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Old 06-01-2022, 04:35 PM   #1
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1997 Winnebago Sunflyer Dome Light?

We own a 1997 Winnebago sunflyer. My question is. The inside done light stays on when you open the drivers door. I have removed the door pillar switch and checked with a meter. It works fine but the dome light stays on, any help is better than none
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Old 06-01-2022, 07:31 PM   #2
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Sounds like we may need a bit more info on which model you have as there are often many, many 97 Sunflyer made.

Not finding a 97 Sunflyer listed for wiring diagrams, so may need to checking?
https://www.winnebago.com/Files/File...ram/Wiring.htm

But some questions may also get info moving. So tell us more abut what exactly is happening. Is this a class C where you have a "normal" auto type door and the dome light comes on when you open the door? Is the problem that the light stays on when opening the door or that it stays on after closing the door?

Is this an RV that has a switch on the dash, maybe the light switch which one can rotate to turn the overhead light on? Lots of different ways different cars were made for doing the light but perhaps try turning a few knobs on the dash to find one which is left turned on.
I'm thinking of the switch that often controlled the dash light brightness but if turned to a certain point, it clicked and left the dome light turned on???

But then, I'm not clear on what the real problem is as I think of it as being supposed to stay on when you open the door!

Little more info please?
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Old 06-01-2022, 07:48 PM   #3
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Good to hear from you. The unit is a class a Itaska 1997. When I open the drivers door the dome light comes on, when the door is closed the dome light stay on but you can see that it is not as brite. I have made sure that the headlamp switch is fully turned that the dash lites are out. The dome lite has 3 wires. If i disconnect the center dome wire the light stays off.
This only started to happen after I reconnected the batteries after winter storage. I don't know if there is a timer, I hope this helps
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Old 06-01-2022, 07:52 PM   #4
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The Winnebago documents indicate that the Class A Winnebago Itasca Sunflyer was introduced in 1998 and that there were 5 different models. Four models had gas engines (either Ford V-10 or V-8 or a Chevy V-8). One model was a diesel on a Freightliner chassis. These models included a driver's side door. From a quick scan of the wiring diagrams, it looks like the dome light comes on when the driver's door is opened but that there might also be another switch located on the dash (as Richard mentions in post #2 above.)

It really would help to know what model number.
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Old 06-01-2022, 07:55 PM   #5
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Metis, here is a link you can use to get the wiring diagrams.

https://www.winnebago.com/Files/File...ram/Wiring.htm
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Old 06-01-2022, 08:04 PM   #6
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Good question. The model number 1FL33WB . Ford chassis F53 460 gas. The only other switch is the head lamp switch .
This may help you. If you reconect the center dome light wire , it will take about 30 seconds and then the light comes on with the door closed.
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Old 06-01-2022, 08:23 PM   #7
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Maybe we can start to sort the ID a bit? Does this sound likely?

RV are often built on the previous years chassis, so you may have found you have a 97 chassis but the RV body added by Winnebago is called a 1998 model as that is when they completed the build! What we often see is that we have to gofor the chassis year beingdifferent when we want to order parts like brakes, lights, etc which are part of the normal truck BUT if we want to get parts for the RV portion we may need to look for 1998 parts!
Just to mess with our minds?

I think you might have an 1998 Itasca Sunflyer IFL33WB but built on a 1997 chassis built by Ford, Chevy, etc. Does that seem right to you?

But since we don't get the real wire by wire info on the chassis parts like the dome light,
we can't go to the Winnbago drawings.

So some guessing? Is itpossible the dome wiring was changedand what you are seeing is the time delay which usually should keep the light on for a bit after we close the door but the wires got swapped and now works to turn the light on rather than off?
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Old 06-01-2022, 08:35 PM   #8
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That sounds possible. The strangest thing is that this all started after the batteries were reconnected after winter storage.
Yes it is possible that the unit maybe a 1998. This is all new to me owning a Rv. Is there a time delay in this unit. Do you think it may be the head lamp switch causing feed back.
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Old 06-01-2022, 08:50 PM   #9
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On the dome light there are 3 wires 2 green and one purple wire there is a white wire that goes from the centre green to the purple wire , could this be a delay wire . If I knew how to show the picture that may help. Any how I really thank you for helping .
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Old 06-02-2022, 06:33 AM   #10
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I tell you, trying to follow these wiring diagrams is like a tangled fishing line. So I will keep on.
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Old 06-02-2022, 08:11 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Metis View Post
I tell you, trying to follow these wiring diagrams is like a tangled fishing line. So I will keep on.
SUPER! I see you have one of the few RV which have the chassis items and wiring online! I spot the dome light, which was NOT something I thought we would find, so that at least gives us something to chase.
From there, I would certainly not claim to be an expert but more of a bull headed guy who has chased a lot of drawings for lots of years. And that can be a big help with the Winnebago drawings as each company will have slightly different methods, so I've figured a few wrinkles on their drawings!

Since you've gotten this far, you are far better than many, so maybe some hints will help, if you have not got them figured yet?
One big one is to read over the wiring notes at the bottom left of the first page where you pick the year! Wire ID guide can be good for ID of each wire, if you have the code and can read it on the wire!
Don't skip wiring diagram help for basic plan they use.

They give details but main ideas are this:
The drawing sheets are printed like you had a set of them and could lay them out, side by side. Sheet 1 where the dome light shows, has three sheets they call frames (S1F3) is the left most of three frames and lays next to S1F2 and S1F1,so that the traces on sheet three that they don't have room for will run off frame 3 to thr right onto frame 2, etc.

Second big point may be the wire ID they stamp on the wires.
Like this example picture. So if you find a wire code or if you see an ID from the drawings like at the dome light where it says "XW, MN,MK," you can go to the list and it should tell what that wire is and from and too for it to locate the other end!
The drawing also shows what gauge and color to check the wires are in right place---if you have any labels on the connections.

Going to the list, there are some things to speed the search.
List here:
https://www.winnebago.com/Files/File...ical_guide.pdf

Get the list, hit "ctrl and F" at thew same time and that brings a dropdown where you can type a code like XW and it will bring a list where XW is found so you can hit the arrows to scroll down to that point without scrolling the long slow path down to it. This tells you which is battery and ground---big help!

So you find which you want as one may be missing, say MN? it goes up and off f3 to the right, so we know itleads to frame 2 and shouold come in on the left. We can go to F2 and find it there to continue the chase!

When looking for a sheet like sheet 3, don't go by the page numbering that our computers assign to the sheet or page as the drawings use the numbering down at bottom right and it is different than the PDF page numbers our computers put at the top!!

Sorry, maybe telling you more than you needed but maybe it helps so ---use what fits and ignore the rest!
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Old 06-02-2022, 06:36 PM   #12
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Thank you the information. You explained a lot to me . I have followed the wiring from the tv down to bottom inside fuse box. The wiring seems to point to a dimmer that seems not to be there. I will go back and 're look as I may have missed something. To what you are helping me I feel that you really know these units . I will keep you updated. Thanks again
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Old 06-02-2022, 07:31 PM   #13
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Some wire tracing to see if it fits what you see?
on this drawing:
https://www.winnebago.com/Files/File...998/126577.pdf

We can find the dome light on S1F3 and wire XM looks like it just goes straight to a ground lug somewhere around the front TV.
Looking with a meter at the domelight,do you see good steady ground on the thinner of the two green wires (maybe labled XW?) ?

Then if we follow the 14 gauge green wire (MN) it leads to S1F2 at the top right
Where if we could see the label H would cross 6. Like reading an old paper map?
One of the things I recognise is the door switch where the wire code changes from MN to a smaller 16 gauge UM.
Since UM goes off the right side to the next frame (Laying to the right?) we need to go up one more frame to S1 F1 and look for UM coming in on the left!
We find UM at the far top of that sheet and frame and follow it to where H and 4 would cross to see it meets a ground lug also. So that means you should also see ground at the dome light but on MN but if you push the door switch, that ground should open and close?
Can you get to a place where you can test that MN has good ground that changes when you open/close the door switch? That would prove the wiring good to that point and the switch works!

MK gets interesting as it leads to the fuse as well as an "under hood lamp".
One question is if you know where the "under hood lamp" is and does it work? That wouold say the fuse is okay as they share the fuse!

If we follow MK off the S1F3 to the right, it comes back at the left of S1F2 and goes past a side connection to the hood lamp before going to the fuse at far bottom right.
Does that drawing of the fuse panel look like what you find and is that fuse good?

So that is about all the wiring I see and there doesn't seem to be any timer, etc. unless it someway is connected at that note for the plug where it says it connects to GM dome lamp connector!

See if any of that makes sense but it seems like you should find ground on two wires at the light, one of them full time and the other opens/ closes when we move the door switch. Then the power comes in from the fuse on MK.

Good luck to you and hope it speeds the process along. You are correct, it does look like a ball of fishing line!! Backlash!!
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Old 06-03-2022, 06:49 PM   #14
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Hi Morich. Tank you for the help, you must be a technician. So I have good ground at the green wire . After doing all the checks with a volt and ohm meter all is good. I removed the dome lamp and cleaned the inside which looks like a reostat.
I then reconnected the 3 wire and the dome light is off. To day I whent back and the dome light was still off.
I then opened the door many times and all is working good. At this time I don't know what caused this issue after the battery was reconnected after storage. I guess that Ford has its own mind. I will keep you updated. Once again thank you.
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Old 06-03-2022, 07:03 PM   #15
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Good to hear! Yes, been doing this for a while but retired!

What sometimes happens and we don't even know it is that there is a point where the wiring is touching something metal it should not. In this case, they are switching the ground side and leaving the power/hot side connected to the light all the time.
The door switch is where the wiring is supposed to get the ground to make a full circle/ circuit but if the wire is already pressed against something like the metal of the door frame or the other ground wire, you get a full circuit that the switch doesn't break.

So in looking, you move a few wires around, find nothing, put it back together and it works, because you moved the right wire and never know where!

Best to just go back to enjoy life and never worry the issue!
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Old 06-04-2022, 06:20 PM   #16
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Hi Morich.
So far so good. Thanks for all your knowledge. Are you in the USA. I am in Canada in a small town.
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Old 06-07-2022, 04:42 AM   #17
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Morich found the problem, great! FWIW over 80% of all 12V issues are the result of a poor/missing ground. Quite often this happens because of not being used for along time.
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Old 06-07-2022, 07:46 AM   #18
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Originally Posted by Ray,IN View Post
Morich found the problem, great! FWIW over 80% of all 12V issues are the result of a poor/missing ground. Quite often this happens because of not being used for along time.
That's the odd part of this one as it was not a problem of the light missing the ground and not coming on but it has a system which switches ground on and off to make it operate and the light was staying on rather than not coming on.
So since it has kind of fixed itself, they may never know what was wrong.

The assumption has to be that there was some wire in the ground side between the switch and the light that was touching/shorting to metal giving that wire ground full time that the switch was not opening to turn the light off.
Maybe the two connections on the back of the switch mashed together? Maybe they set the battery down on a wire when they changed it?
Maybe they jarred loose a metal flake and it fell on the contacts?

Likely we never find out!!
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Old 06-07-2022, 11:55 AM   #19
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Hi Ray. The help Morich gave me was great. And yes sometimes it's a poor ground, or a poor wire connection, but I am grateful that help was available. Especially with understanding the wiring diagram. So far all is functioning.
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Old 06-07-2022, 01:14 PM   #20
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While the drawings can be very confusing, maybe some explanation on how this area is different will help anybody following along as it doesn't fit what we often think of finding.

First idea of electrical wiring is that it takes a full circle (circuit?) to make things work and we put a switch in to open that circle and make things stop working. That's the simple idea and most of the time we put that switch in the hot or positive side of our battery operated things. But sometimes they don't!

If we wire a light as in the first part of this drawing, closing the switch lets current flow from the positive, through the switch to the light and connect to the frame which is often the easy way to get back to the negative side of the battery which is also connected to the frame as ground.

Switch closed, current flows and light burns! Open the switch and it goes out.

But the problem OP had was the light would NOT go out when he opened the switch at the door!!

His circuit is wired different than many and the switch is placed in the negative or ground side of the circuit and when working as designed, opening that switch cuts the path to ground and the light goes out.
Think of the frame and much of the metal connected to it as one giant ground wire?

But the problem was not getting the light to work but getting it shut off!

That leaves the problem to be some way there was ground on the wire from the switch to the battery and as long as that ground was there, opening the switch made no difference as the current had a full path as the red line shows. Good techs soon learn to catch their wire clippings so they can't fly off and cause trouble later.

What and how that ground was getting there seems to have cleared by itself and we may never know how it was there as it could have been lots of small things like two wires mashed together on the back of the switch or just a loose wire in the wrong place. One easy to imagine would be the wires at the door switch may have been touching the metal door frame as that is what many RV things use as ground instead of an extra wire.

The circuit gods do not care where they find ground, either where they are supposed to or just some stray suits them!
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