I have recently had an issue with the door ajar light and my passenger side front door. Apparently, it doesn't always shut off that light and the dome lights when that door is shut. It just started happening and after opening and closing the door several times, it will work. I don't know if I should spray a lubricant in the latch or not. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

If you still have a warranty, I'd let a Ford dealer worry about it.

You can use a can of electrical contact cleaner and spray it into the latch assembly, some have used WD-40, but I really don't reccomend that for latch assemblies.

 

Have the same prob on my 2001 sport. Dealer said spray wd40 and it helps, but doesnt totally eliminate the prob yet. I am still working on a fix, but like I said, it does help alot.

 

Have the same problem with my 99 explorer. after repeated attemps closing door had to pull fuse to get lights out. Sprayed WD-40 on latch before hasn't helped.

 

All I have to say is:
1] God bless GOOGLE! and
2] God bless people like you.

I had this problem myself -- random quirky things all centered around the notorious "door ajar" light remaining on all the time and the interior and exterior lights remaining on for 15 minutes after the doors were all shut and locked.

My problem had its own twist, though, that I did not hear anyone else mention.

My 2002 XLT 4x4 Explorer honked its horn twice when I pushed the "lock" button on the keyless twice. It is supposed to beep once, but ordinarily only once. That symptom developed at the same time as the "door ajar" light problem, so I assumed they were related. Then, today, My alarm went off for no apparent reason. Again, this has never happened, so I think it's another symptom.

I typed the problem into Google, found this board, and read about the WD-40 everyone was saying to use. I decided to follow superrangerman2002's advice, however, and use the electrical contact cleaner.

It worked like a charm. After dousing all my doors' locking mechanisms with the cleaner, I let it evaporate for a few seconds, then shut the doors, and the light went out! Then, I walked around the car opening one door at a time, and confirming that the light came on and went off, which it did. When I pressed the lock button on the keyless twice, the horn beeped only once, and the lights went out nearly immediately. SUCCESS! Now, let's just see how long it lasts.

 

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Glad to hear that it worked out.

Sorry for the late responce, I don't venture into the explorer forums much any more since I traded my '02 F150 and '02 Explorer in on a new Focus.

The problem with the door sensors is that they often become dirty and that causes them to act funny. The only real fix is to replace them, but I've gotten contact cleaner to work for me.

This is a pretty common problem on Rangers and Explorers, even the new Explorers have the same problem.

 

The Problem With My 2002 Mountaineer Was The Front Passenger Door Ajar Sensor. It Cost About $24.00 From The Dealer. Once It Was Replaced I Never Had Any More Problems.

 

Well, since first dousing all the locking mechanisms with electrical contact cleaner, there has been one other incident with the "door ajar" problem a few days after the first dousing. Another dousing has seemingly solved the problem now.

 

Can you please post the brand of contact cleaner that you used?

 

CRC Qd Electronic Cleaner, you can buy it at any auto parts store.

 

I got a can of the CRC contact cleaner @ Home Depot for $6.98 and sprayed the dickens out of each latch and had no luck, so I tried the WD-40 suggestion and it looks like that did the job instead.