I had some work done on '78 SA in spring '07 by a 'Vette savvy back yard mechanic, including some electrical work. A week after I got it back from him my battery died. Closer inspection revealed the interior lights were on with the doors closed.. It took over a week for the problem to show up. My immediate solution was to remove all the bulbs then forget about it, and it's been that way for over 2 years. I'd take it back to the guy but he is now a 75 mile drive away. Anyone have any ideas what to look for??

Happy New Year!!

Dave

Darn electrical....it sounds simple but you just never know.

I would get all the bulbs back in and check the door jam switches first unplug one at a time I think they may have a pigtail on them. Then the light switch, if not Doctor Joel can direct you to the wiring schematic......

Do you remember what the guy did to the car electricly?

For sure check the pin-switches in the door jambs. That's the most likely culprit. The other thing that can cause this is the courtesy light timer module. I think it is located behind/under the glove box, but I could be wrong on that.
I'd check all of the pin switches first, then start checking to see if a wire had gotten pinched when the other work was done. I'd go to the timer module last.

OK... I'll check on it when the gaage warms up some. I think the little guy who worked on it did do some work involving the timer. He got the interior lights working for the first time in years and they worked for a week..... Note the reference to "little guy" , 5' 7", 145 lbs. 38 years old who can comfortably get to stuff under there..... I'm 'bout your size and even older...

Dave

THIS is what you are looking for.  Not sure how the 78 differs but on my 82 it is exactly where Joel mentioned above, behind and to the passengers side of the glove box.  If you can't see it from the passengers side footwell remove the "guts" of the glove box and you should find it.
Crossfire19822010-01-09 10:47:04

Wow! Chip, that timer is 90 bucks......Ouch

For a '78 the location of the courtesy light timer depends on when the car was assembled.  Earlier '78s had the timer mounted by the fuse box under the driver side of the dash.  At some point in the model year it was moved to behind the glove box.  The '78 I used to own was built in September of '77 and its timer was by the glove box.  

just a stupid question here. as we wait for ebo to get up off the floor after seeing the price, is it possible to bypass the timer? 

Sorry ebo, I didnt mean to bring on a panic attack 

[QUOTE=Crossfire1982]Sorry ebo, I didnt mean to bring on a panic attack  [/QUOTE]