Front passenger door open warning
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Once had an SRS light displaying.
Mechanic turned off the SRS light, mumbling something about a ground fault issue on the door switch being identified on his Tech 2.
A day or 2 later I realised that he had 'fixed' the SRS light by turning off the Driver's Door open warning circuit... Grrr.
Seemingly there are two wires in the later door jamb switches .
Pull it out and clean up the grounding??
Might work Might not.. Did for mine.. albeit a few years ago, so memory specifics are sketchy.
Mechanic turned off the SRS light, mumbling something about a ground fault issue on the door switch being identified on his Tech 2.
A day or 2 later I realised that he had 'fixed' the SRS light by turning off the Driver's Door open warning circuit... Grrr.
Seemingly there are two wires in the later door jamb switches .
Pull it out and clean up the grounding??
Might work Might not.. Did for mine.. albeit a few years ago, so memory specifics are sketchy.
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2,026 Posts
FWIW - This is all I have regarding the door ajar circuitry:
The pictogram in the main instrument display panel contains indicator lamps for open doors. The signals for this feature are supplied by sensors on the locking mechanism inside each door.
The sensors have no moving parts and respond to the position of the magnet in relation to the sensor housing.
Inductive proximity switches sense distance to objects by generating magnetic fields. They are similar in principle to metal detectors. A coil of wire is charged with electrical current, and an electronic circuit measures this current. If a metallic part gets close enough to the coil, the current will increase and the proximity switch will open or close accordingly. The chief disadvantage of inductive proximity switches is that they can only detect metallic objects.
Proximity switches are used in manufacturing processes -- for example, to measure the position of machine components. They are also used in security systems, in applications such as detecting the opening of a door, and in robotics, where they can monitor a robot or its components' nearness to objects and steer it accordingly
Oh yeah, I also have this (origin unknown). It may correspond to the first dwg above :
Did you by any chance pull the exterior part of the latch works off the end of the door? The piece with the three fat flat-head Torx bolts, that has the swiveling notched latch piece in it, to hook onto the part on the door post?
If you took it off, there's a trick to putting it on to get the Door Ajar light switch re-engaged. I'm going to presume that's what happened to you and explain things from that standpoint first.
That part that goes on outside, I guess I'll call it the strike plate, has two pegs sticking out of it. One, fatter, goes in to the inner latch works inside the door and as it moves through its arc, it moves the swiveling latch piece or holds it latched.
The other skinnier one goes thru into an arc-shaped slot and should go into a slot in a nylon arm on the interior latch works. As it moves it moves the nylon arm too and on the end of that arm is a magnet. The magnet moves close to a blue reed switch permanently mounted to the inner latch works, or away from it, signaling Latched or Not Latched.
To put it all together right you need to first of all have the exterior latch piece trigged in "latched" position, with the notched arm pushed in till it stays in.
Then when you put it up to the door to bolt it home, the skinny pin will be at the top of its arc and just fit into the slot in the nylon arm inside there, that I mention.
If you put that plate back on in unlatched state, the skinny pin is down at the bottom and the nylon arm (which has a spring on it) has been pulled off to one side and the pin won't engage the slot in the arm, instead falling just outside of it.
I did this on a rear door; the pressure of that pin then kind of collapsed the slot in the nylon arm, but not enough to break it, and once I figured it out and got it into position it works just fine again - - the slot bent back to original shape.
Then before you close the door, release that latched latch arm, by pulling on the door handle, either inner or outer.
Now, if that's not what happened in your case you're probably right to take the door apart to investigate further. The entire latch works on these cars has several swivel points that get corroded and won't move smooth and would benefit from attention.
I detailed door panel removal and some of latch disassembly on an earlier post or two, worth your looking up on search, or someone else's, as I'm a little shaky on the how-to now and don't want to bother telling it all again, maybe partly wrong.
Once the several door inner panel bolts and screws are out of the way, and any switches and wires on driver side, you have a couple panel fasteners to pop, up from the bottom edge of the door a few inches, front and rear. Then the panel has to be popped up on from below, quite hard, to get several spring clips in a channel at its top to release from the top of the sheet metal at the glass. Start at one end, get it to start moving, then it comes easy.
Have the window down when you tackle this as it contributes a little to the difficulty. I found it to be major force compared to most cars, and once panel was off I slipped the clips, four I think, down the channel and pitched them, as not needed.
Then run window all the way back up again to do the rest of things.
You may have to deal with a plastic guide at back of glass, bolted to door frame with two 10mm headed bolts on outside of door, that really is there to hold the wire from the lock cylinder out of the way of the moving window. The wire is hooked into two notches in that plastic, then runs up to the key cylinder. I don't think you need to remove the outer door handle, with the key cylinder etc., but it might be a good idea as the roller on the end of the arm off back of key cylinder is what pushes the paddle on the latch and opens the door from the outside, and it freezes up and stops rolling. Freeing it with solvent and oil is a good idea as it makes the door open easier.
The inner latch works will be almost free if you have undone those three massive Torx screws in the outer latch plate, but under that outer plate you'll find a tiny round-head Torx screw that also holds the works, and I think on the inside door tin, a little push-in-the-pin plastic fastener, besides the wiring for the door-ajar reed switch.
I lubed a lot of points on my rear door latch internal works and I think you'll find a few points that move stiff and need oil on the front one. I still have this to do for both front doors, when I install the new matching lock cylinders I cadged from a junkyard car this summer.
Oh yeah, have window all the way down when you put the inner door panel back on too, it hooks easier at top, with door lock button poking up thru its slot, if glass is out of the way.
The pictogram in the main instrument display panel contains indicator lamps for open doors. The signals for this feature are supplied by sensors on the locking mechanism inside each door.
The sensors have no moving parts and respond to the position of the magnet in relation to the sensor housing.
Inductive proximity switches sense distance to objects by generating magnetic fields. They are similar in principle to metal detectors. A coil of wire is charged with electrical current, and an electronic circuit measures this current. If a metallic part gets close enough to the coil, the current will increase and the proximity switch will open or close accordingly. The chief disadvantage of inductive proximity switches is that they can only detect metallic objects.
Proximity switches are used in manufacturing processes -- for example, to measure the position of machine components. They are also used in security systems, in applications such as detecting the opening of a door, and in robotics, where they can monitor a robot or its components' nearness to objects and steer it accordingly
Oh yeah, I also have this (origin unknown). It may correspond to the first dwg above :
Did you by any chance pull the exterior part of the latch works off the end of the door? The piece with the three fat flat-head Torx bolts, that has the swiveling notched latch piece in it, to hook onto the part on the door post?
If you took it off, there's a trick to putting it on to get the Door Ajar light switch re-engaged. I'm going to presume that's what happened to you and explain things from that standpoint first.
That part that goes on outside, I guess I'll call it the strike plate, has two pegs sticking out of it. One, fatter, goes in to the inner latch works inside the door and as it moves through its arc, it moves the swiveling latch piece or holds it latched.
The other skinnier one goes thru into an arc-shaped slot and should go into a slot in a nylon arm on the interior latch works. As it moves it moves the nylon arm too and on the end of that arm is a magnet. The magnet moves close to a blue reed switch permanently mounted to the inner latch works, or away from it, signaling Latched or Not Latched.
To put it all together right you need to first of all have the exterior latch piece trigged in "latched" position, with the notched arm pushed in till it stays in.
Then when you put it up to the door to bolt it home, the skinny pin will be at the top of its arc and just fit into the slot in the nylon arm inside there, that I mention.
If you put that plate back on in unlatched state, the skinny pin is down at the bottom and the nylon arm (which has a spring on it) has been pulled off to one side and the pin won't engage the slot in the arm, instead falling just outside of it.
I did this on a rear door; the pressure of that pin then kind of collapsed the slot in the nylon arm, but not enough to break it, and once I figured it out and got it into position it works just fine again - - the slot bent back to original shape.
Then before you close the door, release that latched latch arm, by pulling on the door handle, either inner or outer.
Now, if that's not what happened in your case you're probably right to take the door apart to investigate further. The entire latch works on these cars has several swivel points that get corroded and won't move smooth and would benefit from attention.
I detailed door panel removal and some of latch disassembly on an earlier post or two, worth your looking up on search, or someone else's, as I'm a little shaky on the how-to now and don't want to bother telling it all again, maybe partly wrong.
Once the several door inner panel bolts and screws are out of the way, and any switches and wires on driver side, you have a couple panel fasteners to pop, up from the bottom edge of the door a few inches, front and rear. Then the panel has to be popped up on from below, quite hard, to get several spring clips in a channel at its top to release from the top of the sheet metal at the glass. Start at one end, get it to start moving, then it comes easy.
Have the window down when you tackle this as it contributes a little to the difficulty. I found it to be major force compared to most cars, and once panel was off I slipped the clips, four I think, down the channel and pitched them, as not needed.
Then run window all the way back up again to do the rest of things.
You may have to deal with a plastic guide at back of glass, bolted to door frame with two 10mm headed bolts on outside of door, that really is there to hold the wire from the lock cylinder out of the way of the moving window. The wire is hooked into two notches in that plastic, then runs up to the key cylinder. I don't think you need to remove the outer door handle, with the key cylinder etc., but it might be a good idea as the roller on the end of the arm off back of key cylinder is what pushes the paddle on the latch and opens the door from the outside, and it freezes up and stops rolling. Freeing it with solvent and oil is a good idea as it makes the door open easier.
The inner latch works will be almost free if you have undone those three massive Torx screws in the outer latch plate, but under that outer plate you'll find a tiny round-head Torx screw that also holds the works, and I think on the inside door tin, a little push-in-the-pin plastic fastener, besides the wiring for the door-ajar reed switch.
I lubed a lot of points on my rear door latch internal works and I think you'll find a few points that move stiff and need oil on the front one. I still have this to do for both front doors, when I install the new matching lock cylinders I cadged from a junkyard car this summer.
Oh yeah, have window all the way down when you put the inner door panel back on too, it hooks easier at top, with door lock button poking up thru its slot, if glass is out of the way.
Joined
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2,026 Posts
Apparently those switches are of the close-to-alarm type. So the opposite would be true (i.e. disconnecting the harness from the switch will yield a false closed signal to the pictogram). See the bold type below:
DESCRIPTION OF OPERATION
The part of pictogram 213 that covers door indication alerts the driver if any of the doors is not properly closed.
When the ignition switch is in the Drive position, positive current is supplied to terminal 5 of the pictogram and via lamps f, g, d, e and j for each door to the door switch in question.
If any door is not completely closed, corresponding door switch 208 will be closed, connecting the circuit for the associated lamp to ground and thus causing it to light up.
If the tailgate is not completely closed, luggage compartment switch 56 will be closed and lamp j will light up.
FAULT DIAGNOSIS HINTS
Door indication is activated by turning the ignition switch to the Drive position.
DESCRIPTION OF OPERATION
The part of pictogram 213 that covers door indication alerts the driver if any of the doors is not properly closed.
When the ignition switch is in the Drive position, positive current is supplied to terminal 5 of the pictogram and via lamps f, g, d, e and j for each door to the door switch in question.
If any door is not completely closed, corresponding door switch 208 will be closed, connecting the circuit for the associated lamp to ground and thus causing it to light up.
If the tailgate is not completely closed, luggage compartment switch 56 will be closed and lamp j will light up.
FAULT DIAGNOSIS HINTS
Door indication is activated by turning the ignition switch to the Drive position.
- Check that current is supplied to terminal 5 of pictogram 213.
- Check that the door switches are in proper working order.
- Check that the luggage compartment lighting switch is in proper working order.
- Check the connectors, wiring harness and ground connections.
And again thanks. Here's hoping it doesn't display a fault if the wire is broken because I'm about to simulate that! I'm guessing that this faults if the magnet in the door switch isn't in the correct position when the door is closed or if the magnetic strength fades over time. My mechanic says you can't really get at this switch without taking the lock assembly out if the inside if the door and even then what do you use to fix it?
My issue really is who needs this feature? A door slightly open rattles a bit and makes excessive wind noise.
My issue really is who needs this feature? A door slightly open rattles a bit and makes excessive wind noise.
That Blue Plastic 'switch' has been used by Saab since they first fitted Electric door locks to the first 900...30+ years of use.
Wreckers? if needs must. I've never seen a dead one... however I kept a spare
My bet would be a corroded/failed ground point.
Typical of most electrical symptoms on a Saab.
Wreckers? if needs must. I've never seen a dead one... however I kept a spare
My bet would be a corroded/failed ground point.
Typical of most electrical symptoms on a Saab.
Good suggestion. I've just replaced both front fenders due to sudden appearance of rust, and done the windshield frame. This car had a tough life on salty roads for its first four years and the resulting corrosion is just now showing up.
I suspect this car was garaged in an inadequately heated garage in winter. Either park it outside or in an unheated garage or make sure the garage is heated enough to keep the car dry.
I suspect this car was garaged in an inadequately heated garage in winter. Either park it outside or in an unheated garage or make sure the garage is heated enough to keep the car dry.
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