2002 ford explorer right front lock won't lock after 'ajar' sensor removal

[oldgranola]

After diagnosing the 'door ajar' issue to the front passenger sensor which would not close the circute, I chose to jumper the connector for it for now which did solve to door ajar issue. However, even though both the manual door lock and the electric lock actuator appear to work fine, the door won't lock. I had to take the whole lock out to get to the sensor and had a stuck broken bolt that I had to drill out and extract, then reinstall it all back. I dont see any loose rods. I can open and close the latch from both door handles, get a good 'kerchunk' sound when using the electric door lock switches, sounds the same as the other doors. But the door still opens when pulling the outside manual door handles when its supposed to be locked.

Questions: Is the door ajar sensor required to be in place for the lock to work? Any other ideas?

 

[oldgranola]

Solved. should I just delete the first post as I doubt anyone else will have the same trouble? In short, the outer -right replacement bolt that I used to replace the broken one was a tad too long and interfered with the full movement of the locking mechanism itself, it wouldn't go fully into the locked position but close enough to fool me at first. Temp fix was just to put a stainless steel washer on the bolt till I can get a shorter replacement.