Door Lights / Door Ajar Issue

[sapphirexae]

Hello everyone,

I just started having an issue. When my driver's door is closed, the door lights do not go off and my door open light on the dash stays illuminated. Any ideas? I was thinking one of the two spring loaded door switches found on the side of the dash / door frame.

[Ron]

If you suspect a switch, unplug it. Go from there...

[David T]

If you suspect a switch, unplug it. Go from there...

The plungers are supposed to have a rubber tip on them. If it is missing the switch is not actuated enough to open the circuit. A short piece of vacuum hose can substitute. This can also allow the door lights to stay on draining the battery.

[DeLorean03]

Check to make sure the plunger is getting pressed. Open your door, press the plunger with your hand. If the lights are going out, you know the switch works. From there, lay on the ground, and slowly bring the door down (works better with 2 people). If you can look closely enough, you might be able to note if the door is no longer pushing the plunger in (rare/weird for the door and plunger to all of a sudden not line up anymore). If that's the case, tighten up the four 17 mm bolts (2 on the front of the door, 2 on back) near where the door hinges to the roof.

[sapphirexae]

Alrighty, I finally got around to taking a good look at it and the problem was glaringly obvious. One of the rubber caps on the plunger (the upper one) fell off. Now hows that for an easy problem? Awesome!

[ccurzio]

The best fixes are the easy ones. Good work.

[DMC5180]

The other glitchy problem with these switches is geometry. The door does not make contact and push perpendicular to the switch. The contact point on the door moves at a steep glancing angle to the switch. Because the end caps or Vac hose are rubber they tend to be sticky and push the switch plunger downward more than inward. This causes the plunger to occasionally bind rather than move inward. About the most reliable switches I ever saw someone use were Proximity switches. No physical contact is ever needed.

[Ron]

Because the end caps or Vac hose are rubber they tend to be sticky and push the switch plunger downward more than inward. I've had good luck with the high pressure silicone block offs (http://store.034motorsport.com/silicone-high-pressure-nipple-block-off-caps.html), even for those that are way off.
They are harder and slicker than the rubber or regular silicone ones ;-)

[Bitsyncmaster]

The other glitchy problem with these switches is geometry. The door does not make contact and push perpendicular to the switch. The contact point on the door moves at a steep glancing angle to the switch. Because the end caps or Vac hose are rubber they tend to be sticky and push the switch plunger downward more than inward. This causes the plunger to occasionally bind rather than move inward. About the most reliable switches I ever saw someone use were Proximity switches. No physical contact is ever needed.

My mercury tilt switches work flawlessly since I mounted them inside the door with servo tape.