Does anyone happen to have a photograph or diagram of how the door ajar switch used in the 86+ cars is mounted to the latch?

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We look for things, things to make us go.

his: 1985 2M6 SE
hers: 1984/86 hybrid 2M4

Is this what you are talking about? Or is it somewhere else that you are talking about? I took pictures of all the switches I have in my car, sorry if the last one came out a little blurry.

[This message has been edited by avengador1 (edited 03-23-2005).]

Thanks, but no those aren't it.

The switches which trip the "ajar" light on the instrument panel in the 86+ cars are little momentary, rocker-like units that are attached to or somewhere near the door latch (I think), on the inside of the door. I'll post a photo of the switch itself somewhen over the weekend.

[This message has been edited by dguy (edited 03-24-2005).]

Ok so "over the weekend" became a few weekends.

The photo below is the switch I'm talking about; it's shown here unplugged from the remainder of the in-door harness. It appears to mount with a single fastener to somewhere inside the door, but I don't know where that somewhere is.

Any help is appreciated!

It mounts to the door latch assembly. You'll need to remove the latch from the door (get someone with small hands to help) to reinstall it. Plan on spending an afternoon on this one...

quote Originally posted by Whuffo: It mounts to the door latch assembly. You'll need to remove the latch from the door (get someone with small hands to help) to reinstall it. Plan on spending an afternoon on this one...

It it obvious where on the latch it mounts (once the latch is out)?

quote Originally posted by dguy: It it obvious where on the latch it mounts (once the latch is out)?

First the latch has to come out of the door, I tried with it in and there is no way (and I even had the outer skin off at the time). remove the 2 rods (lock and interior door handle). The exterior door handle rod can be left as is. Remove the 3 torx bolts and manouver the latch down and out (taking time to say a few cuss words in the process). While you have it out, I would suggest that you take the time and clean it all up and get 19 years of old grease out of the mechanical. You can power wash it all out and lube it with a dry lubricant if you wish. I soaked mine in the parts cleaner tank for a bit, then threw it in an ultrasound cleaner for a few hours and stuck it back into the car with no lube (it moves really easy with all the crap cleaned out of it and I figure with no grease in there to attract dirt it should be ok for sometime - going on 6 months since I done mine with no problems). A pressure washer would probably clean it a lot quicker.

Not obvious if you never seen where it goes. Here is a picture of the latch out of the car (sorry I didn't take one of the switch installed but will try to explain). NOTE: this is the passengeer side latch so it will be a mirror image if you are doing the drivers (the switch is also different for each door).

The blue circle is where the mount screw goes, the arm on the switch slides under the plate I mark in red in the direction of the arrow. Hope that helps, let me know if you need more help

[This message has been edited by Mickey_Moose (edited 05-02-2005).]

Well I learned something today, I thought they were all push buttons on the frame above the latch bolt, must just be on the 84's and 85's.

Thanks for the post, pics and answers, probably saved me a future headache.

Steve

[This message has been edited by fierohoho (edited 05-02-2005).]

Is this for an alram, or something of that nature? If it is, you can find it here...

there is also a wire that runs to the "ajar" light, it is located on the back of the instrument cluster. If you unsbolt the back of the guage cluster, you can find the bulb, then you can trace it back to a green wire in the drivers side of the guage cluster. That wire will monitor both doors, trunk, and hood, all at the same time.

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[This message has been edited by Golden86 (edited 05-02-2005).]

quote Originally posted by Mickey_Moose: ... Not obvious if you never seen where it goes. Here is a picture of the latch out of the car (sorry I didn't take one of the switch installed but will try to explain).

The photo & your description did the trick--thanks. Nothing like knowing what I'm facing before I get in to it.

Dguy,

To further complicate matters the door crash bars differ from 84 to 86. I found this one out the hard way.
On the 86 doors the crash bar has a dimple to allow the switch to clear the bar. If you install the swich to the latch & then bolt the latch to the 84 door you'll snap the switch because the crash bar is in the way. You need to do a bit of grinding/cutting to gain clearance. Not fun!!
Personally , if I was to do this again I'd just stick with the 84/85 door pin switches to run the ajar light.

Goodluck,
Brian

quote Originally posted by Brian: Personally , if I was to do this again I'd just stick with the 84/85 door pin switches to run the ajar light.

I'm starting to lean toward that as well, actually. Running a wire to connect the 84/85 ajar switch to the 86 harness should be trivial, and much easier on the knuckles than pulling the latch, trimming the impact beam, etc. Thanks for the warning!