Anyone know where the door switches are for the "door" ajar light on my 2000 Ranger? The light is refusing to go out (no matter how hard I slam the door), and I don't see any push buttons in the door jam that I'm used to.

 

My understanding is that they are part of the latch assembly. Spray lots of WD-40 in there and open/close the door several times to free the switch. Don't forget that there is more than one door that has a switch. If you do a search in here, you will find other threads on this subject and common problem.

 

Thanks!

I tried searching first, but somethings wrong with the search function. It would either time out or return "nothing found".

 

That usually doesn't work. i tryied WD-40, Carb Cleaner, Brake Cleaner, silicon cleaner. nothing worked. so i ended up disassembeling the door to unplug the light switch. if you want the instructions just do a search.

 

If you look around in here you will find many success stories from people that have used WD-40. And besides, it's practically a freebie and it's very time effective.

 

I agree with CowboyBilly. It fixed mine. Not saying it'll fix them all everytime, but the cost of spraying something that most people already has, is worth the effort.

 

I also agree with Bill, WD-40 worked on mine also. Alan, could it be you were spraying the WD-40 in the wrong place?

 

Thanks for all the replies & advice. I started by spraying it with electrical contact cleaner, I'd had success with that on other problems. It seemed to work until I parked the car in the sun, then the problem re-occurred.

So based on some google research, I took apart the door and pulled out the latch mechanism, and removed the switch. That is one complicated switch!! It has multiple o-rings on the plunger and an o-ring in the casing.

The plunger was very stiff when I removed it, so the problem is probably related to dirt in the plunger mechanism rather than dirty contacts. It's located directly on the bottom of the latch, so any dust in the latch will work its way right down to the switch. I see how WD-40 might temporarily fix it. I didn't feel like a trip to the dealer, so I pried open the crimped casing, cleaned it off with WD-40, greased it with spray grease, and reassembled, crimping it back closed...the plunger is much freer. I reassembled the door, and it seems to work OK now, even in the sun. Wish I'd taken some pictures to post.

The other door didn't seem to have a problem, but I hit it from the outside anyways with contact cleaner and some chain lube I had lying around.

As a side note, it was a real pleasure taking off the door panel with two simple screws, rather than those nasty press fittings & C-clips I used to have on my Chevy S-10! That always meant 2-hours and a trip to autozone for more clips. But on the other hand, the door switch was easily accessible on the exterior door jamb of the Chevy. Why in the world does Ford put the switch inside the door on the latch!?

Thanks again.

 

i tryied spraying it when i had the panel apart. but still on luck, and i know i sprayed the right thing, because it's the thing that i disconnected.

 

I'm not too worried about it, it killed that stupid binger thing. in the process, which ended to of my problems, but created a 3rd. now i forget to turn off my lights sometimes.