pulsing ground on jam switch

jim0207

INVNO1
Joined
Jan 29, 2010
With both doors open I have a short to ground on both jam switches. With the passenger door closed and the drivers door still open the drivers jam switch has a pulsing short to ground. When I open the jam switch, push in on the plunger, the pulsing short is the white wire. I then rolled the dimmer dial on the dash to the on position and the pulsing went to a constant dead short. This short has been discharging the battery. I pulled the fuse for that circuit and it stopped draining my battery. THA for some advice.
 
not sure what you hoped to accomplish measuring from white to ground
white is the ground for the dome/ctsy lamps . when door opens jamb switch pops out and completes the ground .if you measure a ground side of a lamp to ground you complete the circuit with the tester .. by rolling the dimmer ( turning on the ctsy lamps) you completed the ground 100% .
do you have an alarm system ...that might be monitoring the ground to the interior lamps and could be the pulsing your seeing

by pulling the fuse to the ctsy lamps you also disconnected power to the radio memory clock and cig lighter
if its a gm radio odds are the radio is bad , theres a thread on the issue of a common problem with constant power draw from a transistor that goes bad
also check the inside of the cig lighter for corrosion or bent center contact to the case
 
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Not trying to high jack.
I have a problem. My dome light does not come on when the driver door is open, But the security light does flash. He could be reading feedback from the security system.
Are there separate grounds at the door switch for the security & dome light?
The dome light works fine from headlight switch.
 
assuming no one disconnected the door swithc
try wiggling twisting the pin back and forth , could be corrosion on the contact at the other end of the nut you see in the jamb
make sure the body of the switch has a good ground , sometimes on a repaint the ground is lost
you may need to replace the door pin switch if its bent and cant extend to complete the ground
 
Hi Paul,
Thanks, I will check the grounds.
I have tried the wiggle. Seems weird there is enough ground for the security light to flash but not turn on the dome light?

Thanks, Mike
 
not sure what you hoped to accomplish measuring from white to ground
white is the ground for the dome/ctsy lamps . when door opens jamb switch pops out and completes the ground .if you measure a ground side of a lamp to ground you complete the circuit with the tester .. by rolling the dimmer ( turning on the ctsy lamps) you completed the ground 100% .
do you have an alarm system ...that might be monitoring the ground to the interior lamps and could be the pulsing your seeing

by pulling the fuse to the ctsy lamps you also disconnected power to the radio memory clock and cig lighter
if its a gm radio odds are the radio is bad , theres a thread on the issue of a common problem with constant power draw from a transistor that goes bad
also check the inside of the cig lighter for corrosion or bent center contact to the case
I found the white wire on the drivers jam switch pulsing. As an electrician I found this to be odd, actually I was thinking I had found my bleeding location. I am going to look at the other things you mentioned. After I put the car back together, I just had her painted, I noticed that the security lamp was flashing while the car was just sitting there . Nothing was on I only parked her in the garage and walked away. The next day I saw the security lamp flashing. I thought nothing of it. A couple of days later I was going to go for a drive, but the battery was dead. The search arena is a wealth of info and I do use it.
 
My bet is The switch inside of the door is disconnected at the lock. Had the same issue when mine was painted. It's a pain in the butt to get your hands in there to connect it too. Good luck

Bryan
 
I found the white wire on the drivers jam switch pulsing. As an electrician I found this to be odd, actually I was thinking I had found my bleeding location. I am going to look at the other things you mentioned. After I put the car back together, I just had her painted, I noticed that the security lamp was flashing while the car was just sitting there . Nothing was on I only parked her in the garage and walked away. The next day I saw the security lamp flashing. I thought nothing of it. A couple of days later I was going to go for a drive, but the battery was dead. The search arena is a wealth of info and I do use it.

Do the lamp flashes by chance, coincide with the pulses on the switch?
 
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