Chrysler Repair: interior electrical problem, push button switch, auto repair manuals

Question
Hi Roland, Recently my car had some black smoke coming from out the steering wheel column. Just a small puff. Shortly, after that my air conditioning stopped working including the fan blower. My mechanics said they repaired some wire and installed a new ignition switch. After that when i open the front doors the domes lights wont come on and the chimes wont ring at all even if i leave the keys in the ignition or leave the headlights on. A electrician told me it was the headlight switch or component. We tried that it did not work. So now he bypassed the problem and the dash lights are working again but the chimes and dome lights still don't go on when i open the front doores. If i open the back doors the dome lights go on? Do you think this is a door switch problem or a Body control module problem? Thanks Roland for your help!  

Answer

Hi Frank,
I don't have any wiring diagrams for an Oldsmobile which is made by General Motors, not Chrysler Corp. But I would agree that the push button switch on the door frame is probably why the interior lights don't come on.  You could try rotating the plunger on the switch to see if it just might be a poor contact.
I don't understand why the radio operation would be related to the door being open or closed.
But to really get a handle on problems like these it is really helpful to have the wiring diagrams. There may be a collection of auto repair manuals at a public library near to you. I am just in the dark without them to be of any help to you. Thanks for your understanding and kind evaluation.
Roland





Hi Frank.
The main problem I have in answering your question is that you didn't tell me what is the year and model name of your vehicle.
I'm also a little confused about what you meant by the electrician 'bypassed the problem' because its appears that he didn't improve on any of your problems except maybe the dash lights which you hadn't mentioned before as an issue. So please tell me if you know what wiring he might have bypassed. And just to be sure, please list exactly what doesn't work now: all chime functions, dome lights don't come on when front door opened, and....?
The chime is built into the body computer so that might be one part of the problem, but I can't be sure without more information from you.
Use the comment section in the "rate the expert" tab to get back to me.
Roland