interior cabin lights

[david.avrahami@]

Sorry to dwell again on this subject but a few days ago I got a new battery and while exploring issues I discovered the problem associated with parasite draining ...
Well...using w40 and shaking the little black plastic knob did not resolve the problem of light coming off and on with door open or closed...so now I will have to remove both switches and clean them before using new switches.
QUESTION: When I remove the nut that is holding the switch, will the switch fall in side the door? if not, how do I remove the switch? is it coming right out or needs to be unscrewed? please describe....just being overly cautious..

[mo-mon]

Draco's post from 2016 below. Should be 11mm instead of 10mm.

"Check the door jam switches.

If they are there, remove the rubber covers carefully.

Use a 10MM deep socket and loosen the switch, then stop and get a 10MM box wrench and a needle nose pliers to hold the plunger as you slowly use the box wrench to remove the switch. The purpose of this is to keep from twisting the ground wire off and losing it in the pillar, NOT GOOD.

Clean the back side of the plunger very will as well as the pilar area of any rust and or debris".

It will unscrew. Gently remove it minding the wire. Use a hemostat or similar to keep the wire from falling inside while you clean up the switch.

[daddygo]

Just did mine as well. Turns out when I had my car media blasted for a new paint job, a lot of excess media floated down to the abyss, and gummed up the light switches. I removed both switches (without disconnecting the wire) and worked them over with a toothbrush. Now they work great.

When I backed out the switches, I left them connected to the wire, so the switch still stops the setup from falling into the abyss. If you separate the switch from the wire, you'll have to anchor the wire somehow to prevent a drop through.

Now on to tackling the glove box light. Someone removed the ground lead to the switch.

[david.avrahami@]

would you please answer the questions that are shown in my last post? (last 2 lines)
A detailed answer please....Thanks

[proporsche]

david..you are making a big deal out of it read the suggestions correctly;-)))) just losen the door switch a little with no 11mm wrench and lube the threads that is all you need to do.If it still does not work report...
one thing at a time...
Ivan

[86 911 Targa]

Originally Posted by proporsche

david..you are making a big deal out of it read the suggestions correctly;-)))) just losen the door switch a little with no 11mm wrench and lube the threads that is all you need to do.If it still does not work report...
one thing at a time...
Ivan

I just pm'd him.

Gerry

[david.avrahami@]

Ivan,
Thanks for your patience...I loosened the nut and with it the small bowl and sprayed w 40 bhind from all sides behind. giggled the black knob, and fastened back and tested with light in flat middle position...light is on when opening or closing the door...

[ccjhnsn5]

I just took the switches out... cleaned off a little corrosion, and they worked again. It was having trouble grounding out where the switches screw into the body

[david.avrahami@]

I unscrewed the switch, however, It is a challenge to pass the end of the switch through the hole...Any suggestion as to how to pass it
where is the ground connection on the switch when you push the plunger in and out?

[ccjhnsn5]

Originally Posted by david.avrahami@

I unscrewed the switch, however, It is a challenge to pass the end of the switch through the hole...Any suggestion as to how to pass it
where is the ground connection on the switch when you push the plunger in and out?

When the door is shut and the plunger is pressed in, there are two separate pieces of metal that don’t touch. When the door opens/ the plunger is released, the metal parts touch. What this does is allow the circuit to ground to the body through the metal threads of the switch itself. On my car I took a little sandpaper and cleaned off the switches and around the threaded hole where the switch goes into the body. That helped the connection. I actually also removed the entire switch and stripped a clean piece of wire off and reconnected it at the end for good measure (I had to use a knife to bend back the little metal tab that holds the wire in place).

[ccjhnsn5]

In the attached picture this is what it should look like when the door is open. The metal part with the red arrow is touching the metal part with the blue arrow. This allows it to ground. When it’s closed the plunger pushes these two apart

[david.avrahami@]

Thanks! but there is no attached picture...

[david.avrahami@]

sorry...got the picture in a separate post

[darrin]

Originally Posted by david.avrahami@

Ivan,
Thanks for your patience...I loosened the nut and with it the small bowl and sprayed w 40 bhind from all sides behind. giggled the black knob, and fastened back and tested with light in flat middle position...light is on when opening or closing the door...

dave -- your post made me revisit an intermittent issue with my targa's dome light

what is your dome light doing now? on mine, it's off in the flat middle position, always on when flipped to the back position and on only when door's open when pushed toward the front of the car (front position)

my intermittent condition turned out to be caused by a corroded connector in the front trunk, right next to the driver's side strut that was restricting power to the always hot black wire in the dome light switch -- voltmeter showed power to that switch using either the door switch ground (which would trigger the light when the door's open) or the other ground attached directly to the targa hoop) but the corrosion in the connector wouldn't let enough power through to light the dome light -- wiggling the connector caused the dome light to come on and cleaning it is keeping it on as intended.

[david.avrahami@]

Darrin, I just came back from my garage quite disappointed...
I removed both switches from the 2 doors, cleaned them and lub. them slightly with connectivity paste.reconnected and back to square 1...
The lights over the door at the middle position is lighted with door open or closed, one side position also lighted when manually pushed to that position and the other side has not always not lighted....so I keep it in that position...
just BTW, when I pulled out the driver side ground wire with the switch, there was there also a cut green wire...I tested radio ., glove compartment, windows...they all work...

I do not know what else to do...
Question: if I keep it always in the NO LIGHT position, will that drain still the battery?
Thanks for your help

[darrin]

david -- do your power window switches work when the door's open? that's the source of the drain -- if they do not, don't worry about the battery drain from this.

[86 911 Targa]

Originally Posted by darrin

david -- do your power window switches work when the door's open? that's the source of the drain -- if they do not, don't worry about the battery drain from this.

On our 86, the power windows do not operate
when any of the doors are open.

Gerry

[darrin]

Originally Posted by 86 911 Targa

On our 86, the power windows do not operate
when any of the doors are open.

Gerry

yes, power windows should operate after turning off ignition but before opening door -- when a door is opened, the door pin switch trips a relay that deactivates them. However, if the door pin switch isn't working, the relay won't trip and the windows will keep working (and causing a parasitic drain) indefinitely

Still unclear to me whether david's (OP's) dome light problem is caused by failed door switches / door switch circuit fault -- since he was concerned with battery drain, suggested he see whether his power windows turn off when door opened (if they do, this would suggest door switches are working and would not be a source of parasitic drain)

[86 911 Targa]

Originally Posted by darrin

yes, power windows should operate after turning off ignition but before opening door -- when a door is opened, the door pin switch trips a relay that deactivates them. However, if the door pin switch isn't working, the relay won't trip and the windows will keep working (and causing a parasitic drain) indefinitely

Still unclear to me whether david's (OP's) dome light problem is caused by failed door switches / door switch circuit fault -- since he was concerned with battery drain, suggested he see whether his power windows turn off when door opened (if they do, this would suggest door switches are working and would not be a source of parasitic drain)

I don't think the switches are Dave's problem.

Also, there is no relay associated with the interior lights.

I pulled my seatbelt relay decades ago, and the roll bar lights
when either door is open.

Gerry

ps: Please have a look at my recent post of today.

[david.avrahami@]

when I stop the car and key is in 0 position, windows are operational But when door is opened ,it is no longer operational...
but what about the lights above the windows? if in non illuminated position, do they draining the battery?