I'm hoping I can get some help with a disagreement concerning "ground" on an automotive forum. My opinion is too many people write off whatever they don't understand is happening with a circuit as a bad ground. In this particular instance the vehicle owner has to turn the interior dome light on to start the vehicle. Most everyone is saying "bad ground," which doesn't make sense to me. If vehicle ground is a "zero voltage reference," then Kirchhoff's Law states the circuit voltage necessary to start the vehicle has to has to be recognized before ground or the zero voltage reference. My opinion is this has to be a short circuit somewhere in the circuit and has nothing to do with ground. Others are adamant that somehow the voltage necessary to start the vehicle is making a "detour" (as they put it) through ground to complete the circuit. It doesn't make sense to me that ground can both be a zero voltage reference and at the same time allow a circuit to find continuity through ground to complete the ignition circuit. This means ground can be both a zero voltage reference and voltage circuit simultaneously. Anyone have any thoughts on this to share? Thank you.