Door light question...That damm red light!

My passenger side door light was not working (drivers side was OK) so I removed the 2 small screws, moved the light fixture around and the light came on. So far so good I thought, but now the light stays on even when you close the door! I depressed the door button with my finger several times and it just stays on. I then removed the button and cleaned the contact points and put it back in place...now neither side door lights work!

What could be going on here? Is the problem with the light or button? I would appreciate your advice.

BTW I did notice that the little white plastic light-fixture/housing has 2 male contacts on it, but I only saw one wire connecting to one of them. Should there be 2 wires connecting to the 2 male contacts?? There may have been 2 attached, but possibly I dislodged one when I moved the light around. 2 or 1?

What do you think??

Thanks Frank

 

The other terminal should be the dedicated ground. The wire may have broken off the connector. You may have to remove the panel to find and fix it.

 

One side of the door ajar switches goes to ground. The other side of both right and left door switches is connected together from side to side and go to the 'door ajar' light on both sides. The other side of both lights goes to fuse F left box.

Now then, lights on both sides always have voltage available and are simply awaiting a ground from either side switch. Concentrate on one door switch at a time as inadvertant shorts to ground do no harm. You will soon learn where the problems lie. Most often a bad ground or switch is the cause... switches themselves need occasional cleaning.

If both lights fail to light with both doors open chances are the fuse isn't getting 12 volts into the doors OR both switches are bad, OR both lights are bad...unlikely.

On some cars, you can become confused as the drivers door has two switches, the second one is for the seat belt circuit. If you have such a car (2v injected) you can easily ascertain which is the seat belt switch as it's the oddball color. I.e. the door jam light switches are the same color on both sides. Fortunately, these cars have a built-in spare switch as who needs a working seatbelt circuit?

________________________
http://www.FerrariWiring.com

 

Thanks so much fellas...this is confusing stuff for me.

I looked again at the plaastic light housing and it seems that the "lost" wire is taped to the other wire, which is connected to the light....could this be? I am looking at it through the hole in the door, since I have not remove the door panel. I think trying to do so will make my problems worse.

I am still a bit confused guy's. Are you saying that each light housing should have 2 wires connecting to it? Could it be my pass side only had 1? (remember, it worked)

Sorry that I am not being much help, but my knowlege is pretty limited here!

I will check for blown fuse tomorrow as well.

 

the panel that they are attached to is held on only by 2 bolts. Taking it off is about as hard as removing the floor mats.
Also, was the driver door open while you were playing around with it. On my car the pass side light comes on when the driver door is opened and the pass side is closed.

 

Hey Doug,
By the panel, I am refering to the door panel. I did remove the panel that you are talking about, and removed and cleaned the button switch.

When I did it the driver's side door was closed.

 

The electrical schematic would be very helpful to you. They are available here. Do a search, they're free.

 

I had to deal with this a couple of years ago but I don't remember what fixed it. I think I just cleaned everything? Don't you just love how something simple can be made very complicated by the Italians?

 

This may not be exactly your problem here but I want to point out that the plate where the switches are mounted on, on the doorjam, is ground for the switches. In case you remove the plates and press the switches nothing will happen, as far as I recall.

Helmut

 

I just want to thank those of you who responded to my post.

Using a bit of info from all of you I fixed my lights! I'm so psyched that I was able to do it myself. I got alot of satisfaction in seeing that little red light come on.

What was wrong....I really don't know. In short I took it all apart, cleaned everything, and put it back together again.

Paul, the fuse was blown, so you were right that I probably shorted it out. Thanks.

Putting the door panel back on was a pain in the ass, but I took my time and it worked out as well.

By the way, when I removed the panel, I saw that someone wrote a big "6" on the door metal with a grease pencil.

Who knows??

 

I just wanted to make sure that you guys got my thank you reply!!

Caio!

 

Frank,

The "6" you found written on the inside of the door refers to how many hours it would take for someone to do the repair you just did.

Actually, it might be the build number for your car.

Barry

 

You're right about that one! Six hours and $800 later at a Ferrari dealer I bet.

Interesting comment regarding the "6" on the door panel. When you say build number, does that mean 6th car made for that day??

 

Frank,

The build number or assembly sequence number is stamped on the coil bracket of early 308s and on the chassis element on the left side of the engine bay on later cars. These numbers appear written on the inside of the various body panels. Check your engine bay for your car's build number.

Refer to this thread: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=61994

Kare is keeping a list of assembly sequence numbers which he updates frequently: http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=176780


My 308 GTB's build number is 5A and appears on the coil bracket

Barry
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Hey Barry,

You are going to make me go crazy now...this is interesting stuff. I will read the thread.

My 1980 GTSI is #33553