I have a problem with the door ajar coming on intermittently.

After reading the sticky, I got the CRC electrical cleaner and white lithium grease. I sprayed both locks and figured my problem was over.

Today on the way to work, it happened again. One thing I have noticed is it seems if I pull down hard on the steering wheel, I can trigger the door ajar light and chime.

Does this mean anything to someone here? What's behind the dash panel or in the wheel that could cause this?

 

No ideas?

I noticed today when it came on again (it had been a while, surprisingly...) that the tilt wheel has an affect on it. pulling the lever and movign the wheel up and down a few times seems to shut it up for a bit.

Sometimes it would come on/off quickly, once every few seconds, sometimes the dome light would come on... sometimes not..

 

I think the harness rubs or pulls on the connections from constantly tilting the wheel. Most of the time it effects the OD light or the MFS but i guess its possible to effect any of the circuits in the harness.
Try removing the column covers and see whats damaged.

 

I oiled my latches with WD40 and manually rolled them closed then re sprayed again. then opened it back up, and tested it out, havent had any problems since then. expect to oil your latches about once a year

 

Did you read the "DOOR AJAR LIGHT" sticky thread at the top of this forum???

 

OMGHI2U!!! Of course I did.

If I missed a post in the sticky that mentions the column affecting the DOOR AJAR LIGHT (specifically the tilting of the column), please post a link. I've sprayed the locks with electrical cleaner and white lithium grease a few times, however I can still make the light come on by pulling on the steering wheel, so I believe the wrong tree is being barked up.

Lee,

Thanks for your post. I'll pull the covers off and look. I didn't want to start pulling apart all the plastic blindly if someone knew of a specific thing to look for.

 

I poked around the schematics looking for any wire harness routing for the door ajar switches that might be in common with the steering column. I came up dry...

You might have to pull the under column shroud and start tugging on the harnesses to see if you can find one that induces the light and is affected by the moving of the tilt mechanism.

Steve

 

Hi Steve,

Thanks for looking at the schematics. I dug under the dash a bit tonite and realized that they alarm brain is there. I dug up the install info for the model and determined the harness runs to a gray wire for the door trigger. I'll fiddle with this over the weekend.

I'm still curious as to why the dome light isn't turning on with the switch.

 

What year is your truck? Add it to your profile &/or signature.

 

My signature is off by default, never noticed that until now...sorry.

2001 Lightning.