several weeks ago all the interior lights that should come on when i turn on my headlights quit working. the dimmer switch still works (i think) since it turns on my interior lights as it should and i can hear activity from it near the fuse panel. since i dont have a fuse panel cover and my manual is nothing short of useless, i checked every fuse and they were all good. i know the dimmer could be suspect, but could it something as simple as a burned out bulb in the circuit that doesnt allow any other lights to turn on? ive also recently found out about yet another pricey electrical component, the body control module. the bcm, seems like yet another bad idea by the chrysler corp and i know it controls the lighting and instruments but should i suspect it? or is this something simple?

It could be in your switch, when I turn the lights on in my 98 Wrangler the dash lights don't come on but if I push in slightly on the switch they will come on.

Worth a try, Dennis

the actual switch works as it should, turns on the headlights and whatnot. the dimmer switch will turn on the interior light and i can hear "activity" down by the fuse box when i play with it. new to jeeps, never heard of needing a whole different "brain", being the body control module, to only control the lights. a mech i know printed out the schematic for it, but an electrician i aint. any idea what else the bcm may control?

To limit current draw, lights are wired in parallel. Lights in series would all fail if one failed.

If you hear "activity" by the fuse box when you play with it, you might have a corroded or lose connection that is causing a relay to switch.

Don't know about a body control module for lights and instruments. However, if your problem is limited to lights, isolate that circuit and check connections. Yes, even the switch...

The BCM controls the interior illumination of the circuits controlled by the dimmer switch. These include the lamps in the cluster, door switches, radio, center console, etc.

The dimmer switch is an input to the BCM. it does not directly control the lights. The dimmer switch is controlling a GROUND path to the BCM, meaning it is a variable resistor to Ground that the BCM is reading to interpret the wished lamp setting of the driver. If you ground out pin 8 on the headlamp switch, or pin 20 on connector C2 on the BCM the instrument lights should come on full. (Wire color is Black with a White tracer, connector color is White)

The BCM wire that feeds all the dimmable lights is on pin 16, connector C2, color is plain Orange. This wire feeds + Power to all the lights. If you jumpered this wire to + voltage, all the lights should illuminate full. One burnt bulb will not prevent the others from working.

With a DRB-3 or other Scan Tool that will read the BCM system, you can read the inputs, and actuate the outputs of the BCM and read fault codes, which greatly simplifies diagnosis of the BCM controlled systems. The fault code for the Illumination control issue would be "PWM test Failed". If you have this code present, check resistance to ground on the pin 16, connector C2 Orange wire circuit, if over 5 Ohms, replace the BCM, if it is under 5 ohms, check the wiring for a short to ground.

Checking continuity, circuit resistances and connectors for corrosion may help determine if the Dimmer, BCM or the dash wiring is at fault.

Hope this helps!