Toyota Camrys have reused many of their interior lights from previous cars.
Even though there are very few new cars without push button start, Toyota is trying to stay competitive in this evolving market.
In practically any car, there is a ton of light in both the interior and exterior.
For the interior lights, you have the dome lights, map lights, door lights, dashboard— and this is just a partial list.
Newer cars or more expensive cars should have more features, not necessarily more lights.
The exterior lights are more obvious since they are literally talked about and required by regulators to be functional and operational.
In this article, we will discuss why your Toyota Camry Interior Lights won’t turn on—
- Loose connections are at fault
- Check your fuses
- Check your bulbs
- Door switch issues
- Small wire harness connection
Loose connections are at fault
It is vital that you have a secure connection to your body control module (BCM) so that your car battery can provide sufficient energy to your interior lights so that they can power on.
Check the wiring to see that there are not any loose connections.
When you are driving about your day or taking your car in for some work/maintenance, it could be an accident that wires get knocked loose or get damaged.
For instance, you would, at minimum, check these connections—
- Ground wire
- Wires going to the dome fuse
Check your fuses
It is very common to have a blown fuse that does not allow your Toyota Camry’s interior lights to turn on.
It is also well-known that your rear interior lights will have a blown fuse.
Replacing the 7.5 Amp fuse will correct the problem immediately.
Here are a few you should look out for—
- Dome fuse
- Door No 1
- Door No 2
- ECU-B No 1
- ECU-IG No 1
- ECU-ACC
Check your bulbs
It will be assumed that you checked the voltage of your lights with a voltmeter, which should read at least 12V.
If your fuses are in good condition, it could be possible that one of your lightbulbs has malfunctioned and requires a replacement.
LED lights today—
- Are brighter
- Lasts longer
- More Efficient
This is compared to the older version of light bulbs.
Do yourself a favor and upgrade your bulbs.
Door switch issues
If the problem is not the bulbs, it could be a poor connection with one of your door switches.
Here, this is what you would want to do—
- Use some contact cleaner lubricant
- Unscrew the door switches and pull them out a bit (the wires will prevent you from yanking on them)
- Spray some solution onto the switch so that the insides get lubricated
- Screw the switches back in
Sometimes, your switches could get stuck or just not respond in a predictable way, which means that you have to replace them.
Or another sign is that when you see a blown fuse after installing a new dome light when there were no previous issues, this signals a faulty switch or bulb holder.
Small wire harness connection
This is a more uncommon issue but if you had maintenance done where you did some trim work and removed some panels, there is a possibility that you forgot to plug in a small wire harness.
For instance, you could have forgotten to attach a single relay to the trim piece.
A very easy mistake to spot if you know where to look.
What causes interior lights to stay on?
- If your doors are open
- If your dome switch is on
With those two conditions, your interior dome lights create a complete circuit for electricity to power your interior lights.
This is a simple version of what makes your Toyota Camry interior lights turn on when the circuit is closed.
How to make interior lights turn on when door opens for a Toyota Camry?
On the dome light, there is a switch with three options:
- On
- Off
- Door
Setting the switch to the door option will make your interior lights turn on when the door opens.
Keep in mind that these options are also responsible if you want to not have the interior lights on, etc.
You are in charge of this simple customization.
How long can interior lights be on before the battery dies?
With good batteries, your interior lights can be on for several days without having a dead battery.
X2 Power vs Odessey battery… what is your pick?
- X2 Power – 76Ah (20 hours)
- Odessey – 65Ah (20 hours)
Both are great and they should last you years, if not decades if you are proactive about your driving.
Since most normie car batteries have around 50Ah, it would usually take 25-40+ hours to really drain a normal battery with just the interior lights on.
With the high-powered batteries mentioned adobe, expect longevity and excellence.
Another thing to keep in mind is that batteries should not be draining within 8-10 hours after a fresh installation.
There are some owners that just keep having battery issues and I am here to say that that is atypical.
For a Toyota Camry, your car battery will last approximately 3-5 years, depending on many variables. The Toyota Camry BCM turns off accessories once the battery reaches a certain voltage even if the car is not running, saving power.
Wrapping It Up
There are not too many things that can go wrong with Toyota Camry interior lights.
It really just boils down to a couple of things:
- Fuses
- Loose connections
- Faulty switches
Throw in a few cases where you have a missing connection due to human error or a blown out bulb, and this should sum up most of why your interior lights are not turning on.
But even with these minor issues, it is great to know that Toyota is making reliable products, even though they are not popular in Europe.
At least it is much better having a Dodge Charger interior lights issue.
But enough about having issues with your cars.
Let us focus on better and brighter aspects of history— like the best Thunderbird cars.
