heres one i cant figure out. my pass door step lamp is out, but all other lamps go on when door is on.

its not the interior light fuses since only the pass side is out. Its not the bulb either b.c i used the other side bulb and its not working as well.

theres +12v power going to the red/white hot wire as i checked w/ a testmeter.

it seems that the (red/blue wire) ground is always shot, since i wired up a test lamp going from the hot to another ground.

im thinking its the grounding junction. where is the grounding junction in the car?

 

Test the continuity of the bulb, sometimes they don't look burned, just as a safety before you go searching for broken wires, ensures you don't waste time. While you're at it, test the continuity between the gound at the light socket and the frame. If you have continuity there, then you're golden, if not, you're assumption was right. good luck man.

 

test the stupid switch at the door... my went bad and discharged the battery....

 

I have this same problem, any resolutions to this? I've read where some say it's the bcm.. but not sure if anyones actually tested it by changing the bcm out. The switch at the door is fine as it turns the drivers door step lamp on and off, whether it's from the drivers or passenger side.

 

where is the bcm?

its defintely not the switch. and not the door trigger, b/c opening the pass door, i can light up the entire cabin, and the driver step lamp goes on.

 

I believe the BCM (Body Control Module) is located on the floor underneath the center console where the radio is. Yeah, I have heard if the wires are shorted somewhat going to the BCM, it could be a possibility they could be fried without any protection, such as the step light going to the door. Hook up a DMM and see if you have continuity and power going to the wires. If the numbers are too high, then you have a short somewhere. If worse comes to worse, and you think that your step light is a high priority for you, just tap off the light from the driver's side door and run your wires to the passenger's side door. I know this may be alot of work, but at least your step light will work.

 

I got a friend to hook up the multimeter to the wires on the step lamp and yes, the red/white wire is always on hot. The red/blue wire is a switched ground which is why I was thinking something in the bcm for just that one step lamp was fried since it goes from being an open connection to a very weak ground when I depress and release the door switch. I guess as an alternative to running a wire all the way from the drivers step lamp, I'm gonna attempt to find a good bcm off someones crashed Maxima to see if that fixes.

 

change the window switch... i know it sounds crazy, but just try it ...worked for me

 

Actually, I thought about doing that too. Since the wires from the door switch run to the power window module, then back out to the light. There may be a secondary protection circuit in there which would make sense.

 

hmm.. any pictures of exactly what i should be looking for in the bcm? i think ill try to see if i can correct this..

also, what can i possibly get from tapping into the power window control?
would this work?

 

Since there are no schemtics of what's in the bcm, I wouldn't advise taking it apart to fix the problem. Also, it may not be the bcm, it could be a circuit in the power window switch. What I am guessing is that the wiring for the door lights run to the power window module where it's protected by a circuit, then runs out to the light from that module. So in theory, if something got fried in there, replacing the power window switch/module would fix it. I didn't suggest tapping into it.

 

Welp, I fixed the problem. Bought a power window switch off a fellow orger and replaced mine with it. The door courtesy light is once again functional. I'd definitely recommend that anyone with this issue try replacing the switch first before going further and replacing things such as the bcm.
Thanks 95GLE, I had thought of doing this to begin with but wasn't to motivated until you responded saying that you had fixed it this way.