If I open the rear passenger door first, the running board does nothing. Once I open the front passenger door, the passenger running board works as expected.

I can open/shut the front door - let the running board close, and the rear passenger door will operate the board correctly.

Thoughts?

 

Do the interior lights operate as they should or do they follow the same pattern?

 

Yes, the dome lights come on and the driver info area says that the door is ajar.

 

I have the the same problem except my dome light & my door ajar doses not come on when my rear driver side door is open. I was told by the ford dealership that there is a sensor that needs to be cleaned. I haven't found the sensor yet. Do anyone have an answer please.

 

Anybody? It appears to be getting somewhat worse. Now It doesn't reliably come down with the front door either. I can open/shut the front door repeatedly, and maybe on the 5th time it'll come down. Other times it's the first try.

And still, once it comes down once with 1 door, it works fine with both on that side for some time

 

It's beginning to sound like either (a) you have multiple issues going on or (b) the front/rear door thing is just a coincidence and your motor is headed for the grave. Try lubing the heck out of every moving part. You can use regular WD40 or equivalent or one of their Specialist products (e.g. White Lithium) for longer-lasting lubrication. Keep in that if it helps though, it's just a Band-Aid.

 

You have to pull off your door panel. Unbolt your inside door latch to check and see if your door ajar sensor is either still attached to the latch or broken. If it is not broken push in on the sensor to see if your running board comes down. If it does then you might just have a loose connection or the sensor is dirty. Hopefully you don't have to drop your running board to clean the contacts inside the running board motor. You can find videos on YouTube under replacing door ajar sensor. I hope this will work for you like it did for me.

 

I have the same issue. I've isolated the front passenger door as the issue. The rear opens and closes, no issue with the running board.

Going to try to check the door ajar sensor on the front passenger door.

 

Dogg has the right of it. There was a time when you could see the switch on the door jamb, but now it's buried in the latch mechanism.