I'm currently installing a Viper 790XV in a 1993 Saturn coupe, and I have encountered some trouble with the door trigger circuit built in to the car.
According to the wiring info I pulled off of this site, the (-) door trigger is a white wire located behind the fuse panel in the center console. I have confirmed this through the use of a factory service manual for the vehicle in question.
The white wire should show ground with the door open, and infinite resistance with the door closed. What actually happens is that it shows low resistance ground with the door open as it should, but with the door closed, the circuit does not open. It remains grounded, but with a rather high resistance.
I have confirmed that the vehicle operates properly. The dome light illuminates when either door opens, and shuts off after the doors have closed. The key-in/ignition off chime sounds only with the driver's door open, as it should.
I'm currently thinking that either a door switch, or a bared wire is causing the leak to ground with the doors shut. Before I go tearing apart the car to investigate this possibilty, I thought I'd try running it by some people who know more than me. After all, this may be the way the car is supposed to operate, and I could be wasting my time troubleshooting a perfectly functioning system when all I need is to think more about how the dome lamp/door trigger circuits are set up on this car.
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Keith C. Adams
Did you go to the door pins themselves.... ? They are easy to reach. check the ground situation there!
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I haven't checked directly at the door switches because it's really not easy to get to them. The interior quarter panel trim has to come out to get to them, and in order to do that, the rear seat cushion needs to come out. Unfortunately, the seat cushion doesn't seem to want to come out very easily in this car. I strained and grunted for half an hour, and the clips holding it down refuse to let go. Insane. I'll get to that eventually.
As far as reading the resistance from the bulb goes... Not possible. I should have mentioned this in my first post. I removed the bulb in order to eliminate that as a possibility. Sorry, I wasn't thinking.
I am pretty sure that a door switch is to blame, though. After opening and closing the passenger side door a few times, every now and then the path to ground will completely vanish, as it should. So I'm thinking that the problem is that switch. As soon as I can get the frikkin' seat to let go of the floor pan, I'll be well on my way to finding out.
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Keith C. Adams