Door switches for interior lights...

[Oystercopy]

Hey guys..so for the longest time, I've not been able to put bulbs in my interior lighting, down at the corner of the convertible trim panels. I put a whole new rear light harness in a couple of years ago, thinking I just had a short somewhere and the lights wouldn't turn off when the door was closed. I had tested the door switches multiple times, each time they seemed to ohm out properly with my meter. Well, I finally gave up and let the shop do it and they found... BAD SWITCHES!! It turns out the switches (appeared to be the original factory ones) can fail internally, having a plastic slide insert (insulator) inside the switches, that can make them short to ground.. WHO KNEW? I attached a picture here for reference for the switches I'm talking about. These are not likely the ones they used, but they were able to find them close by at a local auto shop. FYI, don't trust your door switches...!! Even if you test them. they could still be bad!

 

[pschlosser]

FYI, don't trust your door switches...!! Even if you test them. they could still be bad!

Should I be looking over my shoulder?

 

[EW1BH27]

Thanks for the alert. It's weird that your meter didn't detect the short though. A couple FYI's: Vans Auto sells reproductions and, I think, it was in 1972 that the E-bodies went from a 2 prong to a 3 pin switch.

 

[Challenger RTA]

Did you unplug the wires from the door switches and did the lights go out?

 

[Oystercopy]

Thanks for all the replies! DUH.. no I never thought to just disconnect and short the wires from the switches to see if the lights would go out! (just goes to show you don't necessarily get smarter when you get older.. LOL).

"Should I be looking over my shoulder?" Probably... he he

 

[cuda joe]

if i remember right the drivers door has the 3 prong switch the pass door has 2 prongs some of the venders think both are 2 prong

 

[EW1BH27]

My car (1970 Barracuda) has 2 spade connectors at both doors like the pictured ones and this cropped pic of 1970 schematics.

 

[EW1BH27]

Cropped from my saved 1972 schematics, like cuda joe said. It all depends on the year. One side is spade connectors, the other is pins.

 

[One of few]

I've got a bad door switch too, just haven't had the time to replace it.