Hello, I have a 2004 Dodge Stratus 2.4L coupe. I had to replace the timing belt recently at 114000 miles after the old on skipped. After the belt was replaced my battery died. I installed a new battery but now my interior light will not go off. After the car is turned off the interior lights will go off after about an hour but they stay on the entire time I am driving. I guess I could just remove the bulbs but I’m afraid something else may be going on and I would prefer to fix the problem rather than just mask it. Thanks for your help.

 

two things that could be causing it.
1: make sure the lights are turned off at the main switch. the dashboard cluster brightness adjuster at it's max will turn the interior lights on. Power rundown protection will turn them off after a while. This is the most common cause especially if your car isn't telling you that you have a door open.
2: if you have the open door indicator on your cluster, than one of the door switches are busted. They are the plungers somewhere on the doorframe that get pushed in when the door closes. Very cheap and easy to replace them.

 

Wish it was that easy. No open door lights in the dash.
When the light control switch (Map lights) is in the off position the interior lights stay on but not the map lights. When I turn the switch to the “door” position the map lights come on even with the doors shut. I have noticed while lights are on with switch in the off position they get brighter when I turn them to the on position? Someone told me I might need to replace the “Body control modulator $600.00?” or maybe have it re-programmed by Dodge $175.00?
I had to replace the battery and when we installed the new battery the alarm went off and we had to use the fob to turn it off. I have replaced the battery in this car before but the alarm didn’t go off when I installed the new battery the first time.