Door jamb switch headache

[trunks]

My front door lights are not working, rears are flaky but work for the most part. I took switches apart and cleaned them to no avail. So I read that 2g switches are a direct replacment and bought some. They do not plug into the VR4's plugs. So I thought no sweat and made some pigtails from a parts car but no luck there either.

If I open the rear doors the dash light comes on. If I touch the two wires on the front door together while the rear doors are open the light comes on. If I close the rear door and touch them together nothing. My passenger seat belt wasn't responding when I bought it 4 months ago and that light never worked. My drivers switch was working until I caught it with my buffer while it was loose like a dumbass. I don't think I wrecked the wiring since the light does come on when I cross them with the rear door open.

I'm pretty much baffled at this point on what to try next. Any thoughts would be much appreciated!

 

[toybreaker]

You're actually asking about two seperate systems.


The dome light is controlled by the door pin switches, located on the body.

The door pin switches in the body look so simple ... and yet they can be soooo frustrating!

They are a simple on/off switch, and they work by referencing those wires to ground when the door is open enough to allow the pin to pop out to it's stop.

Usually, when there's a problem with the system, it's because the contacts have gotten dirty or corroded.

One thing to keep in mind is that they have to be solidly bolted to the chassis to have enough of a ground for the system to work

Occasionally the area they mount to the body can corrode, and that will also keep the system from working properly.

To return the system to service, clean the contacts of the switch with a little sandpaper, scotchbrite or whatever you like. An old school pencil eraser also works well on light corrosion. A little di-electric grease will ensure that corrosion will not return.

Next, clean the area where the switch mounts to the body, especially around the hole the screw goes thru.

Reinstall the switch, making sure the switch housing seats well against the body, and verify the system is working correctly.

Install the boot, and you're good to go.


The motorised seat belts are quite abit more complicated, and work from a different set of triggers.

These are located inside the doors on the latch mechanism itself.

The principles are the same, but the switches are self contained (iirc) and don;t reference ground at their mountings in the door.

Troubleshooting that system is quite a bit more involved, but eyeballing those pin switches is a good place to start.

Many times, they'll be obviously broken or dangling from their wires.


Good luck, and please post up your progress in troubleshooting the two problems.

Your thread will be found in a search of the site, so following up with the fix will help others who use the search function.

 

[trunks]

Thank you for the detailed reply. I got the 2g switches to work so far. I believe when I painted the car that the old screws were so coated that they weren't grounding to the chassis. When I used new screws bingo - they worked. For future reference (at least for me) 2g switches DO NOT clip into the wiring harness on a vr4. I had to make pig tails from an old 2g talon to make them work.

Now I'm still working on the passenger seatbelt. The dash recognizes that the door is open but no light. I'm pretty sure just a light bulb there but the seat belt is not retracting. It must be in the latch so I'm going to pull the panel here soon to diagnose. Is that switch fixable or will I need to post in the wtb section?

Thanks,
Aaron

 

[toybreaker]

I'd pull the panel off and give everything a visual inspection before starting a wtb on the switch.

( I don't know if you've had them off before, but the interior door panels pull up first, then they can be removed the rest of the way. )