighter blue ones yesterday and everything was fine. But tonight, i tried to replace the passenger side one for another one and the bulb wasn't illuminating so i close the door, locked the car, turn it on /off look at the driver side door light and it was working so i changed that one too to see if it was only my bulbs and now they're both not working!! lol (not a bulb issue,tried six bulbs lol) anybody?

 

[kalel34]

So did you get it fixed? what was the problem? I changed my door bulbs for brighter blue ones yesterday and everything was fine. But tonight, i tried to replace the passenger side one for another one and the bulb wasn't illuminating so i close the door, locked the car, turn it on /off look at the driver side door light and it was working so i changed that one too to see if it was only my bulbs and now they're both not working!! lol (not a bulb issue,tried six bulbs lol) anybody?

I actually had to have the problem diagnosed and fixed at the dealer. It's not a bulb or fuse/fusebox issue. It was some computer-controlled component issue. Fortunately, I'm still under warranty, so it was free to fix. But the cost of the actual part replaced was somewhere around $120-$150.

 

[johnyturbo]

Ah yeah.. wow and thanks and shit! Mine won't be covered even if it's a 2009. I'll see what they say but I might just wait before fixing it. Thanks again. Did they say that it would do that everytime we try to change our bulbs or it's just a default part?