I have a 99 Ranger and wanted to know if the door chime should stay on even when I have the keys out of the ignition and the headlights are on? One dealer tells me that it is normal and the door chimes because the door is ajar, while other dealer is telling me that there is a problem because it shouldn't chime when the key is out of the ignition.

Does anyone know? Thanks.

 

Yes, it is normal. It is an auditory warning telling you that your headlights are still on.

 

Junction 99,

The door chimes even when

a) headlights are off
b) keys are out of the ignition

Any thoughts?

 

My 01 did that and drove me nuts. Under the kick panel is a wire from the door going to ground. I put a switch in series with it and mounted it on a bracket below the drivers seat. Now I can turn it on or off. Actually I have never turned it on since I installed it.

 

That helps....so it is functioning as designed...

It seems odd that just because the door is open, the door chime would kick in even if the headlights aren't on. Most other vehicles only chimes when headlights or keys in the ignition.

 

Ahh, I see. There is a switch in your door latch that is infamous for sticking in Fords. Try getting some white lithium grease spray and spray some in the latch. Don't spray too much because it will get on the door post and then it will get on your clothes. A can will cost about $2.00 at your local auto parts store and it is a cheap way to figure out if that is the problem.

Hope that helps.

 

No, that is not normal and the door switch is not the problem. Pull the shrowds off the steering column to expose the backside of the ignition lock cylinder. There will be a small black wire with a plastic clip that is supposed to attach to the back of the lock cyl. You will find that yours is hanging loose, grounding in the column. This being that way tells the truck that you never removed the key. ( it's the key in/ out switch) You can either glue it back in place or buy a new clockspring to fix it. I'd glue it.

 

Ok...some confusion here....

Is it normal for door to chime when the keys are out of the ignition AND the headlights are off?

My local Ford mechanic who worked on my truck fixing airbag clockspring problem, told me it's functioning as designed.

Thanks.

 

Not in my book it's not. The chime is designed to tell you that you forgot something. I can't understand why your Ford man would think this is normal unless all he works on are broken ones. Pull the cover off and have a look . It only takes 10 min's, 3 phillips screws under the column.

 

I agree with you stepman, but when a Ford authorized mechanic is so sure of it, it's hard for me to decide whether he is right or wrong; hence I posted the question here.

I am going to call the Ford dealer again and have them fix the problem since I think they might have done something to the ignition switch contact when they were fixing my truck for an airbag problem.

thanks stepman for your help.

 

I just checked mine. With my door ground switch in the closed position, leaving the key in the ignition and opening the door and then closing it, results in a constant chime. If I take the key out, opening the door makes the chime go on.

If I open the door ground switch, I do not get a chime if I leave the key in the ignition. Also no chime if I open the door.

I hope this clears it up. Maybe we need a sticky on the chime.

 

Man that just really confused me Mike. The way I read that, yours don't sound right either. Of all the Fords I have worked on, I have never seen one that would"chime" if the key was out,the lights were off and the door was open....unless the "key in/out switch was broken.

 

My '99 did this. In fact, because the computer thought the door was open, it would also leave my dome light on even after I got out of the truck, removed the keys, closed the door tightly and locked them. The problem WAS the door switches inside the latches. I cut the wire going to the switch ONLY which is behind the door panel, and problem was solved. (You can order a new switch but it's almost impossible to reach without totally removing the latch assembly).

 

WXboy, Your problem would indeed be a door swith. The big clues to that being the door ajar light on and the dome that won't shut off. Kevinshin didn't say anything about those items though, which leads me to believe that his computer thinks he is leaving his keys in the ignition.

 

This door chime problem is interesting. My Ranger has the same problem. I removed the shroud under the steering wheel and checked the ground wire. It was firmly attached, so I'm still trying to solve the problem. One thing that's interesting though, if I open the passenger door it chimes slowly three times and goes off. The driver's side door will chime a long time very rapidly and eventually goes off. It seems that would involve the door switch since the driver's door is opened and closed and lot more than the passenger door. I think an alarm system that chimes after the key is removed, except for lights being left on, is faulty and defeats the purpose for which it's designed. I wonder what the Ford company has to say about this. Keep searching guys! Maybe we'll find the solution yet.