C280 (1997?) Interior Light Delay
 

My brother has a C280 (unsure of the vintage) that has a problem with the interior light. He indicates that the light works but will turn off immediately rather than delay as it did previously. Is there a relay or timer in this vehicle? If so, can some direct me to its location, as well as prescribe a series of test to see if it is functioning properly?

Any assistance is much appreciated.

It may depend on if the key is in the ON positon or not, try it with the key out of the ignition.
The timing circuitry is I believe all part of the dome lamp assembly itself and not replaceable seperately.

Gilly

Gilly, thanks for the tip. I'll give a try when I see him next week and let you know what I found.

Best regards and happy holidays.

Sounds good. The reasoning here is that they figure if the key is on/engine is running that you're getting in the car and ready to drive off, so you won't want the dome lamp on, especially at night when it would be irritating at best, or a distraction and unsafe at worst.
However if the key is off, they figure you could use the light to find your key and get it in the ignition, etc. Once you turn the key on, I believe that triggers the dome lamp to shut off, otherwise the dome lamp shuts itself of after I believe about a 30 second delay.

Gilly