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Door Ajar / Dimmer Switch Issue

dictionize

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2004 Ford Explorer
Hey everyone. Been on this forum for awhile and finally decided to make an account today. I'm having an issue where the door ajar light stays on. I first found the problem when my puddle lights and dome light took 10 minutes to turn off (Battery saver) after exiting and locking the truck. I have seen many times where a faulty door ajar switch is to blame but I have a more unique problem that happens with every door. I recorded a video explaining what happens today.


I have also heard that it could be a broken ground wire in the wiring harness for the door, but if this happens on every door it doesnt really seem logical that every door has a bad / broken ground.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 



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It's likely the ground in the door. I just patched mine the other day after doing a lot of research.
 












Open the rubber boot and have a look.

I had a similar issue except I don't remember or never checked with the power mirrors, and when I turned my dimmer all the way up to turn on all the lights the "door ajar" warning came on.

When I pulled the rubber boot, I found a broken ground wire, and a few other wires that were almost broken. I repaired them all. Had to repair two more for my speaker last week. Problems went away after splicing in wire repair sections. (Made them more than long enough, so they don't stretch and bust again)

It's easy to take the interior door panel off, then remove the speaker to better work with the wires after you get the boot out of the way.
 






Open the rubber boot and have a look.

I had a similar issue except I don't remember or never checked with the power mirrors, and when I turned my dimmer all the way up to turn on all the lights the "door ajar" warning came on.

When I pulled the rubber boot, I found a broken ground wire, and a few other wires that were almost broken. I repaired them all. Had to repair two more for my speaker last week. Problems went away after splicing in wire repair sections. (Made them more than long enough, so they don't stretch and bust again)

It's easy to take the interior door panel off, then remove the speaker to better work with the wires after you get the boot out of the way.

I will check this out when my dad gets home with the truck. Was the broken ground wire visible by just pulling back the boot or did you have to take the door panel off to find it?
 






I will check this out when my dad gets home with the truck. Was the broken ground wire visible by just pulling back the boot or did you have to take the door panel off to find it?

It was visible just by pulling the boot out if I recall correctly, but it is significantly easier to work with it for the repair with the door taken apart. It's not hard to do at all. There are plenty of YouTube videos showing how to do it. It takes minutes and re-assembly is equally as easy.
 






It was visible just by pulling the boot out if I recall correctly, but it is significantly easier to work with it for the repair with the door taken apart. It's not hard to do at all. There are plenty of YouTube videos showing how to do it. It takes minutes and re-assembly is equally as easy.

Just jiggled around the wiring harness for the door and the problem was fixed. Obviously this isnt a "fix" i will be taking the truck down to my friends shop and pulling the door panel to properly fix the wire. Thanks for your help ive been searching high and low for the solution to my problem.
 






Just jiggled around the wiring harness for the door and the problem was fixed. Obviously this isnt a "fix" i will be taking the truck down to my friends shop and pulling the door panel to properly fix the wire. Thanks for your help ive been searching high and low for the solution to my problem.

No problem! That sounds like a good plan, I hope it all goes smoothly.

It's definitely a wire then. For my speaker, the wires were broken inside of the plastic, so they looked okay, but after some careful feeling, you could tell they snapped on the inside. The black ground wire snapped completely, and was obvious to find once the boot is out of the way.

I strip both ends of the broken wire, then solder in a longer piece between them, and finally wrap it in heat shrink tubes.
 






No problem! That sounds like a good plan, I hope it all goes smoothly.

It's definitely a wire then. For my speaker, the wires were broken inside of the plastic, so they looked okay, but after some careful feeling, you could tell they snapped on the inside. The black ground wire snapped completely, and was obvious to find once the boot is out of the way.

I strip both ends of the broken wire, then solder in a longer piece between them, and finally wrap it in heat shrink tubes.

Yeah and I would do all of this today but no garage and 90+ degree temperatures don't mix haha!
 






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