Car rocker panel

How to detect the door sill plate covers failure

Defects of the components are well seen with the naked eye. Cracks, scratches, warpage indicate that it's time for replacement. You need as well to inspect if the covers are reliably attached. If they got unglued or clips are damaged, repair the plates or install new components.

If the door sill covers are illuminated, you will need a multimeter to inspect them. You have to connect the multimeter to the power supply wire terminals and measure the voltage when switching on the lighting. If the power is not supplied to the LED, the cover is defective.

You may identify that the door sill covers require examination by the following symptoms:

• rattling from the doorsill;
• smell of burnt plastic in the passenger compartment;
• flickering of the door sill covers lighting;
• no response from the lighting to switching on.

Causes of the door sill plate covers failure

The most frequent failures of the door sill covers include mechanical damage. Typically they result from careless parking, hitting a curb, hitting by gravel and other foreign objects while driving.

The inner door sill covers are highly exposed to abrasive wear. Outer plates function in more aggressive environment. Impact of direct sunlight, dirt, moisture, temperature changes lead to a change in the service properties of the material the covers are produced from. Because of loss of durability, the components can be damaged even in case of a slight impact.

In illuminated covers, the most frequent malfunctions are oxidation of contacts and detachment of the diode due to the impact of  dirt and moisture. This fault is more relevant for poor quality components the housing of which may be non-tight due to manufacturing defects.

Replacement of  the door sill plate covers

You can easily replace the parts on your own. The replacement procedure is dependent on the vehicle model, the door sills type, and the location of installed components. As a rule, it is sufficient to dismantle the worn out component, clean the mounting seat from dirt, dry and degrease it. If the covers are installed for the first time, you may have to mark the door sill to prevent their skewing. After that install a new plate cover with the help of supplied fastenings: double-sided adhesive tape or clips. When replacing the illuminated covers, do not forget to carefully disconnect the electrical connectors before you remove them.