I'm having the Ford dealer take a look soon, so I'll let you guys know. Personally, I think they did something to the ignition switch contact........

 

I did some sleuthing on some old threads and found out that the popular consensus was that the door chime problem could be cured by spraying WD-40 on the offending door. I had my doubts about this being a cure, but I finally tried it today. After spraying and exercising the door latch numerous times, I had no success. So giving up in disgust, I left my Ranger in the driveway for the rest of the day and went about doing other odd jobs. This evening, when I pulled my Ranger into the garage, I gave it one last test and lo and behold, no more dinging when I opened the door with the key removed. You can't argue with success. If you haven't tried the WD-40 cure, I strongly suggest you do so. And give it a chance. Good luck!

 

Your best bet is to use a can of spray white lithium greese because it won't dry out and gum up the door latch like WD-40 will.

 

For the FYI department . .

Myown 1998 XLT 4x4 Ranger (4.0 & 5-sp man):

Key OUT, door open, no lights = No Chime and dome light on.

Key IN, door open, no lights = Slow Chime and dome light on.

Key OUT, door open, lights on = Fast Chime . . and dome light on.

Key IN, door open, lights on = Fast Chime . . and dome light on.

Key OUT, door closed, lights on = No Chime. . and dome light off.

Key IN, door closed, lights on = No Chime. . and dome light off.

I have ~no clue~ how it is "supposed to" work - but this is how mine actually does.

. . oh, and I have had to lubricate the danged switch in the door latch before - it was acting quite stangely. Whoever it was that thought that up should have been force fed their engineering degree diploma.

 

Hi Everyone.

I took my truck back to the dealer and they had to readjust the ignition switch contact?? because the metal piece wasn't properly touching what it was suppose to.

Now, it behaves just the way that ctfuzzy describes above.

 

Congratulations kevinshine on the resolution of your door chime problem. Although I didn't know the ignition switch was adjustable you have to take them at their word. I wonder if all they did was use a little lubricant on the door latch. As far as white lithium grease working, if my door chime starts acting up again, I will try that in lieu of WD-40. In the old thread I researched they advised against using a lithium lube. The quote was, "You shouldn't use lithium lube on the door latch...a dry lube is recommended ex. graphite or lock lube. WD-40 is okay because 99.9% of it evaporates anyway. And as Bob said the switch is separate from the latch." If your interested in the old thread go to https://www.ford-trucks.com.com/foru...readid=105594. I have one more question on this subject. When I was checking my problem I found an empty fuse holder in the dome light. Does anyone know what it's for? Doesn't seem to do anything.

 

Don,
That is a fixture for a "fuse-shaped" bulb. If you go to any parts store you can get those for a buck. It is activated when either door is open or you have the light switch clicked on.


As for the lith grease vs. wd-40. Stay away from the lith grease like the previous post says. I made that mistake, it only makes things worse, the lith grease gums things up. I use electrical contact cleaner, it works great.

 

Glad to hear it's working right again, kevinshin. I haven't heard them to be adjustable either.All of them that I have seen break the little plastic tabs that hold it to the switch. Maybe they just didn't get it all the way in...or they glued it in.

 

Thanks everyone for your help and advice.

 

I am having this same problem with my 96 ranger. After I remove the key I have to bump the ignition switch forward a little to turn the chime off -- very annoying.

 

what is the risk involved with trying to fix the ignition switch?

 

I can back stepman up on the key in / key out indicator. Mine broke when I took the dash off to replace the heater plenum. It is a pretty flimsy little thing, and after a few times of taking the steering column cover off, the plastic clip that holds it snapped. I'll have to try some glue to fix that up, cause it just worked it's way loose again.

-Jim

 

You can't argue with success. If you haven't tried the WD-40 cure, I strongly suggest you do so. And give it a chance.

I had to do mine ONCE with wd 40 and I drive alot of dirt roads every day and it has not dried out or gumed up. Its Been over a year since I used wd 40

 

dr.nick, I don't think that yours broke. I think yours is more of a worn key cylinder. Is that a higher milage vehicle? You can pull the shrowds and take a look ( only 3 screws on the bottom half) but, if you can wiggle the cylinder with the key out and make it go on and off, your cylinder is probably worn. I think you can get a new cylinder from Autozone for 20-30 bucks. I haven't done one in a long time but you can remove the "pins" from your old lock and put them in the new lock so that you can use your old key. If you decide to go this route, Find a table that will be comfortable with enough room to lay-out the parts (there aren't that many). Take your time and make sure to keep the parts in the right order. The first one I did took about an hour and I didn't have a clue as to what I was doing. It's not real hard, it just takes a little finness(?).

 

I think you may have gotten one wrong (see below) or maybe they changed it.

My own 2000 XL 4x2 Ranger (2.5L & 5-sp man):

Key OUT, door open, no lights = No Chime and dome light on.

Key IN, door open, no lights = Slow Chime and dome light on.

Key OUT, door open, lights on = Fast Chime . . and dome light on.

Key IN, door open, lights on = Slow Chime . . and dome light on.

Key OUT, door closed, lights on = No Chime. . and dome light off.

Key IN, door closed, lights on = No Chime. . and dome light off.

.... this is how mine actually works. There are other permutations that don't really matter. I like the fact that if you have your lights on and key in that you get a slow chime and when you pull the key out it changes in frequency (fast chime).

I can say folks that my chime stayed on after I messed w/ the shrowd on the steering column. That green plastic connector that FORD puts in there to ground the system is for the birds and easily broken. I think FORD should probably SHOUT at there "connector manufacturer" who ever that might be. FORD usually contracts this stuff out.

ALSO, I wonder if, really, this part effects the AIR BAG system. I'm wondering if FORD is making this part on purpose (easily broken) so that they can be released of any LIABILITY if the steering column was messed with (and by chance the AIR BAGS don't deploy). This part is easily broken.

We do live in the LIABILITY STATES OF AMERICA now.

Just a thought from an engineer.