How to: Interior lights on - Door Ajar

If you have handle controlled interior lights and they are always staying on and you have the door ajar light on, you are going to love this fix.. It's an easy and a cheap fix, and is the way to perform your maintenance of this switch...

Put your fuse and bulbs back in, roll your windows up and get a can of wd40 with the straw...start with your drivers door...from the outside pull the handle up and where the handle goes thru the door, squirt a little wd40 in both those slits...open the door and just work the outside handle a few times...go to the passenger door and do the same....thats all there is to it...good luck...

Update

...If you have an X, You may also need to wd40 your rear hatch latches and If this does not fix your problem and this is a normal fix, you may have some other issues so please read post #8,#12, and 13 of this thread...

...Maybe a broken wire could also be your problem??
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=223988

 

[Tbars4]

...I believe the answer to be no...

...The other common problem is a wire coming through the door in the harness boot area is usually found broken...

 

[r3bl]

i recently did this i did not use wd 40 i had some grade 2 industiral lubericant around so i tryed that and it took a day or two for it to work but now i have interior lights at nights it nice to see again

 

[soltero]

I came back to the forum after a long time just to find a fix for that problem.
Thanks, it worked great

 

[Tbars4]

...I am glad you guys were able to fix your problems with the help of this thread...:bigthump

...See you in a couple more years...:wavey:

 

[Crappy]

Door adjar light

I had the same problem with the door adjar light and the dome light staying on and killing my battery during cold weather. and also the dome light staying on after starting making it difficult to see at night when backing up. What I did was remove the fuse and rigged up a toggle switch with a fuse in the line. I removed my aux. power point in the dash near the drivers side.(it was broke anyway) And mounted the switch there. The warning alarm, the dome light,the speedometer, and the windshield wipers.will not work if the switch is in the off position. Butt I can see to back up and my battery dosent go dead any more. I just need to remember to turn it on to see how fast I am going. I am going to try the WD40 trick though but I am still going to leave the switch in so I can see to back up.

 

[littlerich]

The fix for the door ajar was awsome it work perfect on my 2002 eddie bauer thanks again. Now if some one could post a picture of where the a/c blender door is located on my 2002 explorer with dual climate control on the passenger side this would be a great day. Thanks in advance

 

[Bill Kemp]

Do a "Search" for "blend door" and you will find more info than anywhere else.

 

[Josh S.]

Old thread, but I'm going through this with my 2000 ranger right now. Tried the WD40, hasn't helped yet, but I have narrowed it down to the pass door. Next step is to replace the switch.

 

[cars]

worked for me!! Thanks!! I thought I the sensor was inside the door and that I would be in for a more time consuming fix. thx again. cars

 

[Tbars4]

...Glad to hear it worked..:biggthump

...Sometimes it takes a couple spraying's to get it working again...

 

[yeaulikeit]

The WD40 will cause the frequent, random alarms to stop as well? If this does not work, will it be safe to say that I need to purchase the door ajar switch? Thanks

 

[Tbars4]

...There are a handful of reasons for Interior lights on - Door Ajar - Alarms...

...If you left a little more description of the problem, members here might be able to help you better..

 

[rlgdguy]

I tried the wd-40 trick and it worked for about a month. I tapped my door against the side of my house while getting out in my driveway. The "Door Ajar" light is back and I've tried the wd-40 trick several times to no avail. I opened the door and could not find any broken wires at all. I wiggled everything around and pushed all connectors in tight. Still have the "door ajar". I am bewildered.

 

[Tbars4]

...It's possible you have a broken ground wire in the loom between the door and cab or, your sensor just went bad...

 

[BigRondo]

I tried the wd-40 trick and it worked for about a month. I tapped my door against the side of my house while getting out in my driveway. The "Door Ajar" light is back and I've tried the wd-40 trick several times to no avail. I opened the door and could not find any broken wires at all. I wiggled everything around and pushed all connectors in tight. Still have the "door ajar". I am bewildered.

Check this out: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums//showpost.php?p=2507810&postcount=4

 

[zombiedan]

Hi Brooklyn,
I am glad to have the "Door ajar" light off and my interior lights working properly but I still have the no shifting into low 4x4.

I can get a second hand GEM for about $100. If it comes from an Ranger that has keyless entry will I have to reprogram the GEM?

Much thanks,
Eric

I have the same problem with my 02 4x4 right now, no shift into 4 low, and interior lights stuck on. I do not have the Door Ajar problem though. Any suggestions? I have heard of the GEM module fix before but have yet to try it. Did it work for you?

 

[zombiedan]

I've been doing the same, but occasionally passengers will complain about the absence of light so I better fix it, tried the WD40 trick and it worked until I turned the engine on, then when I turned the engine off again the lights were stuck on. I didn't grease the back door hinges though, I wonder if the problem could be in there?

 

[Nitsua552]

cargo door

if you cant get wd40 to work on the cargo door, just unplug both latch sensors

 

[MSM0075]

I have fallen victim do the door adjar problem for the first time on our '02 Mountaineer. I knew something was up when I pressed 7/8 9/0 together like I alwasy do after I close my door and I could not hear the doors lock..So I just used the key pad remote to lock and arm the truck. Got back into the truck to leave work, Noticed Door adjar on cluster. Went around the whole truck opening and closing doors with no avail. I was almost home when I heard all the doors lock and door adjar indication went away. Figured it was some kind of fluke so I locked the truck like I normally do. Few hours went by and I heard an alarm going off outside. Which is normal in my area, but I looked for the heck of it, sure enough, it was our truck, I disarmed it. It was easy to find out that it was the drivers door beacuse if I had the key in the ignition with all the doors closed and hit the lock button the drivers door would quickly unlock automatically. Which is normal so you don't lock your key in the car. This feature only does it for the drivers door only.

I shot some WD40 in the latch and good to go. The switch is right below the latch so all the oils dripped right down where they needed to be.

I have not had and issue yet.

Just wanted to share my story with you guys.

 

[Tbars4]

...Thanks for sharing..:biggthump

...Sounds like you are lucky as for a while we were hearing newer models were having a broken wire in the loom at the door...

..A few squirts is a whole lot better than opening a door panel and chasing wires...