Should repair of door jam cause shorts in rear turn light?

2DOOR1TURN

MEMBER
2004 HONDA PILOT
25,000 MILES

After 3 years the paint bubbles-flaking from rust on the front door rocker-panel/sill plates was determined to be a body warranty repair item. Now it has been repaired: rust removed, repainted. The bodyshop said they squirted some kind of gunk in the frame/sill area to prevent rust from re-occuring. The radio/clock needed re-coded and my rear drivers turn-light was not working. I reset the codes and replaced the light bulb. Today is third time out of the driveway and the turn-light pooped out about the 5th corner. Dealer would not answer if light wires run thru that area and could have been damaged - "just bring in for diagnostic service". No pre-exisiting lighting problems ever before. You may guess from the mileage I am not a roadrunner. Nor am I mechanically savy. I love the rig - it takes me where I need to go. -- BUT I am not enthused with the dealship. They have a monopoly of the major auto-brands and so are basically the ONLY recourse for "factory-auth service" in the state. (Alaska) The bodyshop they use for warranty work is a whole another story.I just want my lights working for more than a drive at a time. Any sugestions? Attached picture is the door-sil before repair.

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1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,873 POSTS

That "gunk" you referred to is rust-proofing material and shows the body shop was looking out for your best interest and does quality work. Most shops would spray that in but they typically don't go so far as to tell you about it. They know too many people get confused with too much information and they don't understand that a quality job was performed.

Lighting problems occur all the time, and while I agree it's quite the coincidence it happened after the body repair, that's most likely exactly what it is. You could also say it was caused by the pot hole you ran over, (that's a Wisconsin joke), or you made too many right hand turns, ... After dark, ... In the rain! (That's a mechanic joke). But the point is it is very possible the lighting problem would have occurred anyway regardless of having body work done. There's no way to know for sure until the cause is found and corrected.

If you suspect the cause is related to the body work, the body shop is the place to go back to, not the dealership. If they are not electrical experts, they will be able to recommend a shop with good people. There are lots of independent shops that can handle this type of problem. You do not have to go to the dealer unless that's all there is.

The fact that the system worked at all after you installed a new bulb proves that no wires were damaged during the body repair. If one was, the light would not have worked at all. It's much more common to have a bad socket that is making intermittent contact. You can find that by wiggling the bulb while that circuit is turned on.