interior lights wont shut off.

Hello I got trouble with my interior dome lights. They wont turn off. I close both doors and I checked that the plungers are being depressed I also made sure my light knob was turned off. Is this a problem with the time delay? Or the switch? perhaps wiring? If the dome light delay timer fails, will it keep the lights on? Can I just bypass it if so? Thanks guys. Its a 1979.

Your courtesy light timer could definitely be the cause of your problem. In my '78 the timer malfunctioned and would sometimes work normally, and sometimes not turn the lights off or even turn on at random. I discovered that last little revelation in the middle of the night when my dog wanted out and I saw the interior lights on.

The delay timer is not available through GM anymore but you can occasionally find an NOS timer on Ebay, but Corvette Central and other suppliers carry reproduction timers and they work just fine. They run in the $40-$50 range. In your '79 I believe the timer is located behind the glovebox liner. Pretty simple to remove and replace.

In the meantime all you can do is remove all your courtesy light bulbs to keep from discharging your battery.

Hade the same problem with my 82 take out the glove box.
and on the right side in the wiring harness you will find a little orange box just unplug it. that will take care of your problem till you get another one.

mark 82

Ok ill give that a try. Thanks
-Tom

OK, can somebody 'splain this? My 79 interior lights are now staying on. Will try getting and replacing the delay switch. But now the clock that has never worked in the 20 years I've had the Vette is now working. The lights did work correctly before so it wasn't a disconnected wire. Mike

Sounds like your delay timer is definitely bad. On your '79 it should be located either above or behind the glove box insert. It's bright orange.

You could also have a bad door switch, but I would bet on the timer

This was good timing. Discovered my interior light dimmer timer was bad. Found one on ebay the same night. No bidders, got it for $14+$4s/h. Put it in tonight. And the mysterious 20 year sleeping clock is still working, be interesting to see how long. Mike

The clock is a timely mystery. My guess is you just jarred something loose. Or maybe made a wire contact when moving things around.

I had the same problem, lights on in the garage one night. Problem was drivers door switch had worn a hole in door!