Chevy Door Jamb Switch

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Chevy Door Jamb Switch The good news is a Chevy door jamb switch only cost about five dollars. The bad news is these defective door ajar switches can cause several different intermittent [[automotive electrical problems]]. Let me give you an example. In many cases when the Chevy door jamb switch fails the center post breaks off. This makes the automobile think the doors are open all the time. Not only will the dome lights stay on, but you also receive dash warning lights about driving around with the doors open. However, as the switch begins to fail it can operate intermittently before it breaks completely. I've seen several Chevrolet and GMC trucks where the dome light would come on during the night and kill the battery. For the drivers, …show more content…

With that said, it wasn't until the Chevy door jamb switch failed altogether that we realized the dome light was killing the battery. Here we'll talk about the symptoms of a defective Chevy door jamb switch also referred to as a door ajar pin switch. Different types of Chevy Door Switches Door ajar switches have been around for so long. Unfortunately, the nearly bulletproof metal versions have disappeared. They started using plastic door jamb switches in the 1980s to lower manufacturing costs. It's important to verify your part represents an exact replacement. You can do this by examining the electrical connector that plugs into the courtesy light switch. In most cases this flat three terminal connector has no keyways and one safety latch. The diameter of the switch and the mounting tabs also become important for verifying the correct replacement. On the older Chevrolet trucks you will often find a two wire connector. In addition, the diameter can vary between the smaller S10 Chevrolet pickup trucks and the full size Silverado and sport-utility vehicles like the Tahoe and Suburban. As I mentioned, automotive manufacturers used pin switches for a long time. However, on the newer Chevrolet and GMC trucks they've actually done away with this …show more content…

On some year and models they use two separate courtesy lamp fuses. And remember, when we say the word courtesy lamp, we include the dome light in this lighting package. In many cases when you have a defective courtesy light or door ajar switch the plastic breaks or crumbles. In this situation there’s no reason to [[perform automotive electrical diagnosis]]. In fact, finding broken switches on the driver side door jamb becomes the most common reason to replace one of these plastic pin switches. The driver side door gets a workout and sometimes feels the wrath of the driver’s anger and frustration. In other words, if you slam this door hard enough you can break the door jamb switch. With that said, the question becomes how to test the switch to verify that it remains the root cause of the problem. Fortunately, this switch is a simply open or closed position type electrical component. The factory spring loads the switch to close the contacts when the door is physically open. This completes the circuit and illuminates the door ajar light on the instrument cluster. In other words, the switch is naturally

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