The Nissan Path

Has anyone run into an issue where the rear interior light doesn't (usually) light up when opening the hatch? Mine is working fine when I open the hatch glass by itself, but rarely when I open the entire liftgate. It seems to be getting worse with age - now at 10.5 years and 167k miles.

Is there a mercury tilt switch or something similar in the latch mechanism? I've searched online here and elsewhere for the issue, as well as for a separate part, and have turned up nothing.

I can turn on the rear light manually with no issue, except I (and others) occasionally forget that it is on. If the switch is a bear to get to or replace, maybe I'll opt for an LED bulb replacement which should cause less drain on the battery.

TIA

The back hatch switch is likely part of the rear hatch lock assembly (I believe the parts catalog refers to it as the "back door"). One would need to remove the rear hatch interior finisher to inspect, which is not a difficult job if you've ever had to remove a door panel in the past. You might be able to lube the switch with some WD40 to get it working again.

Mine has been intermittent. Did the wd40 lube and seems to have fixed it for now.

TNhunter - where did you lube? Could you see the switch with the interior cover off the hatch? TIA

Resurrecting a 9 year old thread. Does anybody know where the switch actually is? My rear hatch light only turns on manually or when opening the glass. It never comes on when opening the liftgate.

I just shot wd40 around the latch in the tailgate. Still working.

I tried some dry lube but no luck. Maybe some we will free it up. I just worry the wd will make it worse after a couple months on gravel roads.

Can anyone verify that there is some kind of switch attached to the latch assembly? Can I remove and clean it?