This 2003 Ford Explorer came in with several complaints; the door ajar light stays on with the doors closed and the engine running, the dome and puddle lights stay on for ten minutes after exiting the vehicle, when locking the doors the doors will lock then unlock on their own and the alarm will go off for no reason. This was pretty easy to isolate to the driver’s door ajar switch with the aid of a good scan tool. Once I found that the driver’s door ajar switch was reporting an open door no matter what position the door was in, all I had to do was confirm that it was a switch and not wiring or a computer problem.
In removing the door panel the first step is to remove the interior door handle trim panel. At the forward edge insert a small flat prying tool and release the retainers.
After removing the panel now you can lift and remove the switch trim panel assembly. There is one screw under the panel that has to be removed.
There are two screws that have to be removed from the lower edge of the door panel.
After removing all three screws lift the door panel up and towards you. Then you will need to support the panel and remove the wiring from the power mirror switch. This can be a little difficult so take your time. You will need to slide a small screwdriver blade under the retaining clip in order to release the harness connector.
Peel the left hand side of the vapor barrier back and locate the harness connector that I did not get a picture of.
Update October 21, 2011. Well, I finally got another one of these Explorers in and took some extra pictures to show the harness connector and the wires. Note the change in paint colors
Disconnect the harness connector and with an ohm meter check the resistance of the door ajar switch,two small wires yellow/black and black. The resistance should change from an open to a closed circuit with the movement of the latch assembly. If it does not change the switch is faulty.
You may also take a jumper wire and connect the small yellow/black to the small black wire and see if the lights and locks respond properly now. A closed circuit indicates a closed door and the lights and locks should now function properly. Roll a window down before doing this so that you will not lock the keys in the car.
The backside of the harness connector. I looked at the color codes to locate the two needed wires.
In order to remove the latch assembly and or the door ajar switch the lower window track will have to be removed. There are two screws at the rear of the door.
There are three screws that hold the latch in place. There is also linkage that will have to be removed. Pay careful attention to positioning and adjustments so that reassembly will not be a problem.
After gaining access remove the harness connector and twist the switch to release and then pull. To install the new switch push the switch into position and rotate until click is felt. Reassemble door and test system as you go.
Was going to replace the latch but sprayed more wd40 on it and now it is working again. The latch was not closing all the way before, and so the switch was not being made. I’m sure I’d have figured that out sooner in my younger days when I could see better! Thanks Sparky!
Use a screwdriver to manually close the door latch with the door in the open position. If the lights turn off, you have an adjustment issue with the door. You also could have a broken wire in the door jamb, so if the light did go out, move the door to the closed position and see if it comes back on.
Sparky, that’s the best how to that I have seen! Great description and pictures to back it up! I determined that it was my driver’s door causing the problem but the switch tested good. Replaced it anyway hoping that maybe it wasn’t actuating as quickly as it should. Of course that didn’t fix it. When I manually actuate the door latch the door ajar light goes out, but when I close the door it does not. Tried WD40… no help. Getting ready to buy a new door latch. Any suggestions? Thanks –
Thanks for the suggestion. The issue did end up being the drivers door ajar switch. replaced it and all ok. there was a great video on youtube on hoe to take the door panel and lock actuator out on my 2002 F350. once out I replaced the ajar switch. Thanks buddy.
Bob Wilson
The post from “Chris on Monday Oct 4th, 2010” about door grounding is excellent. He hit the nail on the head and helped me tremendously. I’d like to add a bit to his explanation and at the same time suggest a more robust ground alternative.
Puddle lamps on Explorers can quickly narrow down door ajar issues. If a puddle lamp doesn’t work and the bulb is good then the entire door may have lost ground. If it’s dim, it is probably loosing the ground. Use a jackknife to gently pry out the light assembly and check the black wire for resistance to battery ground (it’s good if it’s less than 2 ohms). The other wire is 12v power, so only check that to ground using the voltmeter DC scale. If the ground is bad, don’t go out and buy switches that you may not need.
Now that you believe that the ground is bad, you can confirm it as the source of the lock problem before you tear into that door. Prepare a jumper wire with a 5 amp fuse. Power the driver’s window down, pull the key out, get out and close the door. Reach in and confirm that the unlock switch doesn’t work. Use the jumper from battery ground to briefly touch to the black wire on the puddle lamps, while operating the unlock switch. If it now works, then the door has lost ground. Don’t do this without the fused jumper because you are grounding a lot of things in the door (backwards) via a smaller puddle lamp wire. You don’t need to create new issues.
I feel that you’ll need to ground the door with a 14 gauge (or heavier) copper wire. That ground services everything in the door plus it is much easier to snake a heavy wire through the door boot and down into the kick panel area. To do this I followed the thin lock switch black wires back to the ground splice in the door harness where 5 black wires come together. Don’t destroy the plastic clips that hold the wire harness securely in the door. Just pop them gently from the door, open the harness, follow the black wires while still keep the clips on the harness for retaping. Find the ground splice which is a tough waterproof hot melt shrink tube, and scrape away material to get down to some copper. Now verify that the resistance back to the battery ground from that bare copper is more than 2 ohms.
Assuming the ground is bad, and with both ends of the new wire still free, it is the best time to run it through the door boot and down into the kick panel to an existing ground bolt near the parking brake. Remove the kick panel “plastic mushroom”, use a T-20 torx to pull the hood release handle and pop up the end of the plastic door sill. The kick panel now has to slide sideways (towards you) to release the retaining tabs. I then ran my wire through the boot with the aid of a long screwdriver that kept the path open, and then dropped the wire down into the body where it magically appeared near the existing ground bolt. No fun at all. Go ahead and make the ground connection. For the record, I used two 14 gauge wires because the added stiffness helps snake it plus I never want to repair this again!
Run your new wire neatly inside the door and tape it down to the factory harness. At the factory ground splice scrape enough off the center of the shrink tube connection to get a good 360 degree tinning and soldiering of the new wire. When you soldier more hot melt glue will ooze out to add to the fun. Make sure the connection is good before you tape it all up by checking the resistance between each of the black ground wires at the interior unlock switch and battery ground for less than 2 ohms.
Put it all back together, test and celebrate.
Gary F Dec 7, 2011