door opening light and red warning not working

For all those wiring gremlins we love, this is the place to discuss them.

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keith rhodes
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door opening light and red warning not working

Post by keith rhodes »

Hi all, so my next issue to try to resolve is the door open and the red lights built into the door edge don't illuminate when the contact button on each side of the dash board is released(IE door opens).

the interior lights both work when switched but I cant yet find a trace of 12v to anything in the doors (I have the door cards off due to replacing elec mirrors).
I suspect it's an earth fault and have discounted fuse as the lights do work when switched.
or it could be a wire off/broken
I discussed this with Pete and I'm not keen to take half the dials out to get to the door contact switch as it's probably not going to be faulty (unless if one fails both fail?).
So, anyone had this predicament / has any pointers on where to go other than inside the doors.

Pete Boole
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Re: door opening light and red warning not working

Post by Pete Boole »

With the fuse/relay cover removed can you see/get your hand in there to the back of the switch? The heater hoses get in the way as well! A mirror & torch may help. The switch has spade connectors IIRC - perhaps they have fallen off. It's also a common circuit for after-market alarms to get spliced into - look for hideous scotchlocks/splices.

Pete

keith rhodes
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Re: door opening light and red warning not working

Post by keith rhodes »

thanks Pete, I will have a rummage round- it has got an aftermarket alarm which doesn't work!

Johnwindwood
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Re: door opening light and red warning not working

Post by Johnwindwood »

In our pre-SE, I could remove both switches by just dropping the under dash panels. I then dismantled the switches by drilling out the rivets and cleaned them up. Reassembled with small screws and all was then fine.

Having said that-remove any redundant alarm. I didn't even know our car had one until the horn started sounding on its own one day!
Kind regards

John

John Windwood

1984 Lotus Excel (1985 MY wide body)
1952 Austin Sheerline A125 Harold Radford Shooting Brake
1949 Austin Sheerline saloon (Parts car)
1997 BMW Z3 1.9
2002 Volvo V70XC Cross Country AWD

keith rhodes
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Posts: 31
Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2020 17:03
Model: excel
Colour: white
Year: 1989
Location: Nottinghamshire

Re: door opening light and red warning not working

Post by keith rhodes »

thanks John.

I'm taking all the seats out this weekend ready for removing old slightly sagging cloth in the half leather and having alcantara put on instead of the cloth.

So I should be able to get well under the dash to poke about :)

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Hawaiis0
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Re: door opening light and red warning not working

Post by Hawaiis0 »

Last snag bust on this was both bulbs blown IIRC
Nothing is fool proof. Fools are clever!

Zag
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Re: door opening light and red warning not working

Post by Zag »

If as op says there is no volts to the doors then it's not a filament.

On my '85 se the drivers side is accessible, near side much less so.

The two aren't interconnected, one can work and the other can be non functional / disconnected.

If you buy a replacement switch there are two types, one as fitted completes the circuit when extended, the other when depressed. Ask me how I know!! However as mentioned in a previous post they can be disassembled and either contacts cleaned on an old switch or the function of the switch reversed if you get the wrong one.

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Hawaiis0
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Re: door opening light and red warning not working

Post by Hawaiis0 »

Zag wrote:
Fri Dec 04, 2020 21:00
If as op says there is no volts to the doors then it's not a filament.
Correct ish, just highlighting earths are hard to find on plastic cars.
Nothing is fool proof. Fools are clever!

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