I've been having trouble with the dreaded door ajar light staying on. But, the strange thing was that I would also lose window and door lock control whenever it happened. So, as a first step, I lubed the latches a few times, but it didn't seem to help with any kind of consistency. Finally, it quit working altogether. And for the past couple of months I've just lived with it.

Fast forward to today. I took the door panel off and wiggled the wires and all the connections while I cycled the driver's door latch. And for about a half an hour everything seemed to be working. That is, until I shut the door. Then it would stop working again. Open the door and cycle the latch... everything works like it's supposed to. Close the door... nothing. What the...? So I slid the boot off the main bundle of wires going into the door and wiggled the wires. As I wiggled, the door light flashed on and off. Hmmm... Maybe I have a short?

Then, as I was trying to look/feel for chafed wiring in the main bundle, the light came on and stayed on. Twenty minutes of wiggling and opening and shutting the door and the door ajar light will not shut off. Well, this wouldn't be the end of the world, but this all happened with the window rolled down, and now I can't get it to roll back up. And, of course, it's been raining off and on all week with more rain in the forecast. So for now I have a big black garbage bag taped over the gaping hole in my door to keep the rain out, but I'm not going to drive it like that.

I've done a little testing on the door side of the wiring, and it seems like I've lost all power to the door controls. So, I need to try to get at the wires from the inside for testing, but besides stumbling onto obviously bare wire, I don't know which wires to test either for continuity, for ground, or for power. Does anybody have a wiring diagram for a 2003? Or, does anybody know which wire(s) provide power to the door controls? Please? I don't want to have to ride the motorcycle to work in the rain.

 

Surely someone knows what wires I need to be looking at?

 

There is a wiring diagram in my Haynes manual for the doors (I remember it being detailed enough to determine whether or not my truck originally came with keyless entry or just electric locks). Unfortunetly, I'm at work and it is at home. If I remember after I get home from work I'll see if you have gotten any help yet. If not, I'll dig out my Haynes and look it up for you.

 

That would be great. I would really appreciate it.

 

Sorry it took so long to get back to you, long day at work followed by a fussy baby. And it appears that I may not be much help anyways. Although my Haynes manual is supposed to be from '99 to '06, the wiring charts I have only cover '99-'01 and '02 with keyless entry. On vehicles with keyless entry the only connection between the ajar switch and the actuators is the VSM module. But since that is for an '02 your wiring colors could be completely different. The one thing I see in common is that a red/black wire feeds power in every case.

 

Thanks for looking. I'll look for a red/black wire and go from there. At least it's a start.

 

The only thing that is different is the button pushed when the door is closed turning the interior lights out. Unmount that switch and see if it might not be the culprit. I agree you need a schematic and I would stop into your local dealer and ask for a copy of the schematic.... Good luck

 

Well, I finally figured it out! Turns out that I have an intermittent bad ground between the door and the chassis. Probably a broken wire. So instead of pulling everything out of the kick panel and chasing wires, I just spliced into the main door ground wire, ran a new wire through the boot into the cab, and terminated it on another ground lug. Everything is working again and I can go enjoy a beer and relax while the battery is charging.

And, since all the circuits in the door are connected to a common ground wire, here's an easy way to check to see if that's the issue with your truck. Just pull the door panel and jump a wire from the solid black ground wire terminal that's connected to the safety light in the door, to a good ground in the cab. If everything powers up like it should, you've found the problem. If not, well... you have my sympathies.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I hope my experience can help some other frustrated soul.

 

Thanks for letting us know what it was. I was curious what you would find. Even though I was an electronics technician in the Navy (Aviation Electronics Technician to be exact), bad grounds still catch me everytime. It should be the first thing I check for, but I always end up chasing my tail until I finally think of checking for a bad ground.