Volvo Owners Club Forum - View Single Post - How to check/repair courtesy/door lights problems

christheancient · May 10th, 2011, 12:11

I am hoping that the moderators feel that the following is worthy of being an 'article'!

As is immediately apparent on reading through the forum, the door lock/courtesy light/alarm set system on the Phase 1 V70s causes many problems and similar questions on the system are asked frequently. All this boils down to the fact that there are no courtesy light switches on the door pillars any more… they’re buried in the door locks as little irreplaceable or irreparable microswitches.

The usual signs that a microswitch not operating correctly are:
1. The courtesy lights stay on.
2. One, or more red door edge lights stay on.
3. When you lock the car with the remote fob, you don’t get a single flash of the indicators denoting that the alarm is set (if fitted) and the little red light on the dash doesn’t start flashing (though the doors do lock).
4. You can’t use the door lock buttons on the front door switch panels (the lock just pops up again)

Different places that I checked/read didn’t seem to have all the information in one place. However, and through having to do it the ‘hard way’, I think I have cracked how to check and effect a repair (sometimes) to the system.

So, hopefully, an easy guide on how to check and repair.

Checking which door lock which is causing the problem.

I originally never thought that there was a comparatively easy way of determining which switch was at fault. But there is. But it relies on the appropriate fuses and relays to be in place and working first (which they probably are)!

The methodology also relies on there actually being a working light in each door edge. When I checked out the car that I had bought, it took a while to realise that there was a problem! The previous owner had removed all the bulbs that were triggered by the switches – and put the courtesy lights to permanent “Off”,

So make sure that you have at least one spare working bulb for the door lights ready to hand.

Start with the driver’s door as that is the lock that gets the most use. (BTW, both front door locks also trigger the footwell light for their side only.

Open the door and check the door edge light.

If there is a working bulb, the light will come on when the door is open. No light is a dead give-away that somebody has taken out the bulb. In that case, you need to take out the door edge light.

Unlike my previous owner who had ‘mangled’ all the lights out, it is easy to remove the light assembly (replacement second-hand lights are usually readily available from a wide variety of sources, if needed). Slide the light assembly upwards and prise the assembly out from the bottom edge. Hopefully the assembly has a bulb holder with a bulb in it. If it hasn’t, put one in, then, hopefully, the bulb should light.

With the door open, flick the door catch in with your finger… fully… it does have a part-closed position (you can pop it back out again, after, by using the door handle and flicking the catch out with your finger again). If the light goes out, the microswitch is OK. If the light stays on, you have a microswitch problem in that particular lock.

Repeat the above action on all four doors and determine which lock(s) are causing problems. (With my car, I found that three of the locks were faulty… but it did, at least, mean one of them was OK!)

Removing the door lock

It is best to use the Haynes manual for guidance on this. However a few points:
1. In the Haynes manual, it writes about removing the screw that holds the bottom of the window guide. Mine didn’t have a screw on the front doors – it was riveted! However, it didn’t affect lock removal and fitting too drastically.
2. The electrical cables to the door lock are a little on the short side and it is not easy to pull the door lock out without detaching the plugs. I overcame this by working out where the cable clips were and pushing the one nearest to the lock mechanism through. That gave enough slack to allow the lock to come out further while remaining electrically connected.
3. For the more technically minded, the Haynes manual does have the wiring diagram of the internals of the lock on page 12-43. The driver’s lock (which does have a little more ‘gubbins’ in it is item 207. You can do testing with a multi-meter using that diagram.
4. There is sneaky little spring on the lock which can pop off – just when you don’t want it to. I only worked out how it was positioned when I got another lock! So, in case it happens to you, a picture of how it fits

Checking and ‘adjusting’ the microswitch operation

There is more than one microswitch in the front door locks… so you need to know which one to ‘jiggle’! We are looking purely at the switch that operates the courtesy light/central locking/alarm set switch.

The picture below shows the driver’s door lock. The others are fairly similar in layout.

With the lock in the ‘door open’ position use a thin-bladed screwdriver to gently operate the microswitch by pushing the actuator button in. Hopefully, the door edge light should go out. If it doesn’t, the switch is broken… and it cannot be repaired/replaced and a replacement lock is needed.

Now disconnect the electrical plugs to the lock.

At this point I should mention that I have read a treatise where the guy actually dismantles the lock (difficult as some of it is press-fitted) and goes through all sorts of wonderful routines to ‘repair’ the microswitch actuator. If you’re brave, go ahead; but as the actuator is purely a pressure action, with no sliding action, major dismantling and rebuilding is a bit of a sledge hammer to crack a walnut! Also, if you’re like me, you could end up doing it all wrong and ending up with bits left over.

If you now operate the lock a couple of times, you can see which of the many white nylon lumps actually operates the microswitch. Put the lock back to the ‘door open’ state.

What is usually the problem is wear in some of all those nylon lumps means that the particular lump we’re looking at doesn’t quite push the microswitch button in far enough. I suppose that there are various ‘fixes’ that could be applied, but mine seems to working and holding (so far!). With a cotton bud and some isopropyl alcohol, thoroughly clean the face of the white nylon actuator arm where it pushes the microswitch button. This is where you need to build up the surface to nullify the effects of the wear.

And then (well, at least it’s what I did!), carefully build up layers of small pieces of black plastic electricians tape – making sure that they adhere properly (or similar padding) and retesting at each layer by reconnecting the plugs and operating the door lock. Once you have found a thickness that operates the microswitch properly, add three more layers of tape to allow for the eventual compression of the existing layers.

If you are really brave, you may find some alternative method of building up the surface; but that is down to individual taste/ability

Once the microswitch in the lock is working properly, check that the lock is still well-lubricated. Spray-on grease is best otherwise a few drops of light oil in appropriate places will do. WD40 is not recommended – it works its detrimental way into the switch mechanisms! Re-install the lock. This can be a bit of a fiddle with the driver’s door lock as getting the rod operated by the key can be a bit of a so-and-so to get into position.

Once all four locks are operating correctly, the courtesy lights should work properly, the alarm system should ‘arm’ (shown by the indicators flashing once when you blip the remote fob lock and the little red light on top of the dash starts flashing) and the door lock buttons on the front door switch panels should work.

Good luck.

May 10th, 2011, 12:11	#1
christheancient Aged Volvo Lover Last Online: Sep 16th, 2021 10:19 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: A place in mendip-land famous for its cheese - and its gorge	How to check/repair courtesy/door lights problems I am hoping that the moderators feel that the following is worthy of being an 'article'! As is immediately apparent on reading through the forum, the door lock/courtesy light/alarm set system on the Phase 1 V70s causes many problems and similar questions on the system are asked frequently. All this boils down to the fact that there are no courtesy light switches on the door pillars any more… they’re buried in the door locks as little irreplaceable or irreparable microswitches. The usual signs that a microswitch not operating correctly are: 1. The courtesy lights stay on. 2. One, or more red door edge lights stay on. 3. When you lock the car with the remote fob, you don’t get a single flash of the indicators denoting that the alarm is set (if fitted) and the little red light on the dash doesn’t start flashing (though the doors do lock). 4. You can’t use the door lock buttons on the front door switch panels (the lock just pops up again) Different places that I checked/read didn’t seem to have all the information in one place. However, and through having to do it the ‘hard way’, I think I have cracked how to check and effect a repair (sometimes) to the system. So, hopefully, an easy guide on how to check and repair. Checking which door lock which is causing the problem. I originally never thought that there was a comparatively easy way of determining which switch was at fault. But there is. But it relies on the appropriate fuses and relays to be in place and working first (which they probably are)! The methodology also relies on there actually being a working light in each door edge. When I checked out the car that I had bought, it took a while to realise that there was a problem! The previous owner had removed all the bulbs that were triggered by the switches – and put the courtesy lights to permanent “Off”, So make sure that you have at least one spare working bulb for the door lights ready to hand. Start with the driver’s door as that is the lock that gets the most use. (BTW, both front door locks also trigger the footwell light for their side only. Open the door and check the door edge light. If there is a working bulb, the light will come on when the door is open. No light is a dead give-away that somebody has taken out the bulb. In that case, you need to take out the door edge light. Unlike my previous owner who had ‘mangled’ all the lights out, it is easy to remove the light assembly (replacement second-hand lights are usually readily available from a wide variety of sources, if needed). Slide the light assembly upwards and prise the assembly out from the bottom edge. Hopefully the assembly has a bulb holder with a bulb in it. If it hasn’t, put one in, then, hopefully, the bulb should light. With the door open, flick the door catch in with your finger… fully… it does have a part-closed position (you can pop it back out again, after, by using the door handle and flicking the catch out with your finger again). If the light goes out, the microswitch is OK. If the light stays on, you have a microswitch problem in that particular lock. Repeat the above action on all four doors and determine which lock(s) are causing problems. (With my car, I found that three of the locks were faulty… but it did, at least, mean one of them was OK!) Removing the door lock It is best to use the Haynes manual for guidance on this. However a few points: 1. In the Haynes manual, it writes about removing the screw that holds the bottom of the window guide. Mine didn’t have a screw on the front doors – it was riveted! However, it didn’t affect lock removal and fitting too drastically. 2. The electrical cables to the door lock are a little on the short side and it is not easy to pull the door lock out without detaching the plugs. I overcame this by working out where the cable clips were and pushing the one nearest to the lock mechanism through. That gave enough slack to allow the lock to come out further while remaining electrically connected. 3. For the more technically minded, the Haynes manual does have the wiring diagram of the internals of the lock on page 12-43. The driver’s lock (which does have a little more ‘gubbins’ in it is item 207. You can do testing with a multi-meter using that diagram. 4. There is sneaky little spring on the lock which can pop off – just when you don’t want it to. I only worked out how it was positioned when I got another lock! So, in case it happens to you, a picture of how it fits Checking and ‘adjusting’ the microswitch operation There is more than one microswitch in the front door locks… so you need to know which one to ‘jiggle’! We are looking purely at the switch that operates the courtesy light/central locking/alarm set switch. The picture below shows the driver’s door lock. The others are fairly similar in layout. With the lock in the ‘door open’ position use a thin-bladed screwdriver to gently operate the microswitch by pushing the actuator button in. Hopefully, the door edge light should go out. If it doesn’t, the switch is broken… and it cannot be repaired/replaced and a replacement lock is needed. Now disconnect the electrical plugs to the lock. At this point I should mention that I have read a treatise where the guy actually dismantles the lock (difficult as some of it is press-fitted) and goes through all sorts of wonderful routines to ‘repair’ the microswitch actuator. If you’re brave, go ahead; but as the actuator is purely a pressure action, with no sliding action, major dismantling and rebuilding is a bit of a sledge hammer to crack a walnut! Also, if you’re like me, you could end up doing it all wrong and ending up with bits left over. If you now operate the lock a couple of times, you can see which of the many white nylon lumps actually operates the microswitch. Put the lock back to the ‘door open’ state. What is usually the problem is wear in some of all those nylon lumps means that the particular lump we’re looking at doesn’t quite push the microswitch button in far enough. I suppose that there are various ‘fixes’ that could be applied, but mine seems to working and holding (so far!). With a cotton bud and some isopropyl alcohol, thoroughly clean the face of the white nylon actuator arm where it pushes the microswitch button. This is where you need to build up the surface to nullify the effects of the wear. And then (well, at least it’s what I did!), carefully build up layers of small pieces of black plastic electricians tape – making sure that they adhere properly (or similar padding) and retesting at each layer by reconnecting the plugs and operating the door lock. Once you have found a thickness that operates the microswitch properly, add three more layers of tape to allow for the eventual compression of the existing layers. If you are really brave, you may find some alternative method of building up the surface; but that is down to individual taste/ability Once the microswitch in the lock is working properly, check that the lock is still well-lubricated. Spray-on grease is best otherwise a few drops of light oil in appropriate places will do. WD40 is not recommended – it works its detrimental way into the switch mechanisms! Re-install the lock. This can be a bit of a fiddle with the driver’s door lock as getting the rod operated by the key can be a bit of a so-and-so to get into position. Once all four locks are operating correctly, the courtesy lights should work properly, the alarm system should ‘arm’ (shown by the indicators flashing once when you blip the remote fob lock and the little red light on top of the dash starts flashing) and the door lock buttons on the front door switch panels should work. Good luck. __________________ Our children don't inherit the world from us. We are borrowing it from them.