I didn't get an answer on one of the other forums, so I'll ask it here:

Has anyone else faced a problem with getting the dome light to work when the doors are open? The dome light has a 3 way switch for door, off & on, plus 2 buttons for the lights. However, no matter where I place the switch, the lights do not come on when the door is open, and if I press the buttons to turn on the lights, they don't go off when the door is closed. I'm going to be installing an alarm & keyless entry & want the dome light working, but I'm not sure of what's going on.

 

I'm not sure if this will help, but I just had this exact issue with my '97 Protege. There are actually 3 bulbs. Once for each side light which is activated by the buttons that you are referring to and one that is seperate which is actually the Dome Light. Pull off the cover and check the bulb that is in the middle to see if it is burned out. Mine wasn't burned out, but I removed it, cleaned the contacts and re-installed it and "POOF" the dome light is now functioning properly. Let me know if this helps.

 

I found the dome bulb & it looked fine, no broken filament. The contacts appeared to be clean, however, but with the switch set to "door" & the door open, the bulb still didn't come on. I pushed the contact in a bit to tighten the bulb & it popped out on me. Now, the filament wire does extend through the top of the bulb & when I rotated it a bit, I thought I noticed a brief "spark" on that end. Don't know if it had something to do with it or not, though.

 

Does the dome light not come on with any of the four doors being opened or just one. Is normal for the ones that you push to not turn off when doors are closed as they are not on the door switch circuit.

 

It turned out that one of the "silver caps" on either side of the light was missing, exposing the filiment end on that side. kd5hmy mentioned in an IM that the "spark" I had seen was a good sign & I bought a new bulb. As soon as I saw the difference between the old one & the new ones, I knew the new would work & I was right. It's working....Now all I have to do is solve the problem of installing my Bulldog alarm & keyless entry.....I'm electrically challenged when it comes to cars, except for audio. The new alarm has an ignition shutdown & a bunch of other options, but I'm concerned about finding the wires I need.....I definitely have to find a voltmeter. Any ideas?