[Robf]

The right hand cabin light (map light?) in my 2008 Pilot flashes when I am turning right at all but the slowest speeds. I can stop it from happening with the switch (by my left knee) that controls the lights in the cabin, including those operated when the door opens, I can hear a relay clicking behind that switch panel.
Anybody know how to fix this, or at least how to get that switch panel out?
I'm just worried some nervous cop will see the flashing and think someone is shooting at him.
It occurs to me that, when I got the car second-hand several years ago, the engine would not start because the driver's side door switch would not fully disengage until I taped a quarter to the door frame where the switch was supposed to touch. Not likely this is related to the current problem, but .....
Thanks for any help. I just want to keep the little darlin' functional until the hybrid comes out.

 

[Tanner]

A faulty dome light mistaken as gunfire.....? Maybe a UFO will think your signaling to the Mother Ship?

 

[plplplpl]

First thing you might want to look at is the little switch where the doors close against the frame. The last time I looked at one of these in a previous vehicle, it was an exposed little metal pin near the hinges in the frame at the front edge of the doors, but I just checked in my 2006 and it's in the frame near the rear edge of the door, covered by a little rubber boot. I've cured this problem in previous vehicles by shooting some aerosol contact cleaner/lubricant, or in a pinch WD-40 did the trick. On the Pilot, you'd have to carefully peel back that little rubber protective boot first.

Otherwise it might need a microswitch swap in the dome light assembly. Doable and not too expensive.

Amazon.com

What's the difference between part 34404-SDA-A22 and 34404-SDA-A21?
Confirmed:
A21 = 2005 to 2007
A22 = 2008 to 2013

Dome light microswitch broken

Dome light problem

okpiloteer said:
I didn't snap any pictures while doing it, but I changed mine yesterday evening. It took MAYBE 30 minutes to do, including a parts store run to buy some new bulbs. Here's a quick write up for you (doing this from memory).

There are 4 screws to remove - 2 under the sunglass holder, 2 under the light covers. Use a small flathead to remove the light covers (be careful because they CAN break, but they do come out pretty easily.) The screws were phillips and 10mm maybe (I just used my phillips that I had handy, so I'm not sure on the size).

Once they're removed, the whole assembly will lower, but not come out. There are tabs to prevent it from just falling out of the headliner - just pull it free from the headliner.
Remove the two electrical connectors.

There are tabs holding the base (and Homelink if equipped) to the whole housing - I used a flathead to push them free.

Reinstall in the reverse and you're done!

Sometimes it's just a bulb. :|

In that case, according to the owner's manual, a 12v 8w festoon type bulb. The Canadian Tire store I dropped by just before closing only had that size in a 12v 10w, but you know what? Not only does it work fine, but I noticed the very slight increase in brightness made it equal to the driver side map light, whereas it had been slightly dimmer before, which leads me to believe that perhaps, just perhaps, the previous owner had put in a 10w replacement on the driver side, which led to an "imbalance" in wattage in the circuit and that led to the original 8 watt bulb being fed a slight surge which caused it to fail earlier.

 

[Robf]

A faulty dome light mistaken as gunfire.....? Maybe a UFO will think your signaling to the Mother Ship?

That might be preferable to dealing with the average DC Government employee.

 

[Robf]

First thing you might want to look at is the little switch where the doors close against the frame. The last time I looked at one of these in a previous vehicle, it was an exposed little metal pin near the hinges in the frame at the front edge of the doors, but I just checked in my 2006 and it's in the frame near the rear edge of the door, covered by a little rubber boot. I've cured this problem in previous vehicles by shooting some aerosol contact cleaner/lubricant, or in a pinch WD-40 did the trick. On the Pilot, you'd have to carefully peel back that little rubber protective boot first.

Otherwise it might need a microswitch swap in the dome light assembly. Doable and not too expensive.

Amazon.com

Dome light microswitch broken

Dome light problem

okpiloteer said:
I didn't snap any pictures while doing it, but I changed mine yesterday evening. It took MAYBE 30 minutes to do, including a parts store run to buy some new bulbs. Here's a quick write up for you (doing this from memory).





Sometimes it's just a bulb. :|

In that case, according to the owner's manual, a 12v 8w festoon type bulb. The Canadian Tire store I dropped by just before closing only had that size in a 12v 10w, but you know what? Not only does it work fine, but I noticed the very slight increase in brightness made it equal to the driver side map light, whereas it had been slightly dimmer before, which leads me to believe that perhaps, just perhaps, the previous owner had put in a 10w replacement on the driver side, which led to an "imbalance" in wattage in the circuit and that led to the original 8 watt bulb being fed a slight surge which caused it to fail earlier.

You are right about the door switch, and perhaps about the microswitch. But the actual light works fine, and the problem goes away when I turn off the internal lights manually. I need to know, I think, about how to get into the electronics (wiring and relay) around that internal light switch.