sebringsilver97coupe

ever since i bought my car, the vanity lights in the visors dont work and the map lights on the mirror dont work with the map light switch (but come on with interior lights) and the underhood lamp dont work. now these are really that big of deal to me as i dont look in the mirrors, dont read maps, and dont have hood open at night but i would like to be able to find out why they dont work. seems odd that they all dont work and ive checked all fuses and cannot find any blown, either in footwell or underhood. but i may have missed something. anyone have any ideas??? also, why would teh map lights not work but the interior lamps work? same lights just different switches i guess. :lurk:

sebringsilver97coupe

:lurk:

carpe dm

The underhood lamp may be unpluged or the bulb may be shot or out of its holder. It is very easy to dislodge from its contacts. As to the interior lights..... :confused: Check for current to the mirror wire; follow it back to its origin to see if it is cut, etc.; check the ground at the passenger side door? Good luck.

tboneinsc

Sebring funny you should mention this problem because I have it too! I have not made much effort to find the cause of the problem for the same reasons you mentioned but now I'm curious.

sebringsilver97coupe

ive checked all the wiring and connectors for all the above and still find nothing. ive changed the bulb in the underhood lamp and also checked the bulbs elsewhere. it really stumps me that the same bulbs work as interior lights but neither works as map lights via the little rocker switches... :confused: :lurk:

wwashing

Some (maybe all) of these light are on a sensor that keeps them off if there is enough ambiant light.

In other words, they don't come on if it's daytime and light out.

Perhaps that's the issue. :cheers:

Mr Corvette

The map lights on the rear view mirror work regardless daylight or night.

Same with light under the hood.

Check for a loose or bad ground, GM is famous poor grounding of lights and gauges way back to 1950's. 1956 Buicks the gauge cluster bezel used to ground for the fuel gauge.

Have you checked the diagnostic trouble codes on the Driver Information Center?

To enter the "diagnostic mode", use the following procedure:
1. Turn the ignition key to the ON position, but don not start the car.
2. Clear any pre-set messages by pressing the RESET button.
3. Hold the OPTIONS button down, and press the FUEL button 4 times. This will get you into the CODES section of the DIC. The computer will automatically display all the codes your car has created. It will cycle through each code every 3 seconds. Any code that ends in H is a code that was registered previously but is no longer an issue.
4. Once the computer has finished going through all of it's codes, press RESET to enter Manual Configuration mode. It should start with a module and show "NO CODES" or "# CODES".

5. To optionally reset the codes once in manual mode, press and hold RESET until it displays "NO CODES".
6. Press OPTIONS button to go to the next module.

Repeat these steps until you have reset the codes in all of the modules. Note: It is not necessary to reset the codes unless you want to.

Electrical codes:

P1635 5 Volt Reference #1 Circuit
P1639 5 Volt Reference #2 Circuit
P1574 Stop Lamp Control Circuit

C1294 Brake Lamp Switch Circuit Always Active
C1295 Brake Lamp Switch Circuit Open
U1016 Loss of Communications with PCM
U1255 Generic Loss Communications
U1300 Class 2 Circuit Shorted to Ground
U1301 Class 2 Circuit Shorted to Battery
A0-LDCM - Left Door Control Module
B2282 Battery #1 Fault
B2284 Battery #2 Fault
B2286 +5V Reference Fault

A bad ground will not reference any code.

You need a Corvette Service manuals for your specific year Corvette from Helms Corporation (lowest price) or any one of the major Corvette parts suppliers Corvette Central, Zip Products, Mid-America etc. The manual shows the locations of the grounds, and a wiring diagram for the Corvette.

Or another forum member willing to post the an image of the grounds from their manual may provide a good place to start.

Take to Corvette to an honest, reliable Corvette mechanic to correct the problem.

dpd

ok,if you don't have the underhood lamp,mirror lights,mirror lights,you probably don't have a glove box light either.here's what you have to check.go to the fuse box in the right front[in the car],pull relay #37[the monitored ld relay],make a fused 10amp jumper wire.take a test light and with the relay pulled out,you should have power in 2 of the 4 terminals.if you have no power at any terminal,the fusebox i toast.to verify that,with fused jumper,jump p2[may be marked #30 on relay]to r1[may be marked #87]on relay.if the lights still don't work,the fuse block is bad.
if the lights now work,remove the jumper and reinstall the relay.find connector c1 on the bcm[the bcm grounds the relay for the lamps to work].disconnect the connector and find terminal a12[this is a dark blue wire i think]and run a wire from the blue wire to ground.if the lights work,the bcm is bad.if they still don't work you have a bad relay or a broken blue wire between the bcm and the relay.note:fuse #2 in the fusebox in the car is the fuse that powers the lamps.it will only have power on it if the bcm grounds the relay,so even though it looks good,it doesn't have power flowing through it unless the bcm turns the relay on.poe this helped

Bill Curlee

This is getting interesting! :thumbs: :D DPD,,,,Nice WORK! :cheers:

sebringsilver97coupe

can i just get a new relay and plug it in to see if it works? :) if not, ill probally just stay in the dark. haha, actually, this is very interesting. i knew someone would be able to help. thanks for the info. ill let u know what i find out.

dpd

more than likey,you have a bad relay[it's in the fuseblock towards the top].if the bcm is not grounding the relay,the bcm is toast.on another note,if the a/c drain is clogged and not draining out,your r/f floor should be wet,if that's the case,the bcm or fuse block may be full of water[i.e. toasted].hope for the best.let me know how you make out.

sebringsilver97coupe

no, no problems with the AC. never been wet there and everything is clean and pristine and dry under there. after hearing horror stories about it i went ahead and checked it and my AC drains perfectly. yippee. i havent set any codes and everythign on the car works perfectly so i bet it is the relay. before i tear into it and rip the relay out, is this gona be one of those that has to come out very carefully so as not to break a pin or blade off into the fuse block?

dpd

relay should be just remove and replace[unless it had a meltdown,but i doubt it]

slick c5

I had exactly the same problem after I replaced the passenger sunvisor, i.e. interior lights worked when a door was opened, but map lights & vanity lights didn't work with switch / flap. Turns out it was the fuse in the passenger footwell. Are you sure that it's OK on yours???

briankn44

Ok everyone! I had the same problem this week. It's the 10 amp fuse on the passenger side fuse box. There are spare ones in the under hood pannel so not even a trip to the auto parts store. Problem solved!