Honda Prelude Forum - PreludeDriver.com

The 2000 Prelude I recently purchased does not have any interior lights. By that i mean courtesy lights. Dashboard, radio, clock all work. And, the drivers side window switch is lit. There are no lights that come on when you open and close the doors. ie dimmer. The fuse looks fine. what does the dimmer relay do?..Can that be the problem?

Thanks

The roof light isn't connected to the dimmer, to my knowledge.

I'll give you two things to check:

First, check to make sure the roof light switch is set correctly. The roof light switches typically have 3 settings. Off, On, and Door-On. Try flipping it to the on position to see if it lights up. If it doesn't the bulb is probably just burnt out.

Second, if your light does come on, turn the switch to the position where it will light up when the door is opened, then try opening the door. If the light doesn't come on, look on your door jam (usually near the latch) for the door switch. These are known to fail sometimes. Find the switch, and wiggle it a bit. Usually this will cause the light to come on. If this is where the problem is, you may just need a new door switch.

No, dome light is not controlled by the dash rheostat dimmer switch.

Also, do you get the door chime when the keys are in the ignition? If not, then that's a sure sign that the door jamb switch is stuck or not working. Which explains why your dome light doesn't come on. They're both controlled by the same switch in the door jamb.

And, I'm not trying to be a smart-ass when I ask this - but have you tried replacing the bulb for the dome light? They burn out pretty regularly.

Above your rear view mirror between the sun visors, you've got your courtesy dome assembly. Middle switch controls middle light which is activated when you open either passenger or driver door. There is a slide switch in the middle. It should have, as Spiffy stated, three positions, on - door - off. Make sure its in the 'door' position. You also have two map lights on either side of that dome light assembly. Push the buttons in to turn them on. Again to turn off.

Your car also has courtesy door lights so that the ground is illuminated when the doors are opened, and to help other people from ripping your door off when they drive by at night. These lights in the very bottom, rear corners of driver and passenger door should illuminate any time the door is open.

All of these lights mentioned are controlled by individual switches in driver and passenger door jamb. On your car it's a small, squarish housing with a round button, sealed in rubber. It's below the door striker. (what the door latches onto)

Start by checking the switch setting. If the light doesn't come on in the "ON" setting, your bulb is most likely blown. In the ON position, the light lights and stays on whether the doors are open or closed. This is the easiest test. No light in ON = BLOWN BULB.

If it comes on in the "ON" setting but not in the "DOOR" setting with the doors open, then your switch is probably stuck. The dome light is independent of each door switch. So it might work when the passenger door is open, but not when the driver door is open and vice versa. Test and see.

Move the dome switch to DOOR. Open the driver door. If the light doesn't come on, use your fingers and push in on the door jamb switch (for the door you have open) bang on it, tap it, etc. If the light still doesn't come on in the DOOR setting, but does come on in the "ON" setting, then you've got a bad door switch. Repeat for the passenger side. Make sure you only test one door at a time with the other door closed or you won't know which switch is or might be bad.

I've highlighted the switch location in the green box in the picture. This is a 2000 Prelude driver side image. Switch is identical in placement on the passenger side.
Replacing the bulbs in the dome and door panels, is very simple.

Pictures to help locate lights, switches and how to replace.

The middle bulb in the dome light only comes on when switched all the way to the right. Left postition off, middle position off, right position on. When I close the door when light is in on position, it remains on. I jiggled the switch on both doors and nothin happens. Also there are no ground lights. I removed the switch from the door jam. There is one green wire that goes to the switch. When you depress the button, a pin pushes in. Is this pin supposed to mechanically touch something to activate it? I know the car has been painted by the previous owner. Perhaps they screwed something up...

Thanks again for all your help

icu2gel58

Since the bulb sounds like it is working, your problem has to be related to the switches. I'd take a good close look at how they're wired up. The door jam switches are known to fail over time. One of mine went bad once.

It sounds like the switches on both sides of your car are bad though. Perhaps they're not connected correctly? Have a look at the wiring diagram in the manuals section for your model of Prelude, and see if all is wired up as it should be. Those switches can be removed, so it's possible that someone just didn't hook them back up correctly after they had re-painted the door jam.

Well I finally broke down and went to the Honda dealer. Here is an intereting note. Earlier in the day I brought my car in to have a remote door lock installed. I asked the guy, who has been in business since 1975 to check my lack of interior lights and see if he can figure it out.. 2 hours later my car was ready and he told me he couldn't figure it out, and asked me if I knew I had no dashboard and tail lights. i was quite surprised as i had these lights the night before. So.........I took it to Honda. They charged me $95 for diagnostics. I waited an hour and the tech came out and told me i had 2 issues. One was the interior lights weren't working because the wire that connets them to the power was broken....And the 2nd issue w/ the dash and tail lights was a pin where the wires connect to the pod was bent. I asked him if perhaps the noodnik that installed the remote doorlock could have done it, and he said maybe but prob not....I called the guy at World Of Sound and he told me that they don't go near that part of the vehicle to install a remote door lock...So....it cost me $200 to get my lights fixed.... The tech that helped was real nice...He was the shop forman and also the crew chief of a racing team up in Daytona....
One more thing..RE: my check engine light problem.. The tech looked under the hood and saw aftermarket spark plug wires. He said he would bet that is what is causing the problem.. He said honda's don't like after market replacement parts, and if replaced the wires with Honda wires, the problem would prob go away...hmmmmm

Anyhoo.thanks for all your help

OP, which ones do you have?


Very rare - EDM red version court. lights.


Very common - USDM, EDM, JDM clear court. lights. Can be seen on SH ludes in USA.
In Europe these were even more common.


Most common - without lights. This is what most people have.