Door Ajar Light stuck on

[anthony91]

I've searched this forum for a long time and I have found things that were like mine but not the same. Im not new here I just cant remember my login and I dont have the email address I used long ago.

I have a 2002 xlt with 130,200 miles and about a week ago my door ajar light went on and my dome lights stay on until about 10mph. Which is what has happened to other people except mine is different in this way. (atleast no one has mentioned this.)

Car off, Dome lights off (dimmer switch off), Driver side door locks/mirror button work, door ajar goes away.

Car off, Dome lights on (dimmer switch on), Driver side door locks/mirror button doesn't work and door ajar stays on.

Car on, Dome lights on or off, Driver side door locks/mirror button do not work.

I tried the WD-40 in the latches trick to no avail. I checked the ground wire in the rubber part of the door and it looks like it was spliced and reattached from a previous owner because I haven't touched it. Should I check the splicing and see if something disconnected or could there be another reason this is happening? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jrford]

I tried the WD-40 in the latches trick to no avail. I checked the ground wire in the rubber part of the door and it looks like it was spliced and reattached from a previous owner because I haven't touched it. Should I check the splicing and see if something disconnected or could there be another reason this is happening? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

by all means, might have been a ghetto job. . .other than that, you might want to check all of the sensors/latches, also don't forget the rear hatches have a sensor too.

 

[BigRondo]

I checked the ground wire in the rubber part of the door and it looks like it was spliced and reattached from a previous owner because I haven't touched it. Should I check the splicing and see if something disconnected or could there be another reason this is happening? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I would definitely check the splice job and re-splice it. Also check all wires in the boot for breakage & cuts. There may be other wires damaged.

 

[anthony91]

Re-spliced it today, before taking the boot off i realized if i squeezed it, my mirror lamps (the lights under the mirror, puddle lamps? not sure of the name) would flash, Which leads me to believe there is a broken wire somewhere but i couldnt find it. Now they mirror lights do not work at all. I noticed a broken black wire, Which i thought might be the ground but the ground is spliced and taped up and I even re did it today and it still doesnt help. The wire that I found that looked broken had no end, it was a single black wire broken from...nothing. There was no other wire that it would have broken off of. Im at a loss and It so damn aggravating.

Since me squeezing the boot made my mirror lights turn off and on there must be a broken wire somewhere, right? How the hell do you check all the wires anyway? Its such a small space between the door and the body of the truck, I could barely get my hands in there.

 

[BigRondo]

You are correct: it is a huge PITA trying to get in there! There are 2 ground wires. Both are black. One is thinner than the other. When you say "it goes nowhere" is the end you have going toward the body or the door? If you can't find the other end that goes into the door look real good in the door itself or try to locate the same wire in the bundle that goes through the boot and pull on it. Hope this isn't too confusing.

 

[anthony91]

EDIT. double post

 

[anthony91]

When I say goes nowhere I mean coming from the body of the truck. The wire is coming toward the door, there are all taped up neatly so there is no possible way the other end of it fell and I cant find it. Something doesnt seem right. I'm no expert so I dropped the car off this morning to my Uncle who owns used car dealership and there mechanics are looking at it. I hate taking it there because I hate there mechanics but I feel like they'd atleast know the wiring better. I wrote down each thing thats wrong and explained to them where I found the broken wire so hopefully they can find it.

Another thing is I have an aftermarket radio installed and after I screwed with the wires yesterday, the radio seems to shut off randomly. Could that all be caused by that broken ground wire? It comes right back on though.

 

[BigRondo]

Check out this thread for checking broken wires in the boot, thanks to synyster for a great write up: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums//showthread.php?t=270081. Be sure to read carefully as he explains how to get at the wires and inspect them. Good luck.