so last night i went to wall-mart. when i walked back out to my vert, i forgot i locked the keys and just pulled on the door handle. for about 5 seconds, a light shined through the key hole. i went to the passengers side to see if it did the same thing but it didn't. is this factory? or was it installed by a previous owner?

 

factory

 

the reason i was unsure is because my white vert didnt do that. was it only certain models? my white vert also has cruise control where as my red vert does not. but i believe they are the same cars. they are both 88's and both verts

 

bulb might have burned out or you never noticed it

did the alarm work on the white vert?

 

if the white vert had an alarm, i have never heard it. it didnt even have the security light in the center console

 

only premium models had it.

aside from the 10th AE i don't even know which other models do. all the handles have the spot for the bulb but it is never installed on any other models that i see.

 

so that means it was installed? the one that does this, the red one, dont even have cruise control.

 

I think it was like most other options, if they had a few laying around, they just threw them on some random FC's.

 

i've never actually seen an FC with the key light working. FB, yes. FC no

 

my Fb didn't have one...

 

i honestly can't even guess, i never see them there or working aside from the 10th AEs i have worked on. the ones that do have a white fascia around the key hole where all the black fascia ones do not, have not and will not have the glowing keyhole ring.

 

GXL's have the lock lights, IIRC all 2nd gens did but I can only vouch for GXL's because that's all I've ever owned. They rarely work these days because the bulbs are almost always burned out. Radio Shack sells the exact 12v replacement bulb, all you have to do is splice it in. Another thing is that the little clear plastic key door is almost always broken as well. I replaced mine but it didn't last very long.

 

by key door, i assume you are talking about the little piece that folds in when you insert your key? if so, mine is missing. i thought it was supposed to be metal like the rest of the key hole

 

if I remember right cruise was port installed?

always thought all verts had the light up key hole, I think I had 6 of them and they all had it.

 

My vert has it and it still works!

 

My 86 gxl has the key lights on the doors... didn't know it was special in anyway? Ha but according to some posts my orange clock is a sought after piece too... weird.

 

it did unless it was a 79-80, or 81+ S model

 

My 90 convertible had the little light but the translucent plastic piece was no match for the FL sun. It dessintigrated. I had a lock smith replace the lock cylinder plastic pieces with a stainless slide. It was only $10 for both doors.

 

I don't believe either of the RX-7s I have owned have had it. That would include a 1991 TII and a 1991 N/A that was fully loaded. It does seem halfway random.

 

my '89 vert has it, and it still works too! kinda cool...

 

it was a 84 GLS

 

not exactly sure what you mean by port installed. i have thought about installing it on my red vert because my white vert is just a parts car now

 

The first gen GSL-SE has them. Mine works but not sure where it is attached or where it is supposed to sit.