Ghost in electrical system..please help!

[JoshSpecV]

Hey everybody, I am having a very strange issue with the interior lighting in my 2003 Sentra SE-R Spec V. This problem affects the middle light on the roof, the two map reading lights at the front on the roof, and the lights on the sides of the vanity mirrors located in the visors. They worked before, then the middle light did not work because the bulb was burnt out. I replaced that and it worked fine. I was cleaning the interior tonight (i just bought the car a week ago) and i noticed the light wouldn't work. I checked the fuses and the bulbs and they were all fine, my dash lights and headlights still worked so it was not the battery, but nothing inside on the roof would work. About half an hour later all of a sudden they would all work fine again. Then as I was working they all of a sudden stopped working, then worked again awhile later, then stopped again, etc. When I was done with the car they were working again at the time. The car wasn't moved during that time and I was only cleaning so nothing was apart that could cause them to shut off.

Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this?

Thanks alot
Josh

[JudoJohn]

It sounds like you have an intermittent open wire. Notice i did not say short; it is not a shjort-circuit. maybe a wire connection is loose. check the wires at and near the affected items.

[NissanTech]

I agree with JudoJohn, it does sounds like a loose or poor connection. I have attached the harness diagram, to help you locate the connector.

[ritter]

They are set to shut off after 20 min or so ------safety!!!!? [so your battery will not die]
GOOD LUCK! WITH YOUR NEW CAR....................

[JoshSpecV]

Ok thanks alot for the help! The guy I bought it from put extra gauges down the driver side front column on the ride of the windshield(oil pressure, oil temp), and there are two screws holding it in so I figured the idiot might have screwed into a wire..and now that I see the main wire runs down that column im thinking that is what it is.
Are those plastic pieces on the columns easy to pull off? Or are there fragile fasteners holding them on that im going to break if I try to pull it off?..

And to Ritter, they didn't just shut off on me, they wouldn't turn back on either, but thanks for the help everyone!

[NissanTech]

Are those plastic pieces on the columns easy to pull off? Or are there fragile fasteners holding them on that im going to break if I try to pull it off?..

Yes, easy to pull off. Just try to insert a screw driver between the body and the base of the plastic pieces.