H3 Interior Lights

[Mambachee]

Just bought a 2008 H3 Alpha with 97k miles for my 15yo son (16th birthday present). One of the upgrades I did was change out the interior lights to LED. The dome lights with push buttons will not work. The center light came on a couple times but was very dim now will not come on at all. The floor lights will come on with the roller switch but not opening the doors. I had 4.1 volts to the lighted mirrors but then it went to 0. Fuses are good. Battery is at 12.2 not running. Any ideas? Thanks

 

[JPaul]

Try flipping the bulbs, they are polarity sensitive so if they are in backwards they won't turn on.



Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

[scoreh3]

Yes flip them around .

 

[chaynes]

I have an issue with my dome lights not coming on. The map lights work ok but neither the front or rear dome lights come on at all, even with the roller switch.

Already checked that the dome light defeat was not switched. Can you tell me which fuses you checked? I cannot make heads or tails which circuit they are on.

Thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mambachee]

I checked every fuse in there. They are all good. The voltage is at 0 so it’s not going to matter which way the bulb is in. Again, I had 4 Volts at the lighted mirror and then to 0. I did look at the BCM and it looks brand new. Eveywhere I read to change the battery terminals if I’m having electrical issues. It currently has factory terminals so that will be the next move.

 

[alrock]

I'd try putting the incandescent bulbs back in to see if that solves it since the LED bulbs caused the change in behavior.

 

[Traxx]

If it worked before you changed things and not after then obviously you did something wrong. I would try rechecking fuses first, sometime they pass the visual test but are blown.

 

[Mambachee]

I’m not for sure they worked other than the mirror lights. Those were dim when I checked them. I’ll go back through the fuses. Thanks for the responses

 

[Mcssls]

Maybe bad door switches. Very common on the h3

 

[scoreh3]

I have the opposite problem. After years of running LED interior lights, now mine have a very low power glow to them ( both front and rear dome lights only) when the truck is on. It very low glow so it’s not distracting while driving. They are off when the truck is off, so no power drain.

 

[Mambachee]

Floor lights (LED) come on when open door. No other lights do. The dome came on a couple times with the roller switch but was very dim. Mirror lights worked before LED install but were dim. Just changed the battery terminals, still no change in lights

 

[JPaul]

Check continuity from the light sockets (remove the bulbs first) to the BCM connector. Pull up the schematic on http://schwarttzy.com/h3-hummer/ to see what wires and terminals to check. Every interior light feeds through the BCM, both positive and ground. The only exception is the grounds for the map lights (which are switched by the buttons). Keep in mind that the floor lamps are on a different wiring circuit than the overhead and vanity lights are. I'm not sure if they are on different circuits inside the BCM as well.

Test voltages with the bulbs removed. Test the ohms of the bulbs, and test the bulbs using jumper wires directly to a power source to ensure there are no issues with the bulbs themselves. Make sure the light socket contacts are clean, the LED bulbs seem to be sensitive to them being dirty.

Put the incandescent bulbs back in like suggested already and see if those work. Maybe do this first and then if they still don't work do the tests I already mentioned.

If the incandescent bulbs work then verify polarity of the LED bulbs, just because you think it's not that doesn't mean you shouldn't bother trying it.

Make sure the voltmeter you are using is not one of the ones they give away free at Harbor Freight, the leads will break just by looking at them wrong, which is a shame since the voltmeter itself is perfectly fine. Spend some money on a decent meter with decent leads, $20 is plenty. I picked up a Uni-T UT210E clamp meter for $46 off Amazon. It does up to 100A AC and DC amps with the clamp (I verified this with testing and research), and up to 600v True RMS AC and DC.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

[Mambachee]

Thanks JPaul, I have one of the best voltmeters made so that’s not the problem. I’m guessing it is something to do with the BCM. I’m diving back in this morning. I will try to turn LEDs around but I don’t like the odds of that being it.

 

[Mambachee]

So here’s something new. While driving down the road I checked the mirror light to see if driving made a difference. It didn’t come on but the center dome light did and it was bright. Does this sound like a ground issue?

 

[650Hawk]

I have LEDs in my interior lights, and haven't had any prroblems with them. BUT...I tried the exact same LEDs in my wife's Tahoe (exact same fixtures) and had nothing but weirdness. I'd install them and they'd work great. And then the next time I turned them on (or opened the door), they'd be extremely dim (measured 5vdc). Pull them, replace them...no change; still dim, 5vdc. Pull them and install the old incandescents...back to 12vdc and bright. Re-install the LEDs: 12vdc and bright! Next time I turned them on...dim, 5vdc. AAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!!!!! I finally gave up and just put the incandescents back. Yet the same bulbs have been working perfectly for a couple years in my H3.

My suggestion would be to try a different brand LED in your H3.