The door key illumination has not worked on my car since I got it.  The illumination of the ignition has worked so I figured it was something with the bulb itself and not the switch.  I pulled the driver’s side door panel to inspect the system.  Removing the panel is fairly straightforward.

To remove the door panel, you have 6 screws and clips around the edge. Two of the screws are larger and behind covers. One at the top of pull and one under the arm rest. A screw in the door pull bucket and one in the door handle bucket.  You also have two color matched screws. One screw just above the pocket and one in the bottom corner towards the back of the car.

Once I had the panel off, I was able to look over the illumination system.  It turned out the wires coming out the back of the bulb were sheared. I took the bulb to RadioShack to find a matching bulb. I found one that worked. Mini Lamp 272-1141 12 Volts and 25mA.  The bulb was actually an exact match to the original and I was even able to use the original green cover.  I soldered the wires right to the original and reinstalled.

After testing it I fount it still wasn’t working.  It turns out the bulb was installed on the wrong side.  I pulled the bulb and clip back out and installed it on the opposite side. If you look at the lock real close, you can see a small slit to let the light through. Now all is back together and working great.

While I had the door panel pulled, I installed new window channels.  The channel on the driver’s side was torn at the front edge causing the window to pop out of the channel now and again.  I lubed the entire track and regulator.  I also pulled the passenger side to replace and lube the window channel and lube the regulator.