Chevy Cavalier interior door lamp won't turn off.

I have a '99 Cavalier that's been mostly parked for the past year. It got taken out about once every four weeks, so it hasn't just been sitting undriven for a year, but it's probably only had 150 miles or so put on it since September 2007.

I took it out today with the intention of beginning to drive it regularly again, and a few new things happened. First, the reading lamps on the rearview mirror turned on almost immediately- it was daytime and I don't know precisely when, but sometime between me getting in the car and pulling out of the driveway, they were on. No matter which direction I flipped the switches, they wouldn't turn off. I played with the switches for a while, and eventually found a position for them that kept the reading lights off.

When I came back and turned off the car, however, the passenger side interior door light stayed on. Normally both lights come on for about 15 seconds, but this time the driver's side light didn't come on at all, while the passenger side lamp wouldn't turn off. I spent about an hour looking for information about the problem and reading the manual, and when I went back outside, it was still on. At one point, I went out and pushed my hand hard against the light and it turned off, but when I closed the door it came back on, the way the light always does when you close the door, and again wouldn't go off. After that, nothing I did would make it go off again.

I finally gave up and just removed the INT LAMP fuse, which controls both the reading lamps and the door lamps, as well as a host of other important things (radio, remote entry, etc), so it wouldn't be on all night draining the battery. That did make the light go off, obviously.

As it stands right now, I have no idea what the problem is, how to diagnose it properly, or what I can do to fix it. This wasn't a problem a year ago, when I last drove the car regularly, and as far as I'm aware, it hasn't been a problem in the past year, as it's a pretty noticeable one. So I'm not sure what's going on. Can you help?

Thanks!

--d

i would think it would be the swtch have you taken light out to see if wires are touching together like hot and ground at same time?or it could be the switch it's self? have you took it out and tested the wires with test light?

i would think it would be the swtch have you taken light out to see if wires are touching together like hot and ground at same time?or it could be the switch it's self? have you took it out and tested the wires with test light?

Thanks for the quick reply!

I haven't taken it out- honestly, I'm kinda car-illiterate, and may not be in a position to fix this myself. So please do not think poorly of me when I ask really dumb questions; if your answer is "you probably just need to take it to someone who knows what they're doing", I will accept it as wisdom. It's frustrating, though, to find a brand new problem in a car that hasn't really been driven in a year, so I wanted to at least ask to see if it's something I may be able to take care of on my own.

That said, here are my dumb questions:

How do you take the light out? There weren't any screws or anything along the casing for it; would I have to take the door apart? If the answer to that question is "yes", is that something an inexperienced person might be able to do on his own?

If I do take the bulb out, could I just leave it out and leave the light disconnected? It's not exactly crucial, and all things considered, I might be more inclined to do without the light than to pay to have it fixed, if it were to come to a choice between those two things. If I just removed the light and left it bulb-less, might that keep it from being a problem?

Finally, and I really do know that this sounds like a stupid question to someone who knows what they're talking about... but, um, what's the switch?

Thanks, I really do appreciate your help.

--d

i'll tell setting for a year mice,squarels,any rodent like that love to chew wires when they set that long.not saying thats your problem but i'd look around.want a laugh i got a 1976 rv with 440 in it and it sat down on the wabash river for about 5 years well it was my aunt and uncles after i got everything done that i thot to get it started i got in it close the door engine fired up and the dam squral ran up my leg i couldn't find door handle or window crank fast enough luckley i had passanger side door open then that quick he was on my lap jumped over and out the door he went. come to find out the left front floor vent was open and this was this summer.but yah they like wire.

Just look for some phillips head screws along the inside, ourside and bottom of your interior panel. There will also be two screws in the place you grab to close the door. You might have to take off another small piece above the door where your mirror is, depending on if you have manual or power mirrors. Once all the screws are off, pull it out as gently as you can, then tap the bottom upwards to work it out of the gap where the window is until the panel comes off. Now, I'm not sure if you have power locks, windows and mirrors, and because my Cavi doesn't have any of that, mine was easy to take off, I don't know if the switches are attached to the panel, so be very careful when taking it off, you don't want to rip out any wires. Do whatever you need to do for the light, and when you put it back on, put the top in (window gap) first, make sure it's in, then tap on the door with your fist or something that wont break the panel to get the plastic catches into place, but make sure it's all lined up. Then, replace your screws. Repeat on door 2.