Illuminating passenger door buttons

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      I had to remove the inside door trim to get at the switch assembly. Beware that the carpet strip at the bottom of the door has 3 screws hidden behind it. Also once all the appropriate screws are removed you have to carefully lift up on the door trim. I must say the door trim is the easiest to remove and put back on than any car I’ve seen. Also once you remove the passenger door switch assembly you will not be able to operate the window on that side. I think it’s easier to remove and install the door trim with the window down.

      The switch faces can be pulled off the switch assembly. Just pull up on them evenly with a slight gentle side to side rocking motion. They mount to the switch assembly just like the keys on your computer keyboard.

      Once the switch facing is off you can mount an LED (preferably a high intensity) on the bottom surface of the assembly. I used a solder iron to melt any plastic obstruction so the LED would fit and made a hole so the leads would stick out the side. I also slightly shaped the LED with a grinding tool to make the fit a little easier.

      I tied the two LEDs in series with a 1000 ohm resistor. (note: LEDs are polarity sensitive as you want to mate cathode to anode, or they will not light). Then I tied them to pins 8 & 9 on the back of the switch assembly. Looking at the back of the switch assembly the pins on the back are numbered starting at the top, left to right. (pin 2 is missing) Note: Pin 9 is a positive lead from the window power relay contact. Pin 8 is a negative lead emanating from the WDO lock switch on the driver side (this acts as the ground or negative). There are 4 screws on the front of the switch assembly there is no need to remove them, as it holds the guts of the assembly in. I remove the back off and access terminals 8 & 9 for the LED circuit just mounted. I soldered the anode end(positive) to pin 9 and the cathode end(negative) in the direction of pin 8. A current limiting resistor must also be in series or inline with the diodes, without the current limiting resistor the diodes would burn out from conducting to much current. (oh, i installed a 500 ohm resistor to get a little more brightness, maybe that reduced the lifespan of them LEDs down to 10 years)

[9]-------- >\----------- >\---------/\/\/\/\------[8]

      To satify your self that you are on the right track before you even docotor your switch assembly you might construct the illuminated LED circuit and test it on the connector in your door.

      (If you look at the power window circuit diagram of your Volume 2 Electrical, service manual. You will note there are three LEDs in series, one to illuminate each switch on the driver door. This is basically what I have done on the passenger’s side, finishing up where Mitsu left off.)

      Now the switches on the passenger side illuminates in tandem with the driver side with one exception. The passenger switches will only illuminate if the WDO LOCK button on the driver side is in the enable position. Looks really neat, I used blue for the window and red for the door and the color shows thur during daylight hours too. I bought the high bright LEDs at Radio Shack, they are one of the few electronic stores carrying the blue LEDs.