overhead light switches
 

It seems as if the two overhead interior light switches in my 2006 Mazda 6 have failed. Is that possible? Is it likely?

Nothing happens when,

1) I move both switches to "on" and
2) I move both switches to "door" and open the doors.

In both settings the overhead lights stay off.

I know that the bulbs in all four lights are good, because I can turn them on individually by pushing each light's button.

The problem is not the switches on the doors, because, when I open the front doors, the two courtesy lights at the bottom of the doors come on.

I could understand one light fixture failing, but both at the same time seems unlikely.

Does anyone have any knowledge or experience of this problem? TIA

You will need to check if it's a positive or negative switch, then check for power & earth.

I have seen the switches fail before, not common, but they have failed.

I found the problem. It is in the design. The light switches use copper strips that are stuck onto pinions hanging down from the top of the switch housings. The strips are held in place only by their friction against the pinions. Apparently that is not enough to withstand the effects of time and gravity. When I opened the front and rear switch boxes on the ceiling, these copper strips were lying loose on the floor of each box. I picked up each strip and pushed it back into place on its pinion, and now the dome lights work properly.

Pics
 

Do you have photos of the repair?

I do not have any photographs, but watch . At 00:58 the video shows the copper strip in question. At that point in the video the strip is in the center of the housing, at the bottom as the housing hangs from the ceiling. Observe that in the video the copper strip is attached to a two-headed plastic post. In my car, when I pulled down each housing--front and rear--the copper strip fell out. Each strip had fallen off that two-headed plastic post. I then pushed each strip back onto its post and reinstalled each housing. And the dome lights worked.

The only task that requires care is the removal of the housings. Observe where the clips are on the sides of the switch housing. It would be wise to insert the tool up along the sides of the housing where those clips are. And I recommend, if possible, using a tool thinner than the screwdriver used in the video. The reason is the thinness of the ceiling cover. A tool as thick as the screwdriver can easily tear the fabric of the ceiling cover.

As a matter of fact, now that I have posted the link to the YouTube video, I see that the preview of that video shows exactly what I am talking about. The copper strip is there in the preview.