I have a 96 Eldorado. My radio nolonger shuts off when I open the door. I’M told it is controlled by the doorlatch. Where is it in the door and what does it look like? The dealer say’s it’s not available and I want to try to fix it myself.
Do the interior lights come on when you open the door? If so I doubt the problem is at the door. Likely there is only one switch at the door. A new, to you, door latch may be found at a recycling yard.
However I suspect some sort of relay or computer control has failed in the car. I would want to find a good wiring diagram before replacing parts.
Then of course, I would just turn the radio off myself as I have done for many years.
Doesn’t the radio turn off by itself after something like 5 minutes? I think that’s what it is in my 01 Impala. If so, just leave it. 5 minutes won’t drain your battery, and it’s cheaper (and easier) than repairing anything. Or, alternately, you could just turn off the radio manually.
is this a factory original radio?
The door latches control a number of accessories such as the headlights-on buzzer and the key-in chime. If these are working properly than the problem is not a faulty door switch. More likely it is some cumputer chip or control circuitry that controls these various accessories that has gone bad. Replace it if you must; the prudent car owner would simply switch off the radio manually.
Yes, it’s the original radio. Every thing else seems to be working fine. Still I would like to checkout the door latch switch, if you could please tell me where in the door it is located and what it looks like.
If you don’t see a switch it is likely part of the door latch mech. This problem has shown up in various vehicles of mine. Spray lube into the latch mech has always fixed it.
Some of the door sensors are on the hinge side. They look like a small plunger that is depressed as the door is closed and others are part of the latch on the other side. If it is part of the latch, it also could be the wires that pass from the hinge side to the door. However like the others have said, if the other features like the interior light that are controlled by opening the door are working, I doubt it it is the problem.