Courtesy light issue in 86X

[JimD]

The door mounted courtesy lights in my 86X have begun to misbehave. It seems they are working in reverse? I found the battery pretty much dead yesterday, it had been a few weeks since I drove the car. I put the charger on the car and did get it started. I went for a drive and came back and parked. Now the courtesy lights come on, and stay on, when I close the doors. I had to leave the driver's door open last night to get the light's to time out and turn off. When I closed the door this morning, the lights came on and stayed on. I opened the door and the lights clicked off eventually.

So... is there a little box running that timer somewhere that may have gone bad?

 

[Jefco]

As I remember, it's on the fusebox/relay panel; follow the clicking sound when it times out.

 

[JimD]

Thanks Jeff. I will look for it. I may also try unhooking the battery for a while and see if it makes a difference when I reconnect it. Can't imagine it will "reset" anything, but it is free to try that.

 

[Pete Whitstone]

Check the little push button switches in the door jamb as well for proper operation and connection. If the spade connector falls off it onto a metal part, it will ground, causing the light to stay on. Not sure if the timer will eventually override that or not.

 

[JimD]

Pete,

I played with the door switches yesterday. Both seem to be attached. On either door, if I leave it open till the lights time out, I can press the switch with my finger and the lights come back on. They go back off when I let go. If I close the door at that point the lights stay on for as long as I care to stand there. I even walked away and came back 10 minutes later, still on.

On the scale of problems to have, this one is on the low end. Just frustrating.

 

[Dan Sarandrea (Phila)]

The housings are just a friction fit into the door cards (IIRC there might be some tension supplied by a plastic or metal part that flexes slightly--EDIT: yes, a springy metal ear L and R sides ), so no harm in popping them out to verify that all is still properly connected.

Speaking of courtesy light issues, this little surprise was discovered when I removed the pass door card in 2013 for replacement with NOS from Henk. Believe it or not, the original service paperwork that came with the car when I bought it showed 3 trips back to the dealer for blown L circuit fuses. Mystery solved 24 years later.

 

[Dr.Jeff]

this little surprise was discovered

Dan, I found the same thing along the center tunnel of the floor - passenger side where all of those big wire looms pass - when I stripped the interior. During initial assembly at the factory they left the wires hanging too far out so they got pinched when another component was installed. Couple of wires were severed like yours. Been like that since day one, and must have been quite an annoyance for the prior owners. I guess one just gets used to things not working and ignores them.

 

[JimD]

Disconnecting the battery for 10 minutes had no curative effect. Not surprising, but didn't hurt to try.

 

[Dr.Jeff]

I can say those door lights on all of my later X's always seem to be problematic. While I really do not think it will have anything to do with your issue, most of the time it has been something at the light fixture itself. They seem rather fragile and often end up broken in some way (typically somewhere where you can't see the damage). But your situation sounds more like the timer module?

 

[JimD]

I can say those door lights on all of my later X's always seem to be problematic. While I really do not think it will have anything to do with your issue, most of the time it has been something at the light fixture itself. They seem rather fragile and often end up broken in some way (typically somewhere where you can't see the damage). But your situation sounds more like the timer module?

I am thinking it is the module or a stray ground. I never noticed it doing this prior to letting the car sit for a month. I can always disconnect the lights if I cant figure it out.

 

[JimD]

Another test. You would think I would have noticed the door lights on during my drive yesterday. I didn't. I just closed the door, the lights came on and stayed on. Reached in without opening the door and started the car. The lights blinked out for a second and came right back on and stayed on.

One more note:With the door open and the lights timed out to be off I can then press the door button and the lights go on when pressed and out as soon as I let go. The console switch works as well. On when switch is engaged and off when released.

I will do some more testing when I have time. I can't get to the fuse panel where the car is currently parked, but I have other things to do today. I will leave a door open.

 

[JimD]

Another thing I just discovered. I have a trickle charger on the car, so I was surprised the car was dead. I just chalked it up to an oddity and moved on. So now I am looking at the charger and it was set to 6V instead of 12v. I know it was set to 12v previously, so I have no idea how the switch got flipped. So that is why it wasn't charged. Would it mess up the light controller? I have no idea.,

 

[Dr.Jeff]

I will leave a door open.

I'm reminded of the time @mkmini left his window down overnight and a tomcat sprayed the whole interior.

The fact the lights work (albeit incorrectly) makes me think it may not be a bad wire or ground. That would seem to cause another type of issue - like not working at all or always staying on constantly. But with them going on and off sort of like they are intended to (i.e. the timer function, and the door pin function, and the dash switch function) I would start at the control module. Even though those functions are working backward, they are working. I don't recall, is the module a plug-in relay type thing?

 

[Dr.Jeff]

Another thing I just discovered. I have a trickle charger on the car, so I was surprised the car was dead. I just chalked it up to an oddity and moved on. So now I am looking at the charger and it was set to 6V instead of 12v. I know it was set to 12v previously, so I have no idea how the switch got flipped. So that is why it wasn't charged. Would it mess up the light controller? I have no idea.,

I'll refer you to this thread:

Tool thread

Regarding old floor jacks. I have a couple that are really old. Bought one new around 35 years ago ("Allied" I think), another one was given to me used about 25 years ago (the same "Sears" you guys have). Both still work, but both developed a little problem along the way. They would very slowly...

xwebforums.com

No idea if it would mess up the courtesy light system or not. First make sure your battery is fully charged. Then try the lights with the maintainer removed. The battery maintainer might be throwing something off, even if it hasn't damaged anything.

EDIT: Humm, interesting. The link I posted is for post #57 in that thread - about battery maintainers. But the description in the link reads for another post.

 

[JimD]

I'm reminded of the time @mkmini left his window down overnight and a tomcat sprayed the whole interior.

I won't leave the garage door open then. I haven't found the controller yet, my guess is it is a plug in device. We will find out.

 

[Janis]

I'm reminded of the time @mkmini left his window down overnight and a tomcat sprayed the whole interior.

The fact the lights work (albeit incorrectly) makes me think it may not be a bad wire or ground. That would seem to cause another type of issue - like not working at all or always staying on constantly. But with them going on and off sort of like they are intended to (i.e. the timer function, and the door pin function, and the dash switch function) I would start at the control module. Even though those functions are working backward, they are working. I don't recall, is the module a plug-in relay type thing?

I had forgot that, but I have never after that left car with even so much opened windows that cat could jump in.

 

[JimD]

I had forgot that, but I have never after that left car with even so much opened windows that cat could jump in.

Wait a minute? You are saying that cat survived?

 

[Janis]

Wait a minute? You are saying that cat survived?

Haha I didn't saw the act and the particular cat.

But at my current work there are about ~4 tomcats that regulary sprays their paint on my car's bumpers

 

[Rodger]

My response has nothing to do with cats, but if you want to try a different module, I have a couple of them that I have no need for. Free, just pay for shipping. Here is the diagram that shows the timer in space #1.

 

[JimD]

Thanks Rodger,

I will PM you my address.