Door Ajar Light Problem- IT AINT THE SWITCH!
New User
Joined: Dec 2014
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Easy fix
First off, if your dome light stays on while the doors are closed, spray wd-40 in the door latch. Close the door firmly two or three times and the problem should be fixed. Second, the key chime, the connection is at the edge of the key cylinder and just clicks on. Most likely, this problem is in one of two places. I lucked out with mine. It was a $25 buck ignition switch. The switch isn't in the column, it is in front of your knees behind the dash. A retainer Knut removes the plug from the switch and two t-30 torque screws hold the switch. This is the master switch to all power in your truck and is common for fords. If it isn't the ignition switch, it is most likely the GEM module or generic electric module. Some are behind the fuse box, some are behind the stereo. Unfortunately, this item was a dealer only part running around $400 bucks. It controls almost everything. Wiper timing, door chime, dome light, radio, cruise control, windows, locks ect ect. It goes haywire. Your truck will seem possessed. All kinds of problems can occur. For all of these cases, check fords recalled parts list first. The dealer might fix your problem for free. Good luck!
New User
Joined: Jul 2016
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I realize this post has not been added to for a couple years, but I have the exact same problem. And I will post here with hopes it may help someone if they find this post down the road.
I was wondering if Critterhunter ever fixed his problem? It seems he just stopped posting sometime in 2014. He stated that his would not chime when passenger door was opened even though door ajar light was on all the time.
Mine was same way but I realized it was actually chiming when keyswitch was turned to start vehicle. What I found on mine was that basically the wire at the door switch that should only be connected to ground when door is open was shorted to ground all the time. I unplugged the connector behind passenger side kick panel that connects door harness to main harness and then wire was no longer shorted so that told me wiring in door was OK. Next I tried to follow harness but as stated earlier it goes straight up to top of dash and across. I pulled radio and ac vents and found GEM. Found same colored wire on one of connectors as the wire at door switch. Pulled connector from GEM and dome light went out. Ohmed wire I suspected from Gem connector to door harness and verified it was same wire. Also checked wire to ground with both ends of harness unplugged and it was still shorted to ground. Which pretty much verifies that somewhere in harness the wire has rubbed the frame and is now shorted to ground. I am not about to disassemble the entire dash so I can trace wire and find short. I cut the wire from the GEM connector so the GEM will no longer get a signal that passenger door is open. Only bad thing is that now the dome light does not work at all for the passenger door. I can live with that. One other thing I noticed after I had already cut wire from connector was that about 3 inches down the harness from the connector the Gry/pnk door switch wire has a Pnk/Blu wire spliced into it. Possible this wire is actually the one shorted but since I had already cut the Gry/Pnk wire at the connector I did not bother to test, that and I have no idea where the Pnk/Blu wire comes from anyhow.
I was wondering if Critterhunter ever fixed his problem? It seems he just stopped posting sometime in 2014. He stated that his would not chime when passenger door was opened even though door ajar light was on all the time.
Mine was same way but I realized it was actually chiming when keyswitch was turned to start vehicle. What I found on mine was that basically the wire at the door switch that should only be connected to ground when door is open was shorted to ground all the time. I unplugged the connector behind passenger side kick panel that connects door harness to main harness and then wire was no longer shorted so that told me wiring in door was OK. Next I tried to follow harness but as stated earlier it goes straight up to top of dash and across. I pulled radio and ac vents and found GEM. Found same colored wire on one of connectors as the wire at door switch. Pulled connector from GEM and dome light went out. Ohmed wire I suspected from Gem connector to door harness and verified it was same wire. Also checked wire to ground with both ends of harness unplugged and it was still shorted to ground. Which pretty much verifies that somewhere in harness the wire has rubbed the frame and is now shorted to ground. I am not about to disassemble the entire dash so I can trace wire and find short. I cut the wire from the GEM connector so the GEM will no longer get a signal that passenger door is open. Only bad thing is that now the dome light does not work at all for the passenger door. I can live with that. One other thing I noticed after I had already cut wire from connector was that about 3 inches down the harness from the connector the Gry/pnk door switch wire has a Pnk/Blu wire spliced into it. Possible this wire is actually the one shorted but since I had already cut the Gry/Pnk wire at the connector I did not bother to test, that and I have no idea where the Pnk/Blu wire comes from anyhow.
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Joined: Jan 2004
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From: SW Va
Welcome to FTE.
Good trouble shooting & feedback. Go here Search Wiring Diagrams & enter your vehicles particulars to have a look at the wiring diagrams & color codes, if you want to continue the trouble shoot & let us know what you find.
Good trouble shooting & feedback. Go here Search Wiring Diagrams & enter your vehicles particulars to have a look at the wiring diagrams & color codes, if you want to continue the trouble shoot & let us know what you find.
New User
Joined: Jul 2016
Posts: 3
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pawpaw,
Thanks for the welcome and especially the Link. I hate to keep adding to this but found schematic I need. It shows that the pnk/Lb wire that is connected to the right front door switch comes from Both rear door switches. See link http://www.revbase.com/BBBMotor/Wd/DownloadPdf?id=69278 I did not even know it had rear door switches. Now I am kinda looking forward to checking them. But I think it is really stupid on Fords part to connect both back doors to the right front door. So any of the 3 doors open will cause you to think right front door is open. Will post in near future if I find rear door switch bad.
Thanks for the welcome and especially the Link. I hate to keep adding to this but found schematic I need. It shows that the pnk/Lb wire that is connected to the right front door switch comes from Both rear door switches. See link http://www.revbase.com/BBBMotor/Wd/DownloadPdf?id=69278 I did not even know it had rear door switches. Now I am kinda looking forward to checking them. But I think it is really stupid on Fords part to connect both back doors to the right front door. So any of the 3 doors open will cause you to think right front door is open. Will post in near future if I find rear door switch bad.
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Joined: Jul 2016
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Finally got around to finishing this up. As diagram shows both rear doors ajar switches are tied to same input on GEM as the right front door. So any of the 3 switches being faulty will make you think the right front door is ajar. So I unhooked both rear door switches and reconnected the wire I cut at the GEM. Now the dome light will once again work with both doors and the door ajar circuitry works as it should, with exception of no rear door ajar indication. But seems to me if a back door is ajar the front door would most certainly be as well. Thanks again for your help PawPaw.
Postmaster
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 2,595
Likes: 5
From: Pasadena, Ca
This thread came up when I searched "door ajar", giving me a great starting point.
To see which door was actually ajar, I decided to start with the rear doors, then work towards the front passenger, then finally the drivers.
First hit and a score! Driver's rear door was the culprit. I sprayed the WD40 up into the bottom latch then closed and opened the door 4 times. I climbed in, started the truck and the "door ajar" light was off. I plugged in my dome lights and proceeded to WD40 the latches on the remaining doors.
So, before cutting wires and over chasing the problem, do the simple stuff.
To see which door was actually ajar, I decided to start with the rear doors, then work towards the front passenger, then finally the drivers.
First hit and a score! Driver's rear door was the culprit. I sprayed the WD40 up into the bottom latch then closed and opened the door 4 times. I climbed in, started the truck and the "door ajar" light was off. I plugged in my dome lights and proceeded to WD40 the latches on the remaining doors.
So, before cutting wires and over chasing the problem, do the simple stuff.
New User
Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
From: Portland OR & Olympia WA
lol I joined to get some info on my f350 but ran across this thread. My neighbor had a 98 xlt 4x4 Ranger and the door ajar light would flash all the time, sometimes sounding the chime also. It had no effect on the dome light. The dome light also had a mind of it's own and would not go out until the truck actually started rolling. It would stay on after getting out and closing the doors, sometimes a butt check would turn it off, sometimes it stayed on all night. His 4 wheel drive went out a few weeks ago so we traded it in on my "new" 350 and I sold him my 2000 xlt Ranger stepside 4x4. It has also started the door ajar flashing and dinging and seems to be the drivers side door as right hand turns seem to stimulate it. Thanks for the info so far, I'll be looking into all the recommended areas.
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Joined: May 2017
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Intermittent door ajar and dome light
I've got a 2008 ranger and have the same problem. If I open the driver window ( manually) the problems go away every time if I close it again,the problems come back. ??????
Charlie
Charlie
First thing I did to figure out which door it was was to start the car up and then open each door by it's self. The warning audio "DING" comes on when the driver's door is opened, but not when the passenger's is. So, that tells me it's the passenger door.
I tried the WD40 trick with no success so I then took the door apart. Pulled the switch out and found it was working with a test light. When the switch is pushed in it completes the circuit, so the switch was working fine.
While I had it unplugged I started up the car and the door light was still on. I then jumpered the two contacts on the plug together and started up the car again (of course with both doors closed to be safe). STILL the dash door light is on!
With that test done I figured I'd go one step further to be sure. I checked with a test light both contacts separately with one lead and then touched the door on a bolt that had no paint on it. BOTH contacts lighted up the test light, so I now know that both are grounded to ground.
That explains the problem because only one should be. I don't have a wiring diagram for this truck but I'm going to assume that the only one should be always tied to ground. One would pass through the switch when it's closed (meaning door is open) and then find it's way to ground via the other wire. When the switch is open (door closed) it can't find it's way to ground.
With all that figured out (I guess) I then drew up a simple circuit on paper that would explain all this to try to figure it all out. So far as I would figure the circuit may work like this...
When using either "map" light via it's switch they go directly to a ground and not through the switch. However, when the switch is in the off position (middle) the light's ground passes down to the door switch. I would guess that somewhere between the dome light and the door switch the problem probably is that the wire is shorted to ground, so it no longer needs the switch closed to complete the circuit.
That would also mean that the dash light can't be past the door switch. It must be on the same side of the short as the dome light and then the short to ground is somewhere between them and the door switch, and thus not needing the door switch closed to complete a pathway to ground. That makes sense but there are still a number of ways this circuit could be wired so I'm not sure unless I can see a schematic.
What complicates it more is I think these things have those little GEM (Generic Electronic Modules) somwhere in the circuit, which usualy consists of a relay or two. A stuck or shorted relay could also lead to the above problems.
If anybody has a wiring schematic for a 2000 Ranger's dome light/door swith/dash adjar light circuit I need to see it. I can figure out the problem from there but I really don't feel like pulling things apart looking for GEM modules that may or may not exist, so I'd rather read a schematic so I'm not shooting in the dark figuring the problem out.
Also, the dome light(s) have been removed to keep the light from staying on all the time. You know, I wonder if there might be a short in the dome light switch because I threw the bulbs back in to play around and it seemed real picky about it's movement. The slightest bump of the switch and the bulb(s) would go out.
The dome light might be shorting to ground causing the dash light to also come on, thinking the door switch is closed allowing a pathway to ground. That would also mean then that the dash light is before the dome light in the circuit, in that when the dome light grounds (if it is it's switch) the current completes it's pathway to ground, causing both the dash light and dome light to come on.
Still, I need a schematic or somebody's advice here who has had the same problem.
I tried the WD40 trick with no success so I then took the door apart. Pulled the switch out and found it was working with a test light. When the switch is pushed in it completes the circuit, so the switch was working fine.
While I had it unplugged I started up the car and the door light was still on. I then jumpered the two contacts on the plug together and started up the car again (of course with both doors closed to be safe). STILL the dash door light is on!
With that test done I figured I'd go one step further to be sure. I checked with a test light both contacts separately with one lead and then touched the door on a bolt that had no paint on it. BOTH contacts lighted up the test light, so I now know that both are grounded to ground.
That explains the problem because only one should be. I don't have a wiring diagram for this truck but I'm going to assume that the only one should be always tied to ground. One would pass through the switch when it's closed (meaning door is open) and then find it's way to ground via the other wire. When the switch is open (door closed) it can't find it's way to ground.
With all that figured out (I guess) I then drew up a simple circuit on paper that would explain all this to try to figure it all out. So far as I would figure the circuit may work like this...
When using either "map" light via it's switch they go directly to a ground and not through the switch. However, when the switch is in the off position (middle) the light's ground passes down to the door switch. I would guess that somewhere between the dome light and the door switch the problem probably is that the wire is shorted to ground, so it no longer needs the switch closed to complete the circuit.
That would also mean that the dash light can't be past the door switch. It must be on the same side of the short as the dome light and then the short to ground is somewhere between them and the door switch, and thus not needing the door switch closed to complete a pathway to ground. That makes sense but there are still a number of ways this circuit could be wired so I'm not sure unless I can see a schematic.
What complicates it more is I think these things have those little GEM (Generic Electronic Modules) somwhere in the circuit, which usualy consists of a relay or two. A stuck or shorted relay could also lead to the above problems.
If anybody has a wiring schematic for a 2000 Ranger's dome light/door swith/dash adjar light circuit I need to see it. I can figure out the problem from there but I really don't feel like pulling things apart looking for GEM modules that may or may not exist, so I'd rather read a schematic so I'm not shooting in the dark figuring the problem out.
Also, the dome light(s) have been removed to keep the light from staying on all the time. You know, I wonder if there might be a short in the dome light switch because I threw the bulbs back in to play around and it seemed real picky about it's movement. The slightest bump of the switch and the bulb(s) would go out.
The dome light might be shorting to ground causing the dash light to also come on, thinking the door switch is closed allowing a pathway to ground. That would also mean then that the dash light is before the dome light in the circuit, in that when the dome light grounds (if it is it's switch) the current completes it's pathway to ground, causing both the dash light and dome light to come on.
Still, I need a schematic or somebody's advice here who has had the same problem.
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