I have some issues with my passenger door and I am not sure of they are all microswitch related or not... the main issue is that the door is effectively dead (no window, locks or mirror, although the light works on the doorswitch) until I open the door up ALL THE WAY... when the door is open wide open then the door window works, etc. I have looked for loose ground wires and tried shaking the bundle of wires in the door to see if there are any loose connections but haven't had any luck finding the cause. The other problem is the standard "passenger door open" issue... this has been pain for years and has gotten worse and worse so I figured it was time to replace the microswitch.

Questions:

Does the dead door sound like a microswitch problem and if not, any ideas on troubleshooting?

What about the other two microswitches... I couldn't really find out what those other switches control and I was wondering if they are prone to failure and if I should just replace all of them while I have the door latch out. I bought the recommended Omron switch and understand that all of the switches are similar but have different levers potentially.

I bought a spare door latch on eBay and am going to rebuild that one and then just swap out the whole latch mechanism, and then maybe rebuild that one for someone else. I THINK the door latches are ALL the same for all of the years (i.e. a passenger door latch from '97 and one from '06 are essentially identical)... is that correct?

Thanks for any wisdom you can share.

 

So open all the way, everything works. You've got a swinging open connection.

The door (puddle) lights in 1997 & 98 cars are tied to the microswitch. Later years, I'm not sure exactly when, have the puddle light on a different switch. I bet yours is later category.

The mirror and lock not on the microswitch circuit. Window is influenced but not power supplied from it either.

At the front of the door, there's a cable harness going in. Funny but I've never had a need to touch it, so maybe someone else can advise here, but it detaches at the forward part of the door.

You wouldn't be the first to find a bad connection here! 1st rule of hunting the source - wiggle the wires. 2nd(ish) rule: easiest way to clean connections is to plug/ unplug repeat a few times.

Friend, since door open affects this wire harness directly. That's where I'd start.

Others: describe how to make break this connection please? Its pouring rain over here 2day.

John

 

John,
YOU DA' MAN!

Maybe I am the only one, but I didn't know there was a perfect door connection right by the hinges! I turned the plug and it came right apart perfectly. I sprayed it with a little QD Electronic cleaner and I am back in business. The "dead door" issue I had (for YEARS, on and off) was fixed immediately! I am going to see how the microswitches work for a little while before I tear the door apart to replace... maybe there was some voltage issues due to the dirty connector and maybe it will work properly now

We'll see how long it lasts, but if anyone has any good tips on cleaning the connector better, please let me know!

 

Chris, thanks for the feedback, big old smile on my face mate (& I needed it today!)

John