1994 Rav4 Sensor

[wayne1968]

Hi all wondering if anyone can help. Just bought 1994 3door Rav4 and the indicator on the dash that a door is open stays on. I have checked both front doors and they seem fine but cannot find any sensor on rear door. I could live with this but the Battery seems to drain very quickly and I have to keep disconnecting the Battery when I park up overnight.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

[Colin 74]

Hi all wondering if anyone can help. Just bought 1994 3door Rav4 and the indicator on the dash that a door is open stays on. I have checked both front doors and they seem fine but cannot find any sensor on rear door. I could live with this but the battery seems to drain very quickly and I have to keep disconnecting the battery when I park up overnight.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

Have you tried diconnecting the door swithches?

[wayne1968]

No not tried that. Because they seem to work ok, interior light comes on/goes off ok. Is it just a case of pulling the connector off the switch to deactivate ?

[bothwell_buyer]

funny one. According to a wiring diagram I have, the wire to the switch then goes to ground. That being the case, then it seems likely that the warning circuit is picking up a ground somewhere.

I'd try an auto-electrician unless you are handy with a multi-meter.

[wayne1968]

Thanks Bothwell

Price of auto electrician might make disconnecting Battery everynight seem not so hard after all !!!

[anchorman]

Sometimes the switch has a rubber cover. If you pull the rubber cover off the switch there is a screw to hold it on (on some the screw is exposed. Undo the switch and pull it and the wire just clear of the body. Do this on both sides and see if the light is still on indicating the wire is still earthed. If it is turn your attention to the back door. The switch on earlier models is incorperated in the lock;

Start by making sure the door is closing all the way onto the second catch as the light is designed to show "door ajar". If it is OK take the door panel off. They usually come off in a similar manner so use the check strap fitting info as a guide;

http://toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=71227

There will be a wire to the lock. Put your hand in and disconnect the wire. If the light now goes off the fault was either in the lock or the door earth. Just have a fiddle and I'm sure you will find it.

[wayne1968]

Cheers Anchorman

Will go and take a look. Thats why I couldn't find the rear door sensor if it is attached to the locking mechanism.

Makes life a lot easier if you know where to look.

I will post later on how I get on.

Thanks again

[wayne1968]

Well tried disconnecting wire from lock and still light is on !!!

I did notice that the lock won't go to second engage. Locks ok with key though !!

Back to the drawing board

[anchorman]

Well tried disconnecting wire from lock and still light is on !!!

I did notice that the lock won't go to second engage. Locks ok with key though !!

Back to the drawing board

Did you remove the 2 door switches at the same time?

[wayne1968]

No just the rear door connector.

[anchorman]

No just the rear door connector.

The light just earths to the body. You need to remove the side switches to see if one is earthing. Undoing it and moving it away from the body will take the switches out of the equation. Now you have disconnected the boot switch you don't need to do it again.

So! With the passenger door shut, undo and just pull the driver side switch out and away from the body. If the light now goes out that switch is faulty. If it doesn't, leave that switch out and undo and remove the passenger side switch. If it now goes out that one is faulty. If the light doesn't go out with them both removed the light is being earthed elsewhere. If you prove a switch is faulty you can sometimes fix them by cleaning out all the muck and giving it a squirt with WD40 or similar.

[wayne1968]

Thanks anchorman

I will try tomorrow and post what happens

cheers again

[wayne1968]

Still no joy. Disconnectcted rear door sensor & both door sensors.

Blasted door open light still on on dash.

Really scratching my head now !!!

[anchorman]

OK The light is fed from the 15a "dome" fuse so just pull that and make sure that it goes out otherwise it could be picking up a stray feed. If it does go out as it should then things start to get a bit more complicated.

Before you dig too hard, in my opinion that little light alone is nowhere near enough to drain the Battery overnight.

If the light goes out when pulling the fuse then that is a good first test. If you leave it out overnight do you still have the same problem? If you don't and want to home in a bit more then the lamp in the dash as I said is fed from the dome fuse by a blue wire with a yellow trace. You could simply put a switch in to open the circuit when not in use. The ciurcit is completed by one of two earths. The first goes through an integration unit with the front door switch wires and the interior light. The second goes directly to the rear door switches (they may still exist on a 3 door) and the back door switch. Unfortunately both earths are red with a white trace but if you find a way of opening both circiuts you could rule out which is causing the problem.

I presume the interior light is working OK? In other words it works manually or when any of the doors are opened.

If you disconnect the earth from the Battery then put an ammeter between the Battery and the earth lead you should be able to see a drain on the battery. Then pull that dame fuse and see if it disappears - it will save you a lot of hunting for nothing.

Good luck.

[wayne1968]

Well thats some progress anchorman.

Pulling the dome fuse did put out the light. What else is on that fuse. wondering if i could live without it?

I will leave overnight to see if it starts tomorrow !!

Thanks m8

[anchorman]

Just the interior light.

[Rav4andSaab95]

Hi all wondering if anyone can help. Just bought 1994 3door Rav4 and the indicator on the dash that a door is open stays on. I have checked both front doors and they seem fine but cannot find any sensor on rear door. I could live with this but the battery seems to drain very quickly and I have to keep disconnecting the battery when I park up overnight.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

Just had the same problem, turns out that the bonnet also has a sensor that earths on the same circuit. So if the bonnet is open or sensor is faulty the rear interior light stays on and red door open symbol appears on dash. Simple, just replace or disconnect bonnet sensor, replace dome fuse and interior light will work off rear door.

I tested rear door catch, interior light earth, everything, then found that the bonnet sensor was staying earthed even when closed.

Looking closely at the bonnet sensor, you'll be amazed at how simple it is, to disable the sensor just disconnect the wire and ensure it's insulated to avoid further problems.

I just took the sensor off and repaired it.

I found this article useful in checking out my fault, but was amazed to find that the bonnet sensor triggered the rear interior light.

Other items on the same 'dome' fuse include :- Rear Fog Light, front interior light, rear interior light, clock.

Hope this is of use