Door Ajar Light Stays On

[nimdivino]

Hello,
I got a set of free LED door lights that I installed. Unfortunately after the install, the driver side door light stays lit and the driver side light notification on the dash is also lit even if all doors are closed. Any idea what to look first? I kind of think it has something to do with the door latch because my door handle isn't as "smooth" as the passenger side when you pull it.

Thanks a lot in advance.

Nim

 

[shawn110975]

can you show us what kind of LED light you used? a pic please.... I ask because had something similar with the LED used in a customers car. the LED had this heat sink on the back and when fully pressed into the light housing it would ground out. cars lights were doing funky stuff took them out used a different set ( non heatsink ) LED and the problem was gone.

 

[nimdivino]

shawn110975: Here are some photos. I hope this helps.

Unfortunately driver side door light is still lit even after removing all LEDs and placing the stock lights back in. Any ideas? During the install of the LED, there was a little spark, I wonder if that fried something.

Thank you!

Nim

can you show us what kind of LED light you used? a pic please.... I ask because had something similar with the LED used in a customers car. the LED had this heat sink on the back and when fully pressed into the light housing it would ground out. cars lights were doing funky stuff took them out used a different set ( non heatsink ) LED and the problem was gone.

 

[Old Guy]

When you open the door, the door switch closes which applies a ground to both the courtesy light and the dash indicator completing the circuit and causing them to light up. If the door switch is stuck in the closed position, the light will stay on and the dash indicator will stay lit even when the door is closed. You can access the operating mechanism for the door switch without pulling the door panel. The operating contact is visible just inside the latch. Try operating the switch a few times with a thin screwdriver blade and see if the light goes on and off. Maybe something like dried grease got in there jamming the mechanism. If that doesn't do anything then the switch is broken or you have a short in the wiring.

If when you saw that spark, you created a short circuit to ground in the bulb holder, the bulb and dash indicator will also stay lit all the time.The first thing to do is pull the courtesy light cover off and remove the bulb. Confirm that the dash indicator still stays lit. If it goes out, then something else is up other than a bad door switch or inadvertent ground connection. If the dash indicator stays lit, proceed. Have a close look at the contacts for the bulb to see if the contacts got bent / pushed around while you were installing the LED bulb and are perhaps making a ground connection. If you don't spot any obvious problems with the bulb holder or its contacts, you are pretty much into removing the door panel to check the operation of the door switch or look for shorts on the back side of the bulb holder.

 

[nimdivino]

Thank you so much for your detailed response. I haven't had the chance to look at it again but this will help a lot. Thanks again, I really appreciate it.

When you open the door, the door switch closes which applies a ground to both the courtesy light and the dash indicator completing the circuit and causing them to light up. If the door switch is stuck in the closed position, the light will stay on and the dash indicator will stay lit even when the door is closed. You can access the operating mechanism for the door switch without pulling the door panel. The operating contact is visible just inside the latch. Try operating the switch a few times with a thin screwdriver blade and see if the light goes on and off. Maybe something like dried grease got in there jamming the mechanism. If that doesn't do anything then the switch is broken or you have a short in the wiring.

If when you saw that spark, you created a short circuit to ground in the bulb holder, the bulb and dash indicator will also stay lit all the time.The first thing to do is pull the courtesy light cover off and remove the bulb. Confirm that the dash indicator still stays lit. If it goes out, then something else is up other than a bad door switch or inadvertent ground connection. If the dash indicator stays lit, proceed. Have a close look at the contacts for the bulb to see if the contacts got bent / pushed around while you were installing the LED bulb and are perhaps making a ground connection. If you don't spot any obvious problems with the bulb holder or its contacts, you are pretty much into removing the door panel to check the operation of the door switch or look for shorts on the back side of the bulb holder.