Weird Interior Lighting Issues

[ErikG84]

Hello, this is my first post on this forum. My wife owns a 2009 Dodge Journey which we have had for about 1.5 years. Recently, we started noticing some weird issues with the interior lighting.

First, about 80% of the time, when the rear hatch is opened, the interior lights will start flashing. They go from full on to a very low dim, then slowly get brighter until they get back to full brightness before it repeats the process. It doesn't stop until the rear hatch is closed.

A second issue that we just noticed last night is that when the headlights are on, and the shift lever is in Reverse, the interior lights come on. They are extremely dim, but noticable. As soon as you shift into park or neutral or drive, the lights turn off, but when the car is in reverse, they turn back on. Also, as soon as you turn the headlights off, the interior lights turn off too.

Anyone know what could cause issues like this?

[Lobitz68]

Your first issue sounds like a short somewhere in the rear hatch area, but that wouldn't explain the other phenomenon... Unless you have more than one issue.

[OhareFred]

This sounds like a bad ground. Start by checking the ground for the reverse lights. A lot of times the same ground location is used for several different items. Look for a black wire under a bolt, etc. sometimes just loosening and re-tightening the bolt will do it, other times you need to clean the connector, bolt, and ground location. I don't know where this ground is located, but start by looking around the frame under the rear of the car. This may correct the dimness issue, but I really don't have a clue on the bright to dim show. Hope this helps!

[jkeaton]

Bad ground somewhere.

[B4ZINGA]

I wouldn't be surprised if the reverse lights and hatch switch share a ground, or perhaps the hatch switch and headlamp switch. Look for a ground near the rear of the vehicle (probably need to remove interior trim pieces) and around the headlight switch in the dash.