'01 Ranger interior dome light & door ajar issues.

[RRBevan10]

Howdy all!
I have an '01 Ranger with quad doors. Of late, I get the "door ajar" light even when the doors (all of them ) are closed properly. Also my dome lite says on. I removed the dome lite, hence eliminating it being ON most of the time. I still see the "ajar" light most of the time. I am thinking the problem lies in the quad doorrs switch somewhere. I sthere any way to BYPASS this switc as in cut it out, and "close" the gap? I'd like to be able to have my dome lite back; and I 'd like to possibly take care of this myself where it won't cost me a small fortune. I know electrical problems can be $$$$$. Anyone can help, my email is: rickbevan@gmail.com. Thanks

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! I've moved your thread into the Ranger section. You need to trace the color codes of the wiring with a schematic diagram.

 

[nfazer]

Spray some WD40 in by the door latch and door handle - really lube each side up good, opening and closing each door many times in the process, and see if that helps. The door ajar sensor is connected to the door latch, and over time sticks/wears out. As WD40 is only a "band aid", and you will eventually have to do it again, a replacement from Ford is not that expensive, however it is a little hard to replace, mostly just because of the tight working space inside the door.

I also wanted to add that posting your full email address on an open forum is just asking for you to be spammed - if you must do it, use something like "johndoe at gmail dot com", as spam bots on the internet have a harder time making a full address out of that. (I'm a computer tech major).

 

[RRBevan10]

Well, thank you my friend. I had no idea that I was inviting spam-o-rama! I just figured that if I posted a DIRECT address, I could get answers faster without having to log in all the time. So much for what I know, huh?
Thanks for the lowdown on my quad doors (you DID spray the quads or ALL of 'em?) I'll give it a shot. Can I pick the parts up at a junkyard, or is it better to have the real deal?

 

[nfazer]

Well, thank you my friend. I had no idea that I was inviting spam-o-rama! I just figured that if I posted a DIRECT address, I could get answers faster without having to log in all the time. So much for what I know, huh?

One more thing to add to your "online arsenal". Glad to have given you a tip.

Thanks for the lowdown on my quad doors (you DID spray the quads or ALL of 'em?) I'll give it a shot. Can I pick the parts up at a junkyard, or is it better to have the real deal?

You should only need to spray the main doors - if you can, get the red "nozzle" for the WD40 can and get it inside the latch and behind/inside the handle. Your goal is to soak the inside of the door (hopefully getting most of the WD40 on the sensor). A rule of thumb is to keep spraying until you see it leak out of the bottom of the door, and then spray a bit more. You really can't hurt anything by being liberal with it. As far as new/used parts, the first thing that comes to mind for me is "What if the junkyard part had the same problem". If I recall each side is under $20 from Ford - spend the extra $ now and then you won't have to do the job twice.

 

[RRBevan10]

Spray some WD40 in by the door latch and door handle - really lube each side up good, opening and closing each door many times in the process, and see if that helps. The door ajar sensor is connected to the door latch, and over time sticks/wears out. As WD40 is only a "band aid", and you will eventually have to do it again, a replacement from Ford is not that expensive, however it is a little hard to replace, mostly just because of the tight working space inside the door.

I also wanted to add that posting your full email address on an open forum is just asking for you to be spammed - if you must do it, use something like "johndoe at gmail dot com", as spam bots on the internet have a harder time making a full address out of that. (I'm a computer tech major).

Hey, Thanks,
I tried the wd40 trip; until it leaked out the bottom. Nada! I stuck the spout in ever opening I could on the latch, still nothing. Any more suggestions? I really don't want to go in and do 'surgery"

 

[nfazer]

Well, since you get the door ajar light (and warning chime, I would assume), we can pretty much take out the question of your dimmer/dome light switch being bad. I would still bet that the sensor (one or both) are bad, or that you have a wire that is shorting in or near the door area - on my Ranger, the wires inside the door all run on top of the metal; maybe there is a short there. My ultimate bet would be the sensors.

 

[Jerry Kylec]

I solved my problems by disconectioning an after market alarm system