Quote Originally Posted by timsrv View Post
If you have the courtesy lamps in your doors, then another common place for this sort of problem is where the wires go between the doors and the body (in the door jam area). If yours is so equipped, you might try unplugging the door harnesses one at a time and leave them unplugged long enough to know if the problem still exists or not. If the problem goes away while a particular door is unplugged, but returns when that door is plugged back in, then focus your attention on that door harness. The wires to look at are the red and the red/white. Tim
Hey, sorry to dig up an old thread, but I'm currently having a similar problem, and I think this advice will help.

My problem (in my '88 townace) is that the courtesy lights stay on constantly, and the battery keeps going flat. I have taken the fuse out for now. This only just started happening (although the open door warning light has been on most of the time since I bought the car a year ago). I've checked a few of the switches, but I haven't found the problem yet.. Can someone confirm a few things for me?


  • Is the rear door switch in the lock? I can't see any other switches.
  • I tried taking the rear door lock off the bottom of the door this morning, and there are two wires attached, but I'm not sure if they're for the switch or the central locking or both, and the lock is rivetted together, to it's a bit hard to tell..
  • Looking at the '87 van repair manual, it seems like only the front two doors should turn the front courtesy lights on, is that right? But I have checked both switches in the front doors, and they seem fine. In which case maybe there's a short somewhere else? Is there a likely culprit for that?
  • Where can I unplug the door harnesses?