Interior dome light stays on, ticking coming from door

Last night my interior lights started coming on intermittently. There's also an intermittent fast clicking from the rear of the driver's door so I'm assuming it has something to do with a switch on the door. That said, I couldn't find anything that very obviously looks like a door open switch located anywhere on the door. Is this behind one of the rubber stops or is it more complicated?

Picture below for easier reference


Edit: I eventually found another thread referencing this (only after posting, of course). Am I interpreting correctly that I need a new door latch assembly?




Thanks!

Yes, the switch is in the door latch. They are not that hard to get - RockAuto and other places. IIRC you need to transfer some bits from the old to the new so don't trash it doing the removal.

Are they widely shared with other cars? Nothing is coming up on RockAuto, GMPartsWarehouse, Advance Auto, etc for an 8th gen riviera.

Which door is it?  The Passenger side door latch is GM 16637796, the Driver's side is 16637797.  They are very expensive, north of 300.00.  I can only find the Passenger side.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/ado-16637796

There are 2 or 3 electrical connections on the latch.  I would check the connections and wiring.  Take the door panel off and see if you can feel where the buzzing is coming from.  Might be the door lock actuator.
You should be able to replace that separately if it is bad,

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/buick,1998,riviera,3.8l+v6+supercharged,1303322,body+&+lamp+assembly,door+lock+actuator,13257

Could also be the door lock switch constantly signalling the actuator (might be the buzzing) A little investigation/diagnosing might make for an easy fix.

crunk04gtp wrote:

Are they widely shared with other cars? Nothing is coming up on RockAuto, GMPartsWarehouse, Advance Auto, etc for an 8th gen riviera.

The lock actuators come up...

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/buick,1999,riviera,3.8l+v6+supercharged,1352843,body+&+lamp+assembly,door+lock+actuator,13257

The GM actuators are around $60 each but for sure come with the dome lamp and door ajar switch; odds are the less expensive others do as well unless noted otherwise. The UA6 RPO code if it applies will be on the sticker under your spare tire cover.

Been a long time since I worked on a dome lamp issue. IIRC the latch is mechanical and the actuator can tell if the door is fully or partly closed b/c the strike sets differently. Or some such. The actuator bolts onto the latch.

Albertj

Here is what the passenger side latch assembly looks like.

Awesome! Thanks guys, great info. For me the online community surrounding a car is a big part of the ownership experience. Seems like I got lucky buying a Riv.

LARRY70GS wrote:

Which door is it?  The Passenger side door latch is GM 16637796, the Driver's side is 16637797.  They are very expensive, north of 300.00.  I can only find the Passenger side.

Unfortunately it's the driver's side.

It turns out there's actually two Rivieras on the yards near me. Given the dearth of parts I was assuming these were low enough production I wouldn't have much luck with boneyards. I'm going to go pull the latches and actuators today. At minimum I'll know learn how to take them out w/o breaking my car in the process.

Are these considered wear items or do you think I'll have a good chance of the boneyard ones working?

albertj wrote:

IIRC the latch is mechanical and the actuator can tell if the door is fully or partly closed b/c the strike sets differently. Or some such. The actuator bolts onto the latch.

This sounds like you're leaning toward it being more likely the actuator is the issue. Or am I reading you incorrectly?

Yes, the actuator sounds like the problem to me. When you get the door panel off, reach in and feel where the buzzing is coming from. Maybe the actuator is constantly energized, or your door lock switch is constantly energizing the actuator. That is something you have to investigate.

crunk04gtp wrote:

Awesome! Thanks guys, great info. For me the online community surrounding a car is a big part of the ownership experience. Seems like I got lucky buying a Riv.

LARRY70GS wrote:

Which door is it?  The Passenger side door latch is GM 16637796, the Driver's side is 16637797.  They are very expensive, north of 300.00.  I can only find the Passenger side.

Unfortunately it's the driver's side.

It turns out there's actually two Rivieras on the yards near me. Given the dearth of parts I was assuming these were low enough production I wouldn't have much luck with boneyards. I'm going to go pull the latches and actuators today. At minimum I'll know learn how to take them out w/o breaking my car in the process.

Are these considered wear items or do you think I'll have a good chance of the boneyard ones working?

albertj wrote:

IIRC the latch is mechanical and the actuator can tell if the door is fully or partly closed b/c the strike sets differently. Or some such. The actuator bolts onto the latch.

This sounds like you're leaning toward it being more likely the actuator is the issue. Or am I reading you incorrectly?

In my experience the latch assemblies are highly reliable.  The remote handles (the door handles) are plastic and (the ones for the Riv) eventually break.  On my Riv I modified a Lumina handle to work on the Riv.  The outer part is the same but the mechanism is different, much more robust.  However, because of the different mechanism I (temporarily) lost the ability to light the dome lights by lifting the door handle when car is locked (you may not have known they lit that way). I need to fab a little bracket to make that work again.

I think the chances of the boneyard latches working are good enough, and while you are at it you might want to also buy the outside remote handles...

Production numbers on the early 8th gen Riv ('95-'97 production) were relatively high taken together.  '98-99 are comparatively rare especially '99s.   Latches were the same through the entire 8th-gen run.

albertj wrote:

  Latches were the same through the entire 8th-gen run.

Not sure they are.  I have a latch from a friend that he assures me came out of a 95-99 Riviera.  It was a bit different than the one in my 98.  Looks like they would interchange if it came right down to it.

According to the Riv Parts guide.  The latches are different depending on whether the car is equipped with theft deterrent?


With Theft Deterrent

95-96 R-16634795
.........L- 16634794

97.....R-16637796
.........L-16634799

98-99 R-16637796
.........L- 16637797

Without Theft Deterrent

95-96 R-16629624
.........L- 16629625

97......R- 16634800
..........L- 16634801

98-99 R- 16637794
..........L- 16637795

I had a problem that I thought was the latch, but it wasn't, it was the door handle not returning to the resting position.  That in turn jammed up the latch.  See my last post in the door handle thread.

https://rivperformance.editboard.com/t1757p100-write-up-fixing-outside-door-handle#197540

LARRY70GS wrote:

albertj wrote:

  Latches were the same through the entire 8th-gen run.

Not sure they are.  I have a latch from a friend that he assures me came out of a 95-99 Riviera.  It was a bit different than the one in my 98.  Looks like they would interchange if it came right down to it.

According to the Riv Parts guide.  The latches are different depending on whether the car is equipped with theft deterrent?


With Theft Deterrent

95-96 R-16634795
.........L- 16634794

97.....R-16637796
.........L-16634799

98-99 R-16637796
.........L- 16637797

Without Theft Deterrent

95-96 R-16629624
.........L- 16629625

97......R- 16634800
..........L- 16634801

98-99 R- 16637794
..........L- 16637795

I had a problem that I thought was the latch, but it wasn't, it was the door handle not returning to the resting position.  That in turn jammed up the latch.  See my last post in the door handle thread.

https://rivperformance.editboard.com/t1757p100-write-up-fixing-outside-door-handle#197540

Won't be my first mistake BUT seriously I'd look at the Hollander interchange. I could be wrong that they are the same (interchangeable) but when I get near a Hollander I will double check. The theft deterrent switch (and dome light) is included in the plastic bit that attaches to the metal mechanism.

Albert

Well, I pulled one but it was a 97 and I'm not sure the specs. There's a 98 on the yard across town though. Even if they're the same I wouldn't mind more practice taking these off and putting them on anyway.

To that point, is there a trick to getting the metal rods off or is it just finesse? I kept breaking the plastic pieces that hold them in place.

That fixed it! I pulled a latch assembly and door lock actuator from the 98 at the yard across town. I think the extra practice was quite useful. Taking these things off and putting them on seems like it would be child's play if you've done it a handful of times. But the first one I did I broke almost all of the round plastic pieces and bent the connecting rods. By the time it came to my car I got the old unit out almost immediately and the new JY unit only took me 15-20 minutes of screwing with to install.

What I didn't realize at first is that it's all about the angle you're holding the assembly/actuator at. Other than the three torx screws holding it to the door you don't need to use any tools.

Thanks guys!

Side note, is that MLV on the doors? I noticed a very thin black rubbery sheet behind the door cards on the JY cars, both of which fell apart on me. My car is missing it. If I could find the right thickness I'd love to put some on my project as well.