door latch problem solved - temporarily maybe??

[ttbit]

Thanks bdmaash. Dangit. Well, in my picture...you see the yellow wire??? That is the door ajar wire. I figured for sure that grounding it would make it act like the door is closed. If that circuit diagram is correct, having the wire hang open should act like the door is shut... right? So, a broken wire would not trip a door ajar. I guess I need to remove my short to ground. That worked backwards from what I thought. I accidentally broke the passenger door ajar switch connector, so I just shorted it to ground. DOH! Now I have to remove the panel AGAIN. See, after I fixed the driver's side lock problem, the passenger side did the same thing! I ended up putting a spring on that side too.

Do you know if we have am ajar switch in the tailgate somewhere???

Thanks,
Don

 

[thannon]

my passenger back door on my 98 x wont shut tight and every time i hit a bump it rattles and drives me crazy went soo far to even taken the whole door off... any body kno how to fix this or had this problem? i think it might be a bad latck

 

[bdmaash]

Thanks bdmaash. Dangit. Well, in my picture...you see the yellow wire??? That is the door ajar wire. I figured for sure that grounding it would make it act like the door is closed. If that circuit diagram is correct, having the wire hang open should act like the door is shut... right? So, a broken wire would not trip a door ajar. I guess I need to remove my short to ground. That worked backwards from what I thought. I accidentally broke the passenger door ajar switch connector, so I just shorted it to ground. DOH! Now I have to remove the panel AGAIN. See, after I fixed the driver's side lock problem, the passenger side did the same thing! I ended up putting a spring on that side too.

Do you know if we have am ajar switch in the tailgate somewhere???

Thanks,
Don

no door ajar switch in the tailgate for '01

 

[ttbit]

no door ajar switch in the tailgate for '01

Well...I only have one door left that it could be then. Thank you for the info!

 

[ttbit]

Thought it worth mentioning...that last door I had to check was the problem door. Figures. YES...the system sees an "open" circuit as a door closed and a "closed" circuit as a door open! If your circuit is switched closed like mine was, cutting the wire makes it think the door is shut.

It is nice to have my interior lights work properly and not see the door ajar light on all the time. I guess I have to get used to the doors locking automatically when I start to move now. I almost feel like I have a modern working truck now!

 

[energie]

tried this. worked great so far!

 

[corona_and_lime]

Both of my rear doors don't open from the inside. the child lock is off, that is every ones first thought... it feels like the inside door latch has become disconnected on both sides. any ideas?

 

[MitchsWife]

Do I wish I'd thought to look sooner!!!!

We've now got 3 doors with broken door handles because I never thought to look on here and my husband isn't much of a car-guy or into looking for stuff on the net! Well, while the drivers door is still operational, I am glad we can prevent this in the future... but now I have to figure out if there's an easy way to fix the handle... don't want to pay for labor!

 

[John_Rock]

Hopefully this helps others.

Yes it did. This spring trick worked on my Sport Trac. Now I just need to try it on the Limited since they had both developed this same problem.

Thanks bdmaash!

 

[Adam012985]

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[Austin28]

'01 Explorer Sport. Same door lock problem, drivers side. The local Ford dealer wanted $93.29 for the door latch assembly, no installation. This throttle spring idea was fantastic. I used a 3/8 inch diameter throttle return spring which came in a set of 5 return springs at a cost of $4.99 from AutoZone. Many thanks to the generous genius that came up with this idea and posted it.

 

[dmiller007]

Good Fix - It works

I tried the spring and it worked. I noticed in thge latch that a sping was broken. I was able to remove the spring. The latch which the spring was connected to was always catching on another latch in the mechanism. Under close observation, when I used the inside door handle while looking into the latch, I could see the door handle would move a latch which would push the broken spring out of the way. After serveral uses of the door lock it ould once again get jammed and then I was not able to get into the car. I put the spring on the mechanism that holds that latch away from the stop in the dopor latch as described in the thread and now it ios working great. This saves me $300 bucks at the dealer like the posting says.

Thanks - Great job Dude!!!

 

[billyjoe]

Driver side door latch

Repaired my driver side door latch today with the spring, and it works great. Thanks for the informative threads.

 

[Drewbee]

I have also had the same problem, and we thought it was because someone tried to break into it while I was away. I then proceeded to try to open my door by keyless entry as well as by key, and neither worked. When I used the key, the door handle went limp and it didn't work. So I now have to open the door from the other side. If the spring works I will be so greatful.

 

[justaguy]

here is a pic of the fix folks are talking about. Throttle return spring from auto parts store. I haven't bent it clean yet, but I thought this would be a good way to see where you can set the spring for it to work. This is a shot of the driver's side door.

You guys ROCK! This is exactly the same fix that worked for me.

PS: I registered on the site today just to let you guys know how much I appreciate you. Since my 2001 Sport Trac only has 75,000 miles on it, I am sure I will be hanging out here more often.

 

[ttbit]

Since my 2001 Sport Trac only has 75,000 miles on it, I am sure I will be hanging out here more often.

Good deal. I have 308,000 on mine.

Lots of knowledge on this board and I have tapped into it for more than one thing, for sure!

 

[Satch72]

Just wanted to say thanks guys. I just bought my '98 xlt and this is my only real problem. I'm sure as I get some other things I'll be checking in soon enough.

 

[thegoon543]

similar issue

having a similar problem. got the door panel and waterproofing mat aside to see where this spring came from.

the end had broken off but i bent a hook back into it. now i cannot see where to reattach the ends. actually found the spring dangling inside the door latch before even pulling the door panel off.

 

[Explorer Junky]

MY keyless is the only way i can get in my Ex! I had the same issue with the key not even being able to turn in lock mech. So I needed a new lock actuator anyhow, so when I did the actuator, I disconnected the rod to the tumbler and it works now with just the keyless. The tumblers on Ex's are for crap and will need replacing or... ignoring in my case LOL My dad has same year Ex, and we have had same issues with locks, actuators and electrical problems with door switches for lock and unlock all with in weeks of each other. Funny huh?

 

[wctrainer]

I did this fix today and this thread was right on!! thanks