Gah, sorry about the blank posts before this one. I accidentally hit Enter before moving into the proper field.

I've got a few questions related to the thing that senses whether the door is open or closed. First, here's a picture to show what I'm talking about:



The first picture is a closeup of the driver's side sensor, the second shows you where to look for it on the door in case you're lost, and the third is the front passenger's door sensor.

1. Should it be able to pop completely out easily? I'm guessing not. When I messed around with it, the plastic cover-and-tube came out, with the spring kind of hanging halfway out of the hole. I messed around with the three metal clips on the underside of the plastic cover, next to the tube part, and replaced the whole thing back in the door, hopefully so it'll work properly. I did notice that there were marks on the inside of the door that showed the plunger thing had been bending to the side when the door was closed, instead of going in to register a "shut" door.

Also, would the ease of complete removal of the plunger have *anything* to do with the overhead light not coming on when the driver's side door is opened? I'm guessing not, because the seatbelt light on the dash comes on when I open the driver's door (meaning the car knows it's open), but the overhead light doesn't. However, the light does work when the other three doors are opened. I suppose I'll have to check the wires for a break somewhere.

2. Why is the driver's side plunger different from the other door's sensors? The driver's side detector, on my car, was kind of like a rounded pen cap. However, the other three doors had a much more rounded, mushroom-like plunger that appeared to be those sensors. (Sadly, you can't easily tell that from the picture.)

Is the shape different because the driver's door gets opened and shut more often? Is the more pointed shape better for triggering all of the stuff that has to be detected when the driver's door is opened (perhaps that shape has a deeper movement, causing better electronic connections or something)? I'm just guessing here, but does anyone know for certain?