2002 Honda Civic door jamb switch

[y_p_w]

My wife has owned this car for over 10 years and it had an annoying issue with the dome lights never turning on with the door open, the headlight chime not working, and key in ignition warning never going off.

Eventually I traced it to the driver side door jamb switch. One of these things:

Inside all that rubber is a push switch that my guess tells me completes a circuit when the push switch is out and open when pushed in by the door. There's a metal frame that's soft and bends. It has to securely contact the door frame to complete the circuit. And I typically found the frame was bent and didn't have good contact with the door frame.

Anyone else have this problem? I've fixed this as least twice by bending back the part and reinstalling, but I'm thinking it's time for a new switch. About $5. I looked at the door jamb last night, and it seems to be bending again, but not enough that the switch no longer functions. It just seems like a poor design.

 

[eljefino]

Usually it grounds to the chassis.

If it's an old school switch from when current used to flow through a bulb, that might have been good enough.

But now since it signals your body control module, which actually controls the light, a little corrosion or mechanical misalignment will do it in.

Can you switch it with the passenger or rear door switch?

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Usually it grounds to the chassis.

If it's an old school switch from when current used to flow through a bulb, that might have been good enough.

But now since it signals your body control module, which actually controls the light, a little corrosion or mechanical misalignment will do it in.

Can you switch it with the passenger or rear door switch?

Yeah - it turns on with those doors, even when the driver door wouldn't.

It's working now, but I'm just thinking of how long it takes before the switch caves in again. And with my wife maybe forgetting to turn off the headlights. The driver door gets the most use in this car, so that's probably what that switch is caving in so often. I couldn't figure this out for a while and thought that maybe the car didn't come with a key or headlight warning. I think I fixed it again last year.

 

[Quest]

It's only a few dollars worth:

Can't you just buy a new one?

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,1386277,parttype,4360

Q.