Door light diode location?

[jangell]

Another weird thing I noticed while messing with my car this weekend is that the door lights (the ones in the doors, not the dome lights) only come on when the key is in the accessory or run positions. The dome lights seem to work just fine, and the door ajar light is working (and is presumably what is powering the door lights when in accessory/run, or so the schematic suggests), so my guess is the diode on the P/W wire between the delay module and the door lights is bad.

So my question is: where would I find that diode? It's definitely not in the relay compartment (I think...). I'm guessing it's under the dash somewhere, maybe?

Thanks!

-- Joe

[Jonathan]

Driver's footwell, to the right of the accelerator pedal. Likely zip-tied to a larger wire jumble. Might be partially hidden by some of the carpeting.

48937

[jangell]

Excellent -- I'll take a look this weekend. Thanks!

-- Joe

[Bitsyncmaster]

The door lights don't use the diodes. Check that the purple wire had 12 volts all the time.

[jangell]

The door lights don't use the diodes. Check that the purple wire had 12 volts all the time.

I see your point -- I checked the wiring diagram again and I it seems was concentrating far too much on the P/W wire, overlooking the P one that is clearly live at all times, and the ground from the switch. I'll check out fuse 12 this weekend and make sure it's good. I replaced the fusebox while waiting for EFI parts and checked all the key systems, but forgot to test the courtesies (due to half the dash being out of the car), and already found a bad connection to the radio and a slipped socket for the power windows, so I wouldn't be surprised if I screwed up fuse 12 as well.

Thanks!

-- Joe

[Bitsyncmaster]

If the dome lights are working then probably the purple wire is live. So the switch ground may be the problem but that also works the dome lights.

Do you have the white dome light dimmer unit installed?

[jangell]

I took out the delay unit/dimmer, since I converted to LEDs some time ago. In fact, as part of my EFI conversion I reused the delay unit's socket for something else and just solder the P/W wires together.

The dome lights work in both positions, although I haven't actually tried closing the doors while in the car yet (I just made sure the dome light was plugged in and flipped it to "always on" and "on when doors are open").

I'll check the ground anyway. It's possible I screwed something up when I ran my ground bus. I left the old grounds intact, but perhaps I messed up something trying to reach that ground bundle under the dash. I have also replaced the physical door light switches with magnetic switches, but that was a long time ago and I doubt that they suddenly failed on both doors at the same time.

-- Joe

[jangell]

Turns out this was another example of me wiring up something wrong. Years ago I replaced the mechanical door switches with magnetic ones. I got ones that were NC instead of NO, so I had to use a transistor to switch the behavior, and that required an always-live 12v source. When I was updating my wiring, I inadvertently hooked that up to an accessory switched source. That explains everything.

Of course, now that it's back to being always live, the passenger door lights don't work. I probably killed the transistor, as connecting P/K directly to ground causes the lights to go on. It's probably time just to get properly NO switches (if I just fix the transistor circuit).

Thanks everyone for the help!

-- Joe

[Bitsyncmaster]

Turns out this was another example of me wiring up something wrong. Years ago I replaced the mechanical door switches with magnetic ones. I got ones that were NC instead of NO, so I had to use a transistor to switch the behavior, and that required an always-live 12v source. When I was updating my wiring, I inadvertently hooked that up to an accessory switched source. That explains everything.

Of course, now that it's back to being always live, the passenger door lights don't work. I probably killed the transistor, as connecting P/K directly to ground causes the lights to go on. It's probably time just to get properly NO switches (if I just fix the transistor circuit).

Thanks everyone for the help!

-- Joe

I use mercury switches mounted in the door. You just mount them tilted the way you want NO or NC.

[jangell]

That's a good idea. You don't have any problems with the dome lights flashing on briefly when you hit a bump? I'm guessing the bit of wiring that installed the switch on is easily accessible after removing the top door trim?

-- Joe

[Bitsyncmaster]

That's a good idea. You don't have any problems with the dome lights flashing on briefly when you hit a bump? I'm guessing the bit of wiring that installed the switch on is easily accessible after removing the top door trim?

-- Joe

No problems with flashing. Mine turn on with bottom edge of the door at 43" from the ground.

Here is my thread:
http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?3188-Door-switch-alternatives&highlight=mercury