Issues With 99 Explorer

[Axlehead]

Hello everyone I've searched the forums regarding two issues I'm having with my wife's 99 Explorer, but haven't found much on one of them. I figured I'd ask about both of them in case there were any write ups I may have missed.

1. This issue is related to the interior dome lights. Only the front and rear dome lights work when the doors are opened the middle lights however stay off. Strangely the middle lights still work if you switch them on with the switches on the dome assembly. What might be the cause of this?

2. This one seems a little more common from what I've seen, but I didn't find any well explained fixes. The driver's side door no longer locks or unlocks with the key fob, interior switches or exterior keypad. It does lock and unlock with the key though.

Any input on these issues would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[vroomzoomboom]

cant say anything for your first issue, but the second one i will say you have some broken wires in the door harness. most of the time they brake in the rubber boot between the door frame and door

 

[Axlehead]

Thank you for your response. I can hear the mechanism working I the door but it's not locking or unlocking. I'm going to take the door panel off soon to inspect it. I was just wondering if there was anything specific to check for. Thanks again.

 

[J_C]

Is this a factory middle dome light or is this possibly something added after the fact that wasn't wired into the others?

If the latter, that leads to the solution that you could just rewire it to one of the others instead if you don't want the capability of independently turning it on when the others aren't on, just want them all to come on together.

If you want both capabilities then you can wire it to the others with a (blocking) diode in series between them (diode cathode pointing towards the middle light) so when the rest are off, turning that one on doesn't backfeed into all the others.

 

[Craigerz]

If you can hear the door lock functioning ( I assume when you're using the buttons on the fob and door not using the key itself) then a rod might have just slipped out or the actuator needs some attention. The rods are held in place by little plastic clips that can break. If you have the door panel off make sure you lube everything up good while you're in there.

 

[gmbroy]

Ok on the dome light there is 3 bulbs in thst housing 2 for the map lights & 1 in the center for the entry light ,check that bulb .hope that fixes it for you