for courtesy lights.....I ordered part # 594359 from Corvette Central, actually two of them, and now wondering how I am going to install them.

Have any of you done this? The only access I can see is with the door open and do it from the outside. How do I keep the switch from falling into no where land? I have a 1987 stock convertible.

Kistler

 

I've spent a while scouring my FSM and Chiltons manual for this & gone out and stared at mine for a while too. It shows up in the electrical diagnostics supplement schematics but I can't find it in the component location section. The only drawing I've found in the FSM that mentions it is figure 10-27A & here it's shown as being in the door, not the door jam!

Looking at the door ajar switch part listings on the Corvette Central I notice a couple of things. First, they show a door ajar alarm switch striker as being located on the door jam consistent with the switch in the door. Second, the pictures of the door ajar switch itself shows a flange with what appear to be two mounting screw holes suggesting how it may be attached to the frame. From this I wonder if maybe the '87 was some kind of transition year & maybe this is better documented in an earlier years FSM---forum member Agent86 regularly posts figures from the '86 FSM and might be helpful. Finally, if I'm correct about how the switch itself is mounted (i.e. 2 screws through the flange) then you probably don't have to worry about it falling free. I'm guessing, at this point, the boot is just press fit into the opening---yank the old one out & shove the new one in.

Hopefully someone who's done this will respond. These guy's might be worth contacting as well:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c4-p...warehouse.html

 

Thank you for replying.....it looks to me like the rubber end of the boot is under a washer and that washer is held tight by a hex head tap/nut.

I was thinking of taking my needle nose pliers and gripping the post of the switch while taking an end wrench to loosen the hex nut/tap.

The danger (and there are several ) is my dropping the switch inside the body and it will be gone forever.

Getting the new boot on is going to be tricky as I will have to take the vice grips loose to get the boot behind the washer......

May be I should return the boots and just never drive in the rain; it hardly ever rains here anyway.

Kistler

 

Ok, I did what we both should have done first---used the search function.

It turns out there are two switches---the door ajar switch and the door jam switch (courtesy light switch - front door jamb 594301 at Corvette Central). Both use the same boot, fortunately.

If you look at the door jamb switch picture it threads into the jamb & the hex head is how you grab it. So, no problem with it disappearing into the frame.

One last thought...

Take some pictures when you replace it & post 'em here or in a seperate 'how to' thread---wouldn't you have loved to find one when you started this thread?

 

And thank you again for doing research. How do I get to this diagram? I think you are talking about "search" on this forum.....I will try.

I really appreciate your time and help.

Kistler (aka Larry Ryan)

 

Not sure which diagram you are asking about.

The FSM info I got from my copy of the book.

The picture of the door jam switch (which really tells all you need to know) is on the Corvette Central web site:

http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb....~Z5Z5Z50000050

As for the search function, I searched the C4 section for door ajar switch and found lots of threads. After reading 5 or 6 I found one that mentioned there are two switches & the one you're working on is the door jam switch---not the door ajar switch.