[DML] alarm/door lights/interesting occurance

["King, Bob" <BKing@xxxx>]

(Moderator- sorry for the length of this posting. I understand if you
disallow it. I felt I needed the length to illustrate the story I was
trying to tell. -Bob)

I am offering up the following as an 'experience' I have recently had with
my DeLorean while having an alarm installed. Feel free to analyze the
situation. Maybe you can get some enlightening info out of it about door
lights and alarms, and maybe you can help me get my driver's side door
lights to come on!

I recently got my DMC-12 and realized that the door lights on either door
did not come on. I put this on the low-priority list of things to do
because it doesn't have anything to do with actually operating the vehicle.
(Can you get a 'fix-it' ticket from the police for not having properly
working door lights? Hmmmm.....) Anyway, I figured the bulbs were burnt out.

Today, I had a CODE alarm installed, and I noticed that after installation
was completed by the shop, all 3 door lights on the passenger side worked.
I also noticed that the alarm did not work on the driver's side door... I
also noticed that now, not only did the passenger door lights work, but they
NEVER shut off. (I could tell because they were VERY hot by the time I
noticed them, and they didn't shut off at the last second before I closed
the door ...something like a refrigerator light)

Both of these problems were fixed. It appears that the little 'push peg'
(for lack of a better term) on the dash/console near the hinge of the
drivers door never touched the activating plate located on the door that it
is supposed to touch. Sorry for the lack of technical terms, but basically,
the door part of car alarms are hooked up to a little peg mechanism on the
console near the door hinge that depresses when the door is closed and
releases when the door is opened. The initial intent of these pegs is to
turn on and off interior lights in the car when the door opens/closes.
Apparently, my peg never touched the door, because it was missing it's mark
by a good half inch or so. This peg misalignment caused the passenger door
lights to stay on permanently and the alarm to not go off when the driver's
door opened. I suppose this could have been caused by the door shifting, but
it seems to be aligned very well.

This problem was fixed by adding a small piece of hard rubber to the part of
the door where the activation peg was hitting (or missing, as the case may
be). This rubber piece was cut from some excess rubber found at the alarm
store was affixed to the door securely with extra strength double sided foam
tape so that it would depress the pin but not touch the gasket along the
front of the door opening. Now, the driver's door/alarm works, and the
passenger door lights go out, because the pin is properly depressed.

However, the driver's door lights still do not work. I have no idea what
was done electrically during the installation to make the passenger door
lights come on, but if anyone knows a way to get these lights to come on,
please let me know. Something I did notice during all of this is that there
are supposed to be 2 of those 'push pegs' at the driver's door hinge, an
upper and a lower. I am missing the lower one. What function does this
lower peg serve?

Bob