Hi Everyone,

I'm having problem with my 1997 blazer that I hope you can help me
with.

Very recently, the interior light will not turn off when the gate is
opened. I did some searching on the web, and someone mentioned that
the glass from the gate may be pulling away from the switch, and this
could be the problem.

This will be the first thing that I look at. Unfortunately, I am not
too mechanicially inclined, so I have no idea what the switch looks
like. But I have a chilton manual, tools, and I am tired of
disconnecting the battery, so I hope to be victorious against this
issue soon.

Anyone have any experience with this? Am I going down the wrong path?
Should I be looking elsewhere? If this isn't the problem, is there a
fuse or a simpler way for me to disable the light in the meantime?
Is there bigger problem (like why would the glass pull away?) that I
should be looking at or expecting?

Thanks for the help!

Tom

First let me clarify someting you may have inadvertently wrote. The light
is supposed to come on when the tailgate and/or glass hatch is opened.
Hence, by your description nothing appears to be wrong at all.

All joking aside, I presume you mean that the light won't go off when you
close the glass hatch. Now, in '97 there were two styles of back hatches.
The first was a full hatch that pivoted at the top edge that had the glass
set into it (which also opened but not when the full hatch was opened). The
second was a "clamshell" type rear hatch where the back glass opened upward
pivoting at the top edge and the rear gate opened downward, pivoting at the
bottom. In order the get the bottom gate open, you had to open the top
glass first.

If you have the full hatch, then stop reading right here. Our '95 blazer
had the clamshell style.

However, if you have the "clamshell" type, then here is what to look for:
With the bottom gate up and closed, look at the top center where the latch
for the top glass catches and holds it closed. Just to the left of the
where the top glass latch inserts into the lock is a small button style
electrical switch. It is spring loaded so when the top glass hatch is open
the switch is out and the light is on, and when the glass is closed the
switch is pressed in by the glass and the light is off. If the switch is
present, you should be able to press it in with your finger to get the light
to turn off.

Three things to look for. If the switch is missing, it has fallen out of
it's mounting holder and is inside the bottom tailgate. You will have to
remove the inner plastic panel to retrieve the switch and remount it in it's
original holder.

If the switch is present but very loose, you may be able to clip it back
into position or tighten whatever fastener keeps it in place to bring it
back out to it's original position. This is quite common, and the switch
sinks back into the mount where it won't get pressed hard enough to turn the
light off.

Lastly, the switch is OK but you have a common problem with the top glass
hatch. With the top glass hatch closed, look at it from either side. If
the very top of the hatch is raised above the back edge of the roof by 1/2"
or more (quite noticable), then the hinges are defective and coming apart,
causing the hatch to creep upward and not make contact with the switch to
turn off the light. However, if the top edge of the back glass hatch is
even with the back edge of the roof, then everything is fine and you just
have to fix the switch only.

Good luck and hope this helps - Jonathan

--
Jonathan A. Race
Lieutenant, EMS Supervisor
Orange County (FL) Fire Rescue Department

(This message may contain personal opinions and/or information not related
to my employment or employer)
"Tom" <supertomcom (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote

I'm sorry, but I should have also mentioned that in the meantime before you
diagnose and fix the switch, just remove the bulbs and you won't have to
disconnect the battery all the time.

Cheers - Jonathan

--
Jonathan A. Race
Lieutenant, EMS Supervisor
Orange County (FL) Fire Rescue Department

(This message may contain personal opinions and/or information not related
to my employment or employer)
"Jonathan Race" <jonrace (AT) earthlink (DOT) com> wrote