Door Ajar probs

[Shularfaye93]

2000 Ford Explorer, just changed the fuel pump and fuel filter about a month ago, and now we have another issue... Door ajar light interior lights and mirror lights are all staying on and killing my battery. Well I've tried Wd40, I've tried replacing the fuses that correspond with them, and those things didn't work. Can anyone tell me where the plunger sensor is, because I haven't been able to find it on any door? And sound it be the latch or striker or both or what could be the potential issue here? I need to get ut fixed asap, because I've been stuck driving a lifted jeep wrangler and between trying to get my toddler in and out of it and the wind trying to blow us across the road constantly I've pretty much had enough of that. PLEASE please please give me ideas of what could be the issue. In trying to hold off on buying a new battery until this issue is solved because its way over due for a new battery as well

 

[Fix4Dirt]

plunger sensor? like the fuel pumo inertia switch? its in the passenger side footwell, not sure if thats what youre talking bout... the batterys aver relay is part of the GEM, which controls interior lights, not sure bout door ajar light& mirror

edit: door ajar is part of GEM too, see wiring diagrams by member J_C

 

[Shularfaye93]

plunger sensor? like the fuel pumo inertia switch? its in the passenger side footwell, not sure if thats what youre talking bout... the batterys aver relay is part of the GEM, which controls interior lights, not sure bout door ajar light& mirror

edit: door ajar is part of GEM too, see wiring diagrams by member J_C

No the fuel pump was beside the point, I meant the door plunger that triggers the door ajar light, I've looked by the hinges and latch and there's no plunger of any sort that I can see unless its built into the latch somehow

 

[Fix4Dirt]

oh, my bad! not sure whetre those are, but i know both the interior lights and door ajar is controlled by the GEM...

 

[Mr. Alligator]

Those sensors are attached to the latches, inside each door. They can be removed with a phillips head screw driver, but you have to remove the interior door panels to find and access them. The rear window glass also has one, as does the cargo hatch. Each of sensors can trigger the irritating “door ajar” light and cause interior lights to stay on.

The GEM is behind the radio, and you also have to remove a heater duct to get to it. The GEM is rarely the problem.

Maybe you can get an auto electric shop to computer diagnose which of the door sensors is causing the problem. Of course, the front doors, and especially the driver’s side front door, is the most frequently used, and therefore a reasonable place to start. There are some YouTube videos with ideas about this determination. Troubleshooting which sensor is causing the problem is annoying, and it is hard to trust your conclusion.

Good luck.

 

[Fix4Dirt]

not saying the GEM is the problem, but they seem to link to the gem (still havent found puddle lamps though)... im honestly not sure of the answer, just throwing out where they all link to to see if theres some correlation between them... but i feel like its all linked to the door ajar... not sure though1

 

[EB4X]

DOOR SWITCHES which activate interior lights and "door ajar" indicator:
(Your 2000 with have longer plug as shown with white connector - most likely - this was sent to me incorrectly for my 95 )

 

[Fix4Dirt]

DOOR SWITCHES which activate interior lights and "door ajar" indicator:
(Your 2000 with have longer plug as shown with white connector - most likely - this was sent to me incorrectly for my 95 )
View attachment 428386

View attachment 428384View attachment 428385

this seems much much more likely than anything i suggested! hopefully that solves your issue!

 

[J_C]

For the time being you can pull your interior lamp relay to make the lights stay off, and there is a "slight" chance that relay could be stuck on and causing this. More likely it's just one of the switches, OR the wiring to them, considering it's in the same bundle of wires in the door hinge boot, that often frays from flexing every time the doors are opened or closed.

See attached PDF for the switches' wire colors, to their respective GEM harness connector pin #. What the diagram does not make clear is that they seem to be normally open circuit with the doors closed, then ground out with the doors opened. I could have that backwards, either way, have all doors closed and see if all but one of them is either open circuit to ground, or closed circuit to ground, and the odd ball one is the switch, or wiring to it, to check.

 

[Shularfaye93]

oh, my bad! not sure whetre those are, but i know both the interior lights and door ajar is controlled by the GEM...

Yeah I found that out when i started pulling fuses one by one . Im fairly certain its the driver door, i just really didn't want tonpull the door apart if I could avoid it, but its looking like im going to have to

 

[Fix4Dirt]

good luck!!! let us know if you have any questions, and if it solves the issue!

 

[J_C]

Something to consider while the door is apart, is that a very common fault on these vehicles is the door latch breaking a spring inside. For that reason, and since a new latch mechanism (usually) comes with a new switch, I'd be tempted to go ahead and replace the whole latch mechanism if it turns out that the switch is bad.

 

[Fix4Dirt]

also, not sure if its just mine, but the lock actuators seemed to have gone bad sooner than i wouldve thought... could just be me though!

 

[Terry Long Sr.]

2000 Ford Explorer, just changed the fuel pump and fuel filter about a month ago, and now we have another issue... Door ajar light interior lights and mirror lights are all staying on and killing my battery. Well I've tried Wd40, I've tried replacing the fuses that correspond with them, and those things didn't work. Can anyone tell me where the plunger sensor is, because I haven't been able to find it on any door? And sound it be the latch or striker or both or what could be the potential issue here? I need to get ut fixed asap, because I've been stuck driving a lifted jeep wrangler and between trying to get my toddler in and out of it and the wind trying to blow us across the road constantly I've pretty much had enough of that. PLEASE please please give me ideas of what could be the issue. In trying to hold off on buying a new battery until this issue is solved because its way over due for a new battery as well

My 96 will do the same thing, with mine it's the lift gate that causes my problem. I have to close it 2-3 times sometimes to make the lights go off! I always look at my map lights to make sure they're off before going in but I've never had to worry about it unless I open the lift gate!

 

[DintDobbs]

Do as the others said, open and close all doors and particularly the rear hatch. If the vehicle has ever been in any accidents, particularly a rear-end collision, double check the rear hatch and window latches. My rear hatch has been crooked since I got the truck, and any thing other than a hefty slam will leave the right latch open, triggering the Door Ajar light and interior lights. If it's definitely not the latches, then go on to the wiring fun. Easy stuff first!

Hope you get it all straightened out!

 

[J_C]

^ If a door or hatch won't close fully, you can also manually flip the latch with door/hatch open... just remember to flip it back before trying to close it.

 

[DintDobbs]

@J_C Good advice, did that once too. Both of those things. (Felt like a dummy.)

 

[Shularfaye93]

Something to consider while the door is apart, is that a very common fault on these vehicles is the door latch breaking a spring inside. For that reason, and since a new latch mechanism (usually) comes with a new switch, I'd be tempted to go ahead and replace the whole latch mechanism if it turns out that the switch is bad.

See I was wondering about that tbh, my drivers side door definitely has a wierd pull to it versus the other doors. I. Hoping warmer weather hits here for a few days so i can actually get out there and dive into it

 

[J_C]

^ A few years ago, the spring in my '98 driver's door latch broke and I replaced just the spring which fixed it completely, but I mean I used needle nose piers through the latch opening, didn't have to take the door panel off which is why I only replaced the spring at the time. That spring didn't cause what I'd call a weird pull though, so may not be the same spring or issue.

However, recently something else must have broken because even though it latches fine, it has a funny slack in it (not just the springs on the door handle itself) when I pull up on it, and it now takes extra force to close the door and have it latch, but it still always latches if I just close it harder. It is not sagging, still aligned just the latch itself seems to have worn something else out besides the spring I was referring to.

I could live with just closing the door a little harder so haven't gotten around to tearing it apart yet.

 

[Shularfaye93]

See I was wondering about that tbh, my drivers side door definitely has a wierd pull to it versus the other doors. I. Hoping warmer weather hits here for a few days so i can actually get out there and dive into it

Update, its the latch and bar that connects to it. Part is ordered and once thats fixed hopefully that is really what the problem was. It definitely seems like thats the issue considering how easy it is to pull the handles on that door compared to the rest