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Cadillac Repair/Door ajar, and inerior light
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Question
Good Morning Rob. I have a 1998 cadillac deville. The Door ajar light will not go out when all doors are closed. At night when i open the door, the interior light does not go out. Daytime the interior lights come on and go off fine.
Hello,
Could be a couple of different problems. The first I would be looking at is a defective door jamb pin switch if so equipped. The switch is a plunger type that goes in and out when the door is closed. With the driver's door open looking forward towards the fender half way up the door on the body you should see the switch. There is one per door. If one of those plungers is not going in all the way, even though the door is closed, the dome light will stay on. Theses switches are relatively cheap and easy to change. Its just a matter of unscrewing, removing the wires, reattaching the wires and screwing the new one in. I would suggest loosening the driver's door switch 1/4 turn first to see if you can put a little more closure on the plunger. If problem persists, the same on additional doors one at a time. Between doing this, say a one day time span for each, tighten them back the way they were. In other words, you are trying to see if you can isolate this issue.
What you could do as well is have the car running where you can see the door ajar light on as you describe and start with the driver's door and leave it open an push in on the driver's plunger as hard as you can. If the light stays unlit, you know the switch is bad and needs replaced. Close the driver's door and do the same if the problem was not at the driver's door.
It could also be a module and the only reason I state if so equipped is that although GM still uses door jamb switches, on some they did not an I o not remember anymore on your 1998. The door jamb switches did fail, and especially if you are located in the rust belt.
Take a look and if you see the plunger switch, try my suggestions and get back to me.
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Rob Painter
Expertise
Alarm system questions cannot be answered on this forum. These systems are not what I can answer. Without being physically at the vehicle and not knowing what kind of electrical service has been done on the vehicle, there is no possible way to give an accurate answer over the internet. My expertise is in Ignition/key based anti-theft systems. These issues include GM VATS (resistor chip in key blade) PASSLOCK (MRD)-ignition lock rotation based, no special ignition key and the PKIII Transponder (computer chip in key) systems. These systems are not alarm based and are integral with the starting of the engine. This is why I cannot diagnose alarm problems without physically looking at the vehicle: Alarm systems are a completely different annimal than ignition key/lock based anti-theft system. Many alarm questions come from vehicles 10 years old, and since older, many hands that had been involved over the years.I am an expert in all GM factory (ignition/key based)systems. Alarm system questions pose to many situations beyond my knowledge as to what has been done to the vehicle over the years. Some guy may have actually wired the stereo into the alarm system. Who knows? Over my past 30 years in vehicle wiring repair, I have seen unbelievable wiring disaters done by guys that consider themselves "mechanics." I have seen stereos and alarms intalled using surgical tape. I have seen modules burn up, un-fused circuits, wiring jambed between the doors and even lamp cord used for a starter kill. To answer alarm questions over the internet without examining the vehicle is like asking; What does it take to remove a dent?
Experience
Education/Credentials-ASE certified. 11 years with a GM dealer and 17 years with a repair facility dealing with only the repair of theft recovered vehicles.
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