Strange electrical problem

[Ale]

I've had a minor quirk with my '91 Pathfinder for a while. Whenever I do a hard right turn, the interior light would flicker and I would hear the chime that normally accompanies the door being opened.

 

I suspect this is caused by my weight leaning against the driver side door and a loose contact? I never really cared about it because it was such a minor item until recently when I put in a car alarm. Now the stupid alarm is going off randomly all the time (often in the middle of the night), and I think that the door contact is flaky, causing the alarm to think the door is being opened.

 

Has anyone else experienced this problem? Does anyone know how the door sensor works on a 91 Pathfinder so I can fix it. My neighbors thank you in advance.

 

Thanks!

AL

[Mr. Pickles]

Check the latch on the rear hatch. There should be a plastic sleeve on the bottom catch/loop/hook thing on the floor of the truck, which often goes missing when old. Without this, it allows extra movement in the latch and doesn't pull it tight enough, hence the light flickering. It could also be sloppy from age, who knows... After removing the plastic trim, you can slide the catch thing back some (forward), and possibly take up some slack. Mine wouldn't quite slide far enough back, so I've just wrapped that catch thing in black electical tape to make up for the plastic sleeve, and re-do it every 6 months or so cause I never remember to grab another at the junkyard.

[k9sar]

I agree. Check your rear hatch. It's a common point of failure and easily addressed.

[revgolem]

Had the same problem. Definatly would say it's the hatch switch. I just disocnnected mine.

[mws]

I had the exact same problem in left hand turns. It was the right hand door switch. Adjusted the latching plate so the door latched about 1/32" tighter (it kinda didn't close flush before).

Problem solved.