87 toy van LE 4wh_ Rear door lighting issue

[wcalayag]

Hello everyone,


Please let me know if you had same problem! When i open the rear door the back & mid interior light
comes on when rr door is crack about 5". Then when i open it full the light goes out. What the !!!
When sliding door is open both lights comes on which I think is normal. Like the frt & sliding doors there's
a switch covered with rubber. I don't see one for the back door! So how does it work? On the side, i'm also
blowing a fuse on the int lights! Still searching in vain for the problem?

I'd appreciate it if anyone of you can share same issue and got it fixed! I'm still working on clock & cig
lighter that's temperamental & blows fuse sporadically !

Please respond to wcalayag@yahoo.com

Thank you guys,
Wesley

[joegri]

wcalayag you have a problem for sure but its something that can be fixed with some patients and skill. first off i have had a simular problem and it ended up being a pain to fix . the first place i would look is at the top of the rear hatch door. you,ll see on each side black ribbed rubber ubes that are the size of yer pinky finger. in there are maybe 5 or so wires that power up many lights and such. i,d say pull the black rubber back gently to spy out whats there. i,d be willing to bet that more than 2 or 3 wires are split or broken all together. this happens to i,m guessing all the vans at one time or another over the lifetime. i,m thinkin its a bad design tryin to stuff 5 pounds of wire into a 1 pound bag. i,d start there. to fix that mess correct yer gonna have to take the rear hatch pannel off then snake the wires out solder them then shrinktubing then reassemble that whole mess back through again. its a tough 1 but you can do it! please post back what you find. i,ve been wrong before but this sounds very fromiliar to me!! best of luck to ya

[wcalayag]

Hello Joegri,


I just finished the job! It wasn't that difficult. I pulled the wire from rear gate that goes in the ribbed
rubber. There were 3 wires. One broke off & the 2 had broken insulation. I soldered & taped. One thing
this job did was, the rear wiper now parks at the right place. However, when I open the rear door, interior
light comes on initially & goes off when door is fully opened. What is that ??? I'm dumbfounded !
Does any body know what's the problem on that?


Thank you,
Wesley

[joegri]

very cool wes yer halfway there !!! now ya gotta dig deeper into the deep recesses of the van. its more than possible that there is part of the harness rubbing along the sides of the van maybe near the washer tank or maybe near the jack storeage area. its just a guess but its more than possible good luck W you can do this. when i,m tryin to fix the van and i cant figure it out i always say out loud...... nobody can hear you scream when yer in outerspace!!! try that it works.

[Burntboot]

WC - The switch you are hunting for is part of the rear latch assembly inside the rear door, lots of fun.
It's possible the switch is just gummed up, things get pretty dirty back there but also inspect the rest of the harness in the rear door.
Where you repaired the wiring at the top of the door, were the wires clean and shiny or dull, if dull there is corrosion within the wire and you have to cut back to shiny wire, also watch for corrosion within the connectors.

BB

[wcalayag]

Thanks you so much fellows! I got the done after a long dark van! It sure was those broken wires in
left side top of rear lift gate.
Every bit of suggestions was very helpful and I thnak you all.


Wesley C.