Panic alarm randomly tripped

[IIGood]

Last night around 1 am I was woken up by a car horn going off. It only sounded for about 15-20 seconds, then stopped. Initially I thought it was a neighbor's car (I live in a townhouse complex). After the horn stopped, I could see some lights quickly flashing outside. So at this point I looked out the window and saw the fog lights and ambers flashing on my '03 XLT.

I grabbed the key, went outside, and pressed the unlock button on the remote. This stopped the light show. I looked around and didn't see any evidence of tampering nor any doors cracked. I locked it via the remote button, unlocked it again with the remote, then locked it from the door keypad. Looked around one more time and went back inside to bed. Fortunately, it didn't go off again.

Any idea what this might have been? Can the panic alarm be tripped via another means other than pushing the button? I searched online and saw threads indicating a Door Ajar condition could cause this, but I haven't had any issues with the Door Ajar indicator thus far.

I did drive it yesterday (typically sees only weekend duty and sits for the duration of the week)...went to Home Depot, put my purchases into the cargo area through the glass hatch and unloaded it the same way. But other than that, nothing else out of the ordinary.

Thanks...

 

[D Hook]

Had the same problem on my '02. Turned out to be broken wires in the drivers side door. Once fixed, never came up again. Made neighbors happy.

 

[extra-medium]

Welcome to the wonderful life of the door ajar switch problem.

 

[D Hook]

I found a break inside the boot.

 

[Number Twelve]

I looked up the Vehicle Security Module behind the interior panel in the passenger side rear and removed the two wires that honk the horn and flash the lights.

I didn't wait for a midnight false alarm. I killed that sucker before it could annoy my neighbors.

 

[IIGood]

I looked up the Vehicle Security Module behind the interior panel in the passenger side rear and removed the two wires that honk the horn and flash the lights.

I didn't wait for a midnight false alarm. I killed that sucker before it could annoy my neighbors.

Are there any other ramifications in doing this? Will anything else be affected, or does it just kill the "noise maker?"

I'd be perfectly content in just disabling the honking horn/flashing lights effect. I think those types of warning systems are useless, IMO.

 

[Number Twelve]

Are there any other ramifications in doing this?

At the Vehicle Security Module (VSM) Yellow/Lt-blu pin 6 honks the horn as the alarm function. I can't find anything that also depends on that wire, including the Tire Pressure Monitor "chirp" function. Some cars chirp when you lock or unlock with the keyfob, but mine never did, so I can't say whether the VSM is even connected to the keyfob chirper. ("Chirp" is produced by the horns on the car, activated by a short pulse.)

For sure, taking out DB/WH, pin 5 stops the auto-headlight function. You will have to turn the headlights on at night with the headlight switch. Why would I take that out? It flashes the headlights for an alarm function.

 

[IIGood]

I think I've narrowed the culprit down a bit. At one point this evening, I opened the driver's door and the interior lights came on as usual. I left the door wide open and a few seconds later the interior lights went out. Then a few seconds after that, they faded back on as if the door had been opened again.

Then I shut the door and opened it again and this time, the lights didn't start coming on immediately...I had to swing the door about 1/4 open and then they lit up.

Tried this test a few more times and the lights started coming on as soon as I popped the handle.

 

[D Hook]

Hmmm... I wonder if it might be a broken wire in the door boot or something like that?

 

[IIGood]

I'm gonna revisit this today. Since the initial occurrence, it hadn't happened again. I sprayed some white lithium grease on the latches and switches and hinges after the first time. I thought it stopped...until yesterday.

Around 10:30 am, I was out with my girlfriend waiting for her to get her nails done...the panic alarm went off 5 times in the next hour and a half. After the third time I went out and pulled the boot back in the driver's door jamb and could see that three wires had already been previously "repaired" by the previous owner. I had nothing on me at the time of course, so I just put the boot back in place and we eventually got back on the road. Then it started...the Door Ajar light started tripping as I was driving. A lot. Annoyingly. It got to the point where I just cracked the door a little for the rest of the drive just to shut the thing up. I had also shut the door completely at one point and tried locking the doors to see if that might stop it, but the driver's door would unlock after hitting the lock button (the other doors would stay locked).

I got some electrical tape while we were out and wrapped the bundle of wiring up in the tape, but that didn't do anything. And it went off once in the middle of the night again last night. I'm gonna have to get in there and see about permanently fixing those wires today.

I really despise electrical issues........

 

[Number Twelve]

I would just castrate that sucker by removing the wire: Yellow/Lt-blu @ pin 6 on the VSM.
You can still hear the relay clicking when you're trying to track down the real problem.

I think there is a turn-off function in the instrument display if you want to look there.

 

[IIGood]

I would just castrate that sucker by removing the wire: Yellow/Lt-blu @ pin 6 on the VSM.
You can still hear the relay clicking when you're trying to track down the real problem.

I think there is a turn-off function in the instrument display if you want to look there.

Mine doesn't have the Message Center so probably can't do it that way. Is the Vehicle Security Module the same module where the the doorpad master key code is located?

Here's a picture of the entanglement I'm working with in the driver's door jam.

Looks like the black wire (ground?) was repaired, and then the light blue wire. Those look to be fixed with a small length of red wire spliced into them. Also, the light blue/black wire, smaller gauge at the top of the bundle, was repaired previously. That one just looks to be taped.

I don't see any other breaks in any of the other wires. I did also pull the door panel off and looked around there but everything looks to be in order there. It just seems to be an issue somewhere in that bundle.

 

[Number Twelve]

Is the Vehicle Security Module the same module where the the doorpad master key code is located?

the Vehicle Security Module behind the interior panel in the passenger side rear

Here's a picture of the entanglement I'm working with in the driver's door jam.

As a pro in electronics, I hate to see butcher jobs like that.
It should be obvious that I would re-do all that with shrink tubing on solder joints, and extra wire folded back on itself and taped into the bundle so the solder joints don't become mechanical stress points.
Don't forget to tug on all the wires to see if any are broken inside the insulation where you can't see the damage.

Lots of door alarm problems are traced back to the "open door" detector switch.

 

[IIGood]

Okay, so the wiring in the door jam is solid...the door ajar light is still tripping. I went and ordered a new switch from Ford and it came in today. When I got home from work I started tearing it down. Initially I thought I'd be able to leave the door latch mechanism in place and just pop the switch out, but it would seem there isn't enough room in the door to twist the switch and pull it out. Not only that but I'm having difficulty unplugging the plug from the switch with it in the door. So I start unscrewing the latch from the door and get just about everything disconnected...except 2 rods. One appears to go up to the key lock on the door handle and the other is for the door release itself. I *think* I might be able to maneuver the one from the key lock off if I could lower the whole latch assembly, but to do so requires me to separate the release rod from the assembly. And that's where I'm stumped.

How do I unclip the door release rod from the latch assembly? I can't figure this clip out.

Here's a picture of the door's guts...

I see how the yellow clip (right in the middle of the picture) seems to "snap shut" around the rod. The cylindrical part of the clip seems to act as a hinge, while there is a tab on the back side...it can't be seen in the picture but it's facing the inner skin of the door.

Any thoughts how I open that clip up and get that rod out?

EDIT: I think I may have found an answer thanks to 1A Auto's awesome vids. I'll need a hook-shaped pick to pry it open.

 

[IIGood]

Knocking on wood here...

I got the door ajar switch changed out today finally. It was quite the experience for sure...I feel like I've got pretty in-depth knowledge of the Explorer's door innards now. LOL.

I took it for a ride down the road quick and no light tripped...I've got it locked up out front now; I hope I don't hear that alarm go off randomly again. If it makes it through the night, I think it's good.

 

[Number Twelve]

You always unplug the horns long enough to get a good night's sleep.

 

[IIGood]

So true.

Fortunately, the alarm did not go off in the middle of the night. I drove it in to work today (took the "long way" in) and the Door Ajar light did not come on at all. Still crossing fingers, but if it's made it this far, I think it's fixed. Previously, something would've happened...the alarm would've tripped or I at least would've gotten the DA light, even briefly.

When I last drove the truck on Tuesday, the battery died throughout the day while it was parked at the office. I got a jump from a coworker...didn't take much to fire it up. This morning it was hard to start again...clicked rapidly a few times, then caught, and fired. I hope the battery isn't on it's way out...I'm hoping it just didn't get enough of a recharge from last night's test drive...I only drove it for about 5 minutes (I understand about 15 minutes is the threshold for a good recharge after ignition).

 

[Number Twelve]

(I understand about 15 minutes is the threshold for a good recharge after ignition).

Take it from an electronics nerd, 15 minutes is absurd.
Lead acid batteries do well with a c/10 charge, which means 10 hours to charge them from flat dead, but you can push them harder at the cost of reduced life expectancy. Trying to stuff 100 amp-hours into a battery in 15 minutes equates to a 400 amp charging current. That's over 5000 watts for 15 minutes. The battery would melt if you did that. Besides, there's no such thing as a car with a 400 amp alternator.

It's much more likely that a car alternator can stuff 30 amps into the battery. That would take 3 or 4 hours to refill a battery from a horribly dead condition. What I do is go home and put a small charger on the battery for, like, overnight. I have a 12 amp charger than can actually push 7 or 8 amps into a battery...diminishing to 6 amps for quite a while, then 3 amps when it's about finished. About 12 hours of that will replenish about 3/4 of the labeled capacity. From there, your alternator will safely finish the job in about an hour.

 

[IIGood]

As a little update...

It seems the door switch replacement was successful. Haven't had the door ajar light come on, nor has the alarm randomly gone off since replacing the switch on Wednesday.

Also I ended up replacing the battery yesterday. It was just getting progressively more difficult to start the truck since the jump-start early last week. Saturday/Sunday led to it's ultimate demise, I believe, because on Saturday I started it a few times but never drove it far...maybe 5 minutes was the longest trip. When I came out Sunday morning to go get some groceries, it wouldn't catch. I ended up going to get a DieHard Gold to replace the Autocraft battery that was in there. All is better now. Next up....tires.