Alxx Nova

Hi,

I'm looking at a pdf copy of a 86 or 87 owners manual and it says:

Switch Positions
Rearward (a) - on continuously
Center (b) - off ' *-'•"
Foreward (c) - on, only with doors open

They do not mention any delayed lighting but I don't know if my 89 has that delay feature. If it doesn't have a delay feature then it might be related to what I'm working on below.

I have been having problems with my locks. As soon as I press the lock button or turn the key in the passenger door they lock and then they unlock right away. Turn the key in the drivers door and the power locks do nothing. What I'm thinking is ...

Maybe the switch that senses when the door is open is broken?
Would a open door register on the dash?
If the switch registered a door as open wouldn't locking the locks make them pop open right away?

I wondering if I'm on to something here?


-----------------------------------------------------
Alex Portanova
1989 944 N/A 5spd Black/Black
1992 Harley FXSTC
1999 Chrysler 300M

xsboost90

not on mine...

Alxx Nova

I should have mentioned that this afternoon when I flipped the switch to the "on with doors" position the light came on. This was while the doors were closed and I was waiting at a red light. I didn't want to play with it anymore while driveing and didn't have time when I got home. to try it again.

Cleared out 80% of the garage today. Just have to move the bike and it's lift to the other side and she'll have one side all to herself.


----------------------------------------------------
Alex Portanova
1989 944 N/A 5spd Black/Black
1992 Harley FXSTC
1999 Chrysler 300M

Epic2112

I've never seen one with a delay. There is a safety that will prevent you from locking the doors, although I'm not exactly sure when it will let you and when it won't.

Alxx Nova

The guy I bought the car from was having a battery drain problem. He installed one of those things that cut the battery off when it senses a drain. So now I'm wondering it this door switch was the problem. From what I have seen in his old posts he never got the door locks working right either.

-----------------------------------------------------
Alex Portanova
1989 944 N/A 5spd Black/Black
1992 Harley FXSTC
1999 Chrysler 300M

The DareDevil

Is there an aftermarket alarm installed?

Alxx Nova

No just the factory alarm. Which doesn't seam to work either. If it is this door fame switch thinking the door is open then that would keep the alarm from turning on also right?

Say is the car supposed to chime or turn on a light for "door ajar"?

-----------------------------------------------------
Alex Portanova
1989 944 N/A 5spd Black/Black
1992 Harley FXSTC
1999 Chrysler 300M

The DareDevil

Yep, a broken micro switch would goof the alarm. A chime will sound if the headlights are on, or there is a key in the ignition.

There are micro switches in the lock mechanisms as well so that the car knows if the doors are locked or not.

Alxx Nova

Just ran out and took a look. In both positions the light stays on. So I took a look at the switch in the door jam and it is pressed in further then it should go even if the door was pressing on it. I tried pressing on it to see if it would pop out but it's stuck in there.

Now being pressed in should have the car thinking the door is closed. Unless there is something else going on. Maybe a wire is not connected or something. I have to get some work done first but I'm going to pop it off this afternoon and see what's going on.

-----------------------------------------------------
Alex Portanova
1989 944 N/A
1992 Harley FXSTC
1999 Chrysler 300M

streckfu's

You are having a problem with the door sensor (the **** switch the door pushes closed when you close the door). This will cause both the light issue as well as the battery drain. The switch is in the forward doorframe and is held in place by two screws. You can remove the switch and clean it with a contact cleaner being sure to manually exerciset the switch. Do this for both doors.

See if that fixes your problem.



EDITED: Just saw your last post. Let us know what works. If you need a new switch, contact www.partsheaven.com

Alxx Nova

Didn't really have too much time today but I did get to check out a few things.

Switched on the over head light to "on with doors". Opened passenger door. Pressed plunger in and light dims. Let plungeer out and light brightens (very slightly but noticable). Cool that switch and wiring looks good.

Go to divers side and pull out plunger switch. Fix it so it pops back out and greased it. Switched on overhead light same as before. This time pushing in the plunger had no effect. Unpluged the plunger switch and test it. It works fine just like it should. So it's not the switch itself.

I did notice something as I pulled out the switch. Around 3 inchs back( and going inside the door frame) I can see the wire has been wrapped in a cloth looking very sticky electrical tape. Could that be just factory protection for the wires, or is that a sign that it's been messed with?

I did get a voltage meter on there but I want to test it again. The meter was a digital one that I'm not used to using. I should have my regular meter back tomorrow. But the digital was showing the voltage at only .023 (or .032, if that even makes a difference).

Now I just have to figure out where those wires go so I can check the power level further up the line.

----------------------------------------------------
Alex Portanova
1989 944 N/A
1992 Harley FXSTC
1999 Chrysler 300M

VWaddict

That means that you have some resistance in parallel with the switch. This makes sense in that the passenger door just bypasses the resistance, brightening the lamp.

Disconnect the battery and measure the resistance if you like (you can't measure it with battery voltage present), but basically there's a path bridging the two that you don't want there. I assume that if you completely disconnect the switch, the lamp STILL lights in it's "slightly-dimmer-but-almost-fully-bright" condition?

Of course, someone may at some previous point in time have tried to install:
1) an aftermarket alarm which tries to read from the factory pin-switches
2) an aftermarket courtesy-light delay
either of which might be causing problems, but the factory path is USUALLY as follows:

*Battery positive goes (via a fuse) to one "Hot" terminal of the lamp.
*Second 'Cold" terminal of the lamp goes (in the 'door' switch position) to the two door switches in parallel.
*The door pin switches both take their incoming line to ground when thedoor is opened.

The switch in the dome lamp operates on the "cold" leg of the lamp, and gives three options:
a)"door" position operates as in the second line above, by connecting the 'cold' terminal to the two door pin-switches.
b)"Off" disconnects the "cold" terminal from anything, preventing the lamp from lighting at all.
c)"On" connects the cold terminal to ground, making the lamp stay on no matter what.

Since it's such a simple circuit, it's easy to troubleshoot. Remember that the fault DOESN'T have to be at the swithc end. -A piece of corroded metal bridging the "door" contact to the "on" contact AT THE DOME LAMP END for example, might produce exactly the symptoms described above.

Pull the dome light assembly, inspect the switch.

Keith

VWaddict

Here's a crudely-sketched diagram of how it usually goes:


You can see how for example, a partially-conductive path between "door" and permanent "on" in the domelight 3-position switch could cause problems...

Keith