Door ajar always on

[MichaelBurger]

My 97 explorer has the door ajar light on. All doors are firmly closed and the light remains as I drive. I have checked all doors, including back lift gate and back window.

Symptoms:
Door ajar light on (with all doors closed)
Dome lights stay on after car is turned off and remains on all night
Sometimes the door ajar chime will sound
!!! It has mostly occurred in colder weather (<40) !!!

Please help.

 

[my98nnj]

You have a bad door switch. They are located within the latch assy.

 

[MichaelBurger]

Is it possible to use WD40

 

[Flag Gibby]

Is it possible to use WD40

It is possible that all the years of dirt, etc. on the door latch could be causing the problem and WD40 might clean some of it off, but it would not clean/improve the internal metal contact points of the switch. Essentially it is an open/closed switch that completes a curcuit when the doors are closed. It is most likely a wire going to one of the switches that has a bad connection and you need to check them to verify continuity with a voltage meter. You could also try something like CRC 2-26 electrical cleaner on the switch first to see if it helps, before replacing the faulty switch.

 

[MichaelBurger]

Does anyone know a good way to determine which door is causing the problem?

 

[Chikar]

Well, I don't know without researching it a good way to determine which door it is but I'd think the driver's door is the most likely as it's the one that gets used, and worn, the most.

 

[drdoom]

Shoot some WD40 in there, and usually that will take care of it.

 

[Flag Gibby]

Shoot some WD40 in there, and usually that will take care of it.

Thought he might have tried that already since he asked about that early on, and my response was that it won't hurt, but it may not fix it.