My 1994 Dodge Ram 1500 Dome Light does not work. I bared the wire and touched it to the frame to prove the light worked but it stayed on when both door plungers were closed and the headlight switch was turned off. It appears all fuses are good. I also have looked at the headlight switch. Did not see anything unusual but cleaned the parts that come in contact when you turn it but did not help. Any hints on where else to look, such as ground wiring under the hood or in the dash? I do have a multimeter and I do get voltage from the light. Thank you.

 

I am confused, does the light stay on all the time? Or does it not come on at all?

 

The light does not come on at all, either with the doors opening or the headlight switch turned counterclockwise. The only way I could get the light to work was to bare the wire and ground it, which proved the bulb was good. I also used a multimeter to check the socket, which showed power coming to it. While I had the bulb lit by grounding it, I had both doors closed and turned the headlight switch to it's normal position and the light stayed on.

 

The various switches provide ground path for the light. With the doors open, check continuity on the ground side (bulb out), bet it's open.

 

with the driver's side door open, I checked the ground side and it registered 10.22, which I assume is open...so the question is, how do I go about fixing this so the dome light will function??

 

Need to find the break in the circuit. If you don't have one already, download a service manual from here. Wiring diagrams are in section 8W. Check the interior lighting section, it will give you a good idea of where everything goes, where the connectors are, etc.

 

downloaded the manual and printed the wiring diagrams. I pulled the plunger on the driver's side door panel and got 0 reading on the multimeter on two of the three connections and a negative reading on the third one, which I assume is bad?

 

yep. Should see power on at least one of 'em.

 

I have researched the wiring path from the Driver Door Switch to the Dome Lamp in my '01 manual, but I don't know if this is the same on your truck.


ON PAGE 8W-45-10:
Pin 1 comes straight from ground on a BLACK/LIGHT GREEN wire. When door is open, that ground is placed on pins 2 and 3. Pin 3 is our circuit. The WHITE wire there goes to Headlamp Switch Connector C1, pin 13. FYI, the wire on pin 2 is TAN.
With the Headlamp Switch in either ILLUMINATION, PARADE, DOME, OR CARGO, the connection leaves on pin 12, and changes to YELLOW.
Continue to Joint Connector 8 PIN 11 on PAGE 8W-44-4, in on PIN 11 and out on PIN 13.
Yellow wire from pin 13 thru C203 pin 8 to DOME LAMP PIN 2.

 

Manual for the '91 does not match manual for my '94. Wire colors are also different. Wires from the dome lamp are pink and yellow. With both doors open and the bulb out I get no tone on the continuity check. I also get no tone with the doors closed and checking continuity on the connector the bulb is attached to. So does this mean I have a faulty wire(s) running from the dome lamp to the Junction Box A, which has the connections to the headlamp switch and door jamb plungers?