Keyhole lights

[interceptor1985]

They are only supposed to turn on when you pull up on the door handle, Can you fix that I don't have a car with them right now so I cant just go out side and see how they are supposed to be put together

[gadget73]

Interestingly GMs and CV's have this and dont have the keypad. On a Townie I do believe its integrated into the keyless entry stuff. I don't see any practical reason that you couldn't install whatever switch is used in the door catch assembly to trigger the light on a CV/GM, and use a capacitor and relay arrangement to make your own illuminated entry setup. Functionally, yes, mine are completely useless, but from a practical standpoint there is an excellent reason I have them. One of my door tumblers was actually missing because i had to remove it in order to get into my car. I found a car in the yard with a set of keys in it, and in order to retain a matching key set, I grabbed the ignition tumbler and the two door locks. Honestly the lightup part was completely non important for me. Not having multiple keys was.

[Dereck]

Which means they are preactically useless, as to open the door you need to first use the key to unlock it. By the way, Dereck said these are part of the keyless entry system, it would be nice if they work without it though.

Hi MeLikeyStripperChicks

The keyhole lights are on the courtesy light circuit, there is a little switch on the door handle that closes when the door handle is lifted, this grounds the White/Light Blue wire on the keyless entry module which triggers the illuminated entry feature.

Regards

Dereck

[Archangel]

Dereck, I bet you know what my next question is going to be - is there a way to add that feature without installing the keyless entry module?

[Dereck]

Dereck, I bet you know what my next question is going to be - is there a way to add that feature without installing the keyless entry module?

Hi MeLikeyStripperChicks

Well you could just use a relay or two (one for each door)

Fit the door handle switches and lock cylinders with the illumination, then configure a relay as follows;

Pin 30 12v live. (fused, 10amp should cover it)
Pin 86 12v live (looped off of pin 30).
Pin 85 to ground through the door handle switch.
Pin 87 to the courtesy light circuit.

Of course this way the courtesy/keyhole lights would only be on so long as you had the handle lifted, I geuss you could fit a capacitor so that they would stay on a while but you would need a big un and I don't know how long it would take to charge up.

Reagrds

Dereck

[Archangel]

Dereck, I thought about a relayed setup, but I ran into exactly the same problem - it either works for as long as the door handle is lifted, or it'd take some time to come on (with a capacitor). What I need is some kind of a timer relay, my dad had some of those in his car for whatever reason, but that was long time ago... maybe I should try to get hold of him over the instant messenger and see what he has to say about the problem, apart from that I have too much time on my hands

[gadget73]

The charge time wouldn't be much of a problem, the huge current surge when you pull up on the handle would be. For a split second, you'd probably be flowing 100+ amps while that cap charged. Not much duration but it probably would be enough to fry the switch after a few uses.

[Archangel]

Hmm, thought the charging current depends on the voltage and the time-constant of the cap, guess I'll have to dig out my EE books.