DING DING DING... any ideas?

[97 EB Mike]

I just picked up a 95 Ranger - 2.3 5sp 2wd. I've had it literally 3 days, and there are many issues. One I can't put my finger on yet is the door dinger. I'm somewhat familiar with the switch issue in the door handle, but I don't think that's what I'm looking at here because it stops with the door closed. Sprayed it down with PB Blaster just in case, but it didn't change anything.

Symptom: If the driver's door is open, the dinger is dinging. Key out, lights off, key in, lights on, standing on my head...you get the idea. It does not happen with the passenger door. It does not happen with the driver's door closed. I do not know if the dome light is on or not, because the cover, bulb, and yes, the "ballast" are missing completely. There is no "door ajar" light on in the dash, but I don't know if this truck is equipped with such a light.

It may be worth mentioning that there is an aftermarket CD player in the dash, and it is always live. I have not chased any wiring, so I don't know exactly how it is installed. The previous owner told me that if you pulled a particular fuse, the dinging would stop, but you sacrifice your wipers for the effort.

Sorry for the novel, but I wanted to put out everything that I know so far. Thanks in advance for any help/ideas!

 

[97 EB Mike]

Bump

I also noticed yesterday that with the door open and key on, the ding is about half as fast - once per second maybe. Door open key off its roughly twice per second.

 

[Willcall]

That sounds like the ding that you get when you leave the headlight switch on and open the door. Maybe look into the switch and where it wires into the GEM and see if something is off?

 

[corkey]

check your key switch in the column , if it isn't in the middle the alarm will go on till the door is closed,, mine on my 90 ranger was doing that, but if i wiggled it byb the ears on it the alarm would stop,,

 

[Jack Flash]

spray some PB Blaster, or the like, into the door latch, open & close the door, repeat if necessary....I have a 99 model and it stopped mine from dinging.
.
also check the wires that went to your overhead light. they may be touching.

,
,

J...:rangergreen:

 

[Sedition]

My 98 explorer dings when ever the keys are in the ignition and the drivers door is open. According to one of the service books in the glove compartment this is a reminder to always pull the keys out of your truck before you leave it.

There is also a ding there if ignition is on and drivers seatbelt is off.

 

[97 EB Mike]

Will - will take a look hopefully this week and see if anything appears to be suspect. Depending on the price, I may just replace the switch anyway.

Corkey - I've been jiggling that sucker since I bought the truck, thinking I just wasn't finding the "sweet spot" to make it shut off. If that's the case, I still haven't found it.

Jack - Tried the PB trick in the door latch, handle, and door key hole. No luck. I will def check out the wires where the dome light used to be - probably tonight.

Sedition - Those are all normal "ding" circumstances. Mine isn't normal - key out, lights off, and it dings when the door is open.

Thanks to all! I'll post back when I find something or run out of places to look.

 

[Stick4503]

I have a 96 explorer that does this. With mine the outer circle part to the ignition switch, the part you put your fingers on to turn the switch, is broke/loose and it will some times not move back far enough when the key is removed. It's a real pain in the ass but I can't get a new switch re keyed right now and don't want different keys for my ignition and doors. I just wiggle this outer part without the key in it and it will stop.

 

[97 EB Mike]

3 things:
1- either I have completely ruled out the door handle switch, or I am mistaken on how it works. Pulled the inner door panel and unplugged the switch, and it made no difference.
2- There are no wires touching each other where the dome light used to be. However, I only have voltage when the roller switch next to the headlight switch is on. There is no juice when the door is open.
3- There is a ton of play in the lock cylinder. I'm wondering now if Corkey and Stick are right, and this one is just past the point of being able to find the sweet spot.

I've never changed the lock cylinder on anything before, but I can't imagine its that tough, it's a pretty cheap part, and with so much play it should be changed anyway. That's where I'll start next, but it likely won't be until next weekend.

Thanks again for everyone's input, and I'll post back up when I know something more.

 

[97 EB Mike]

Good news to report:
Tried a new lock cylinder, and it solved nothing. I couldn't stand being stumped, so I decided to fix the radio wiring. In the process, I decided to look for any rogue wiring, and ended up with the knee panel, column cover, and instrument panel cover off. Didn't find anything that looked out of place, so I finished the radio (turned out to be novice wiring) and started buttoning things up. When I slipped the instrument panel cover back into place, I accidentally put some down pressure on the key switch, and the ding stopped! After working it up and down some, I've gotten the sound to stop and stay off. Upon further inspection, you can see a switch of some kind mounted to the bottom of the hole the lock cylinder slides into. I'm assuming either dirty contacts at that switch or it was out of position and was pushed back into position while I was fiddling with the instrument panel.

Long story short, it is fixed for now. We'll see how long it lasts...

 

[Joe Dirt]

I always took that clip off the cylinder and taped it up out of the way. That way my door-ding thingamabob doesn't go off if the key is on and the door is open. i.e., tunes. On the newer Ex it turns off, on the older ones, you have to remove the clip thing.

 

[McCormack]

I hate dingers so I disabled mine by going into the box behind the radio under the dash that contains the dinger and sticking an icepick into it. End of problem.

 

[97 EB Mike]

I thought about doing that... I saw a thread somewhere where someone opened up that GEM and de-laminated the speaker too. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. Apparently, I have a mild case of CDO. It's like OCD, but with the letters in alphabetical order, as they should be.

 

[McCormack]

Apparently, I have a mild case of CDO. It's like OCD, but with the letters in alphabetical order, as they should be.