Dome lights

[twoblue]

I think it depends on how much light is on the sensor for the auto lights. I've noticed at night under a street light sometimes the dome will not come on, and later will in a different place.

[blank102]

Originally Posted by twoblue

I think it depends on how much light is on the sensor for the auto lights. I've noticed at night under a street light sometimes the dome will not come on, and later will in a different place.

[Sonicbluz]

Hi, first time poster here. Sonic blue focus s born may 2, recieved may 17th. Love the ride and handling, and no real problems so far, but the Dome lights operation are still a baffling mystery to me. "The dome lamp will turn on when: any door is opened" mine only turns on if the car is on, is this normal? "The remote entry controls are pressed and the ignition is off" This NEVER happens, normal or a glitch? the dash lights do come on, but not the dome lamp. When I use the remote key after car is off a short time the dome lamp sometimes comes on when I open the door but when its been off a while it doesn't. I own a very basic model focus, no light sensors that I know of. I tried to show my dealer what was happening, but since the car was just off a couple minutes, of course the dome lamp came on and they just looked at me like I was crazy. Every night when I use the remote key and enter, dash lights come on but no dome lamp. Is this uhhhh normal?? or a glitch?

[Timthom62]

Originally Posted by Sonicbluz

Hi, first time poster here. Sonic blue focus s born may 2, recieved may 17th. Love the ride and handling, and no real problems so far, but the Dome lights operation are still a baffling mystery to me. "The dome lamp will turn on when: any door is opened" mine only turns on if the car is on, is this normal? "The remote entry controls are pressed and the ignition is off" This NEVER happens, normal or a glitch? the dash lights do come on, but not the dome lamp. When I use the remote key after car is off a short time the dome lamp sometimes comes on when I open the door but when its been off a while it doesn't. I own a very basic model focus, no light sensors that I know of. I tried to show my dealer what was happening, but since the car was just off a couple minutes, of course the dome lamp came on and they just looked at me like I was crazy. Every night when I use the remote key and enter, dash lights come on but no dome lamp. Is this uhhhh normal?? or a glitch?

I don't know if it applies to the S model, but on my wife's SE there is a little trick to the dome lights that's not covered in the manual. We actually found it out from one of the dealer techs when we were taking delivery and the dome lights didn't work when the doors were opened. He had it fixed in about 60 seconds:

To toggle the dome lights operation on/off (when doors are opened) - with the driver's door open, press and hold the dome light switch on the overhead until the light flashes.

Apparently this sets a software toggle in the Body Control Module, or makes the magic genies happy, or whatever.

Again, I don't know if it applies to S models, or to "Job 2" builds (which yours is, and that's a good thing) but it's worth a try.

Best of luck and congratulations on your new Focus.

[satcomtim]

Tim, which button are you talking about? There are 3, 2 in front and 1 in the rear.

Thanks!

[blank102]

I managed to get it working by hitting the off button.
But I will write down the other one with the genies.

[Timthom62]

Originally Posted by satcomtim

Tim, which button are you talking about? There are 3, 2 in front and 1 in the rear.

Thanks!

That should be two map lights and one dome light control. The dome light control looks like the one on the left in this picture:




blank102 - If you had an "off" button for the dome light and/or your off button looked like the one on the right in this photo, or similar, then the trick with the genies probably doesn't apply to your car.

There appears to be multiple different dome light switch configurations within the 2012 model, and that doesn't even take into account the "moonroof/no moonroff" question.

[satcomtim]

I have the off button on a Job 2 SE and just cant figure this out. Held every button, car on, car off, door open, door closed and can't get the dome light to work on a regular basis with the door. Works about 30% of the time and sometimes with the keyfob when locking/unlocking. All other lights respond as expected. Not sure what to do short of visiting the dealer.

[Timthom62]

Originally Posted by satcomtim

I have the off button on a Job 2 SE and just cant figure this out. Held every button, car on, car off, door open, door closed and can't get the dome light to work on a regular basis with the door. Works about 30% of the time and sometimes with the keyfob when locking/unlocking. All other lights respond as expected. Not sure what to do short of visiting the dealer.

Is this true for both of the front doors or just the driver's door? It could be the door switch is intermittent if it's just the driver's door.

However, the keyfob issue would seem to argue against that being the cause.

[satcomtim]

Originally Posted by Timthom62

Is this true for both of the front doors or just the driver's door? It could be the door switch is intermittent if it's just the driver's door.

However, the keyfob issue would seem to argue against that being the cause.

I only use the drivers door so unsure there, but when drivers door opens all dash lights, under dash, etc turn on. So I think that probably rules out a bad switch.

Example: Unlock via keyfob, dome light comes on. Let dome go off (assume you're talking to someone), open door no light. Drive home turn off car, no light, open door to exit, no light.