Courtesy lights
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islanddean
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Wed Oct 11, 2017 6:38 pm
- Car: 1995 Nissan Maxima
Courtesy lights
I have a 95 Maxima and today I installed new LED’s in the door panel courtesy lights. Only problem is the driver door courtesy light does not illuminate. Here’s what happened. When I went to remove the original bulb I used a pair of needle nose pliers and when I touched the bulb it instantly went out. Not knowing what happened I installed the new LED but it never came on. I’m sure There is power to that particular outlet. I also swapped the one from the passenger side door and it still did not work. I also checked all fuses and they are fine. What happened? That was around 3pm this afternoon. It’s now 8:45pm and I opened the driver door and you can barely see the LED...it’s trying to come on but it seems there’s just not enough power. I’m hoping someone can tell me what’s happening. All other courtesy lights work. Thanks
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centralcoaster33
- Posts: 2769
- Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2005 10:41 am
- Car: 240SX #5-1997
- Location: Central Coast, CA
Re: Courtesy lights
Hi and welcome to NICO Club!
You bought a kit, how do you know it's not a bad LED? Can you swap the passenger side with the drivers side and confirm that it's not an issue with the new LED? Sorry, you did that. Did both light LEDs work but not both door outlets? I'm not sure what you say doesn't work.
Get a voltmeter and test to see how much power is getting through the wires to the LED. Test the working passenger side and the non-working drivers side to compare. If voltage varies greatly, look into the wires and check for shorts to the chassis, probably in the hinge area where they get bent back and forth all the time and possible behind the fuse block stuff in the door jam.
When checking fuses, use a voltmeter set to continuity to check them. That you have a faint light means the fuse is fine though. Be sure the check the ground wire. Having a good ground makes stuff work. It should ground to chassis somewhere, so a voltmeter set to continuity should work.
You use pliers to pull light bulbs out? Hmm. When doing lights and stuff like this where you get into the wires, you might want to unplug your battery to avoid shorts while you're working. If you're just replacing bulbs in sockets, then no big deal and never mind unplugging the battery.
You can always get the FSM and read through that. It will help you find wires, where they go, what power goes through them, and when. We have a service manuals link at the top of this page...
You bought a kit, how do you know it's not a bad LED? Can you swap the passenger side with the drivers side and confirm that it's not an issue with the new LED? Sorry, you did that. Did both light LEDs work but not both door outlets? I'm not sure what you say doesn't work.
Get a voltmeter and test to see how much power is getting through the wires to the LED. Test the working passenger side and the non-working drivers side to compare. If voltage varies greatly, look into the wires and check for shorts to the chassis, probably in the hinge area where they get bent back and forth all the time and possible behind the fuse block stuff in the door jam.
When checking fuses, use a voltmeter set to continuity to check them. That you have a faint light means the fuse is fine though. Be sure the check the ground wire. Having a good ground makes stuff work. It should ground to chassis somewhere, so a voltmeter set to continuity should work.
You use pliers to pull light bulbs out? Hmm. When doing lights and stuff like this where you get into the wires, you might want to unplug your battery to avoid shorts while you're working. If you're just replacing bulbs in sockets, then no big deal and never mind unplugging the battery.
You can always get the FSM and read through that. It will help you find wires, where they go, what power goes through them, and when. We have a service manuals link at the top of this page...
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