Courtesy Lights

[Tom Kissel]

Hi Everyone, I have a 64 De Ville Convertible and when I open either door the Courtesy Lights do not come on. I can make the fronts come on if I turn the headlight switch knob counter clockwise and I can make the rears come on by flipping the slide switch on the lower back of the front seat as mentioned in the owners manual. I thought of pulling a jamb switch and jumping it to see what was going on but this switch has 3 wires and I could not track it well while looking at the wiring diagram. The connections are clean. The jamb switches are the original..I believe on a convertible the lights should come on when entering any suggestions? could both jamb switches be bad? Thanks for the help. Tom   

[Tom Kissel]

thanks guys I'm in Atlanta right now on a fast business trip that I didn't know I was going on when I get back I'll jump on it..after the wife stuff..

[Jason Edge]

Kurt, is correct.  These 3 wires just take each light circuit to ground.  In fact if you pop the switch out you can take each male connector loose from switch and touch the metal rim to immediately test the light circuit.  If each light comes on then your door jamb switch(es) is bad. They often simply corrode inside or at the metal lip that touches the metal opening rim. You can sometimes pull them apart, clean, spread the metal lips out a bit that touch the metal rim and get them working.

[Kurt]

If memory serves the door jamb switch simply grounds the light circuits. The 3 wires are: front doors, map light, and rear quarter. The switches could both be bad or just not making good contact to bare metal. Pull the door jamb switches and make sure the barbs on the metal contacts are touching clean bare metal in the hole (no rust or paint). Jump each wire to ground to test each light circuit,