Interior Lights won't go off, door ajar light NOT lit.

[Gixxer1000]

Hi all,

My interior lights in my 95 XLT won't turn off when the doors are closed and the truck is locked and the engine is started. I have to drive around with them on. The door ajar light is NOT lit. The dimmer thumbwheel is all the way down. This happens once in a while and the only way to turn them off is to pull the fuse. This problem happens intermittently.


Do you think it is a door contact? (if so where are the door contacts located on my truck?)

Thanks for your help

 

[jimbo74]

get out and slam all the doors..... my dads ranger did this for awhile... he has a 4 door supercab though and slamming all the doors fixed the light problem...

 

[Ray Lobato]

Your light switches are on the latches of the doors. One of them is not working correctly. Like jim said, slam all the doors shut until the light goes out, that will be the door latch that isn't working right. Spray that latch with an electrical contact cleaner, and maybe that will help. It worked for me.

 

[Gixxer1000]

Thanks for the replies guys. Exactly where on the door or body is the door latch contact for the interior lights? I cleaned the contacts on the rear door, coz those contacts are obvious.

If it is a contact in a door why isn't the "door ajar" idiot light on?

 

[budwich]

good question.... when you say "interior lights".... do you mean "all interior lights" including door courtesy lights and dome light or just the dome lights? The switches are in the door towards the rear. The contacts pass towards the GEM module to generate the "door ajar" indicator and cause lights to come on. I need to look at the schematic a bit closer. Good luck.

 

[Ray Lobato]

The switch IS part of the door latch, and no it isn't the same as the door ajar switch. I tried taking it apart once and never got it out, so I just sprayed contact cleaner all over the door latch mechanism and it worked.

 

[Brian_B]

I have cleaned them with the cleaner Ray mentioned and gotten them to work before.

 

[Runnin'OnEmpty]

WD-40 is also good for lubing these switches. I cured a non-working parking brake light switch with it......

 

[budwich]

Being only a recent Ex owner, I don't know much yet... but if I believe the "cheap reference" which is for 96, it only shows one switch in the circuit... and it is associated with the "door ajar" circuit which runs to the GEM and then ultimately this activates the courtesy lights by pulling up on the interior lamp relay to "light" the courtseys. I would suspect that relay is stuck if you don't have a door ajar indication. The relay is in aux relay box #4 (which is in the left rear cargo panel... available thru the jack storage compartment).

 

[Gixxer1000]

Where exactly does the door latch contact metal to metal to close the circuit to indicate to the GEM module that the door is closed? The door latches on the truck side have a plastic sleeve that rotates so I don't really see how it could complete an electrical circuit to indicate that the door is closed. There must be a contact somewhere but I can't find it.

 

[budwich]

I don't have a "readable" picture of the latch / connector.... but the diagram shows a "harness switch" at the end of each door. I went and checked the truck... the switch is in the latch.... look closely down the window guide about 6 inches, top of the latch on the inside of the door... there is a small switch connector that I think is part of the door ajar system. That switch look like an issue... I actually almost cause your problem by playing with mine... ie. courtesy lights stayed on.... but I didn't have my keys with me so I am not sure about the door ajar indicator in the dash. Not sure if the switch is a contact switch, magnetic switch, or what. Anyways, from what I can tell it is the only switch on each door that there is. Hope it helps.

 

[Gixxer1000]

Hey guys I think I figured out the problem. I noticed that whenever it is more than 30 degrees C outside and/ or my truck is parked with the sun hitting the left side of the truck this problem of the interior lights not going out happens. I tried slamming all the doors but that doesn't make the lights go out. I pull the fuse until the battery minder circuit shuts off the lights after about 40 mins.

I think a relay somewhere is stuck whenever it is hotter than 30 degress outside. We've had cooler weather lately and I haven't had any problems with the interor lights.

 

[budwich]

Hey Gixxer1000.... remember my earlier post.... as indicated the interior light relay is in aux box 4 on the LEFT rear side of the vehicle.

 

[Mil1ion]

There isn't any LUBRICANT in WD-40.

It was made as penetrating fluid that smells nice..Unfortunately after 39 attempts they simply stopped trying, so the name WD-40 was born

Cleaners are made to clean, you need an spray lubricant to Lubricate these.
Teflon powder like they use for door locks works well

 

[snoranger]

There isn't any LUBRICANT in WD-40.

It was made as penetrating fluid that smells nice..Unfortunately after 39 attempts they simply stopped trying, so the name WD-40 was born

Cleaners are made to clean, you need an spray lubricant to Lubricate these.
Teflon powder like they use for door locks works well

You dug up a 6 year old post to say WD-40 doesnt lubricate.

 

[Mil1ion]

Let's try interpreting it another way ..just for you

I replied to a thread that contained FALSE inormation..and correct it

Now you can rid your mentality of snideness and think about FACTS

 

[budwich]

Thanks for the post... You should probably also write the WD40 people and tell them to correct their site also...

 

[Mil1ion]

what are you 12 ?

There are way too many people on the net posting FALSE INFO

The devil is in the details. I was there when it came on the market, it was worse than other products buyt marketing made it a hit.

WD-40 basically REPELS water and can be used inside distributor caps.

The REAL truth is, it dries out the moving parts becaue ti si a Water Based lubricant..not petroleum based.

It is NOT a lubricant and they the makers suggest it is but lubricating vs loosening things up are 2 different things.

Instead of yapping to people. do some research and live with the facts.

You want to lubricate something.. USE a Lubricant.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5177567_lubricate-locks-car.html


WD-40 isn't one.
It LOOSENS up parts like a penetrating fluid does . it does NOT leave a film of lubricant.


Details.... young people.... Details


Next thing you know you will be telling us Armor-all is the best protectant.

Take it from someone in their 60's... there are great products and there are good products.

GREAT products Don't need to be advertised as they sell themselves.

Want to know a great product to keep distributors from freezing/corroding up in the block ?

Corrblock !

 

[snoranger]

Ok. I will agree that WD-40 is not really a lubricant, even though the company says it lubricates.

BUT, In the case of the door ajar switch in the door latch,which is what this thread is about. The problem is that the switch sticks from old grease that gets gummy. WD-40 does a good job of dissolving that grease. After that old grease is dissolved the switch tends to work for a while (some people dont have a problem again for years).

SO, Yes, it may be a bit of false information, but the end result (IN THIS CASE) is all that really matters. Not whether the WD-40 is dissolving the old grease or lubricating the switch.

The FACT is that it works!

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Mil1ion]

One time I was restoring a 67 Mustang and the owner asked me to clean up both the door locks and latching hardware. I told him it would makes things worse. He kept saying that old grease in there isn't doing its job so please clean it all up and lube everything with Lubriplate.. I just shook my head in disbelief.

After the car was finished I kept getting phone calls from him because the door latching hardware was so clean and perfectly lubed... He kept getting locked out from the lubed up hardware dropping the lock without resistance.

Sometimes it's best just to leave some things alone..or do MINOR things to try to overcome an issue.