luqmankarim
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- Jul 26, 2013
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A couple months ago I got a used 2002 Lincoln Continental as my first car. The first night I had it I realized that I couldn't see anything because none of the interior lights came on when I opened any of the doors or trunk. Coming from a family that bought only Toyotas, I went looking for a switch that would turn the courtesy lamp feature on, but found nothing. I took my car to a local mechanic and they said that these cars don't have a switch that turn the courtesy lights on or off and that something had to be wrong with my cars electrical system. I asked them if they could check and they said that they would charge me $70 just to check what the problem was. As a 17 year old going into college, I didn't have that much money to spend.
Upset, I went home and started looking for what could be wrong myself. I checked all the fuses that had anything to do with lighting and they all worked fine. I went through all the car's settings and found nothing on the courtesy lights. I tried flicking up the panel dim switch a million times, but still, nothing. Then, I went into my trunk and started taking down the carpet. I found that the wire to the trunk's light was unplugged. I plugged it back in and the trunk light started working fine. Like the trunk light, I'm assuming that someone unplugged the courtesy lamps as well. I went and started looking for any other unplugged wires in the trunk and interior of the car but found nothing.
At this point I'm not sure what the problem is and I really need help. All the lights work individually if you press the individual on/off switches but they don't turn on if any of the doors are opened. The car recognizes when a door is opened because I get the "Door Ajar" warning on the dash. I've searched online but I can't find anyone with the same problem as me. If anyone has had this problem or can help me in any way please do so. Thank you.
Edit 7/26/13: I was going through the instruction manual and it said "The dome lamp control (if equipped) must not be set to the off position for the illuminated entry system to operate." I tried looking for more information on this but found nothing.
How do I know if my car is equipped with the dome lamp control? If it is where can I find it?
Upset, I went home and started looking for what could be wrong myself. I checked all the fuses that had anything to do with lighting and they all worked fine. I went through all the car's settings and found nothing on the courtesy lights. I tried flicking up the panel dim switch a million times, but still, nothing. Then, I went into my trunk and started taking down the carpet. I found that the wire to the trunk's light was unplugged. I plugged it back in and the trunk light started working fine. Like the trunk light, I'm assuming that someone unplugged the courtesy lamps as well. I went and started looking for any other unplugged wires in the trunk and interior of the car but found nothing.
At this point I'm not sure what the problem is and I really need help. All the lights work individually if you press the individual on/off switches but they don't turn on if any of the doors are opened. The car recognizes when a door is opened because I get the "Door Ajar" warning on the dash. I've searched online but I can't find anyone with the same problem as me. If anyone has had this problem or can help me in any way please do so. Thank you.
Edit 7/26/13: I was going through the instruction manual and it said "The dome lamp control (if equipped) must not be set to the off position for the illuminated entry system to operate." I tried looking for more information on this but found nothing.
How do I know if my car is equipped with the dome lamp control? If it is where can I find it?
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this is my first car and I'm not sure how to apply the diagnostics you've given to me. If you could make this simpler for me or give me an easier fix that could give me a solution for my problem that would be great, thank you.
