98 explorer door ajar, int lights stay on

Got in my truck on Saturday started it up, noticed "door ajar" light on. Got
out and opened and shut all doors and rear window at least 5 times each. The
light remained on. Interior lights remained on except when parked, they go
out after about 30 minutes by design. Where the heck are the door switches.
I am assuming its either the drivers door or the tailgate or tail gate
window, since they get used the most. Hope I can get help before AT @ T
shuts down this news group.

98 Explorer XLT
SOHC
217,000 miles

You can get this newsgroup on news.eternal-september.org. It is free.
Tom

"Bill Rubino" > wrote in message
...
> Got in my truck on Saturday started it up, noticed "door ajar" light on.
> Got out and opened and shut all doors and rear window at least 5 times
> each. The light remained on. Interior lights remained on except when
> parked, they go out after about 30 minutes by design. Where the heck are
> the door switches. I am assuming its either the drivers door or the
> tailgate or tail gate window, since they get used the most. Hope I can get
> help before AT @ T shuts down this news group.
>
> 98 Explorer XLT
> SOHC
> 217,000 miles
>

Thanks, how Ironic, I just found it here too like 5 minutes ago....

Any idea on the switches??

I did read something about them sticking in the doors. Someplace in the
latch mechanism. I read to douse them with WD40 to loosen. I did that at
lunch, but not sure if I got the switches or not...but I will keep at them
like once a day for a while
"Tom from WI" > wrote in message
...
> You can get this newsgroup on news.eternal-september.org. It is free.
> Tom
>
> "Bill Rubino" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Got in my truck on Saturday started it up, noticed "door ajar" light on.
>> Got out and opened and shut all doors and rear window at least 5 times
>> each. The light remained on. Interior lights remained on except when
>> parked, they go out after about 30 minutes by design. Where the heck are
>> the door switches. I am assuming its either the drivers door or the
>> tailgate or tail gate window, since they get used the most. Hope I can
>> get help before AT @ T shuts down this news group.
>>
>> 98 Explorer XLT
>> SOHC
>> 217,000 miles
>>
>

Yeah, the switches are inside the door latches themselves. You need to take
the door apart to get at them and to bypass the connector. Replacing the
latches isn't fun - I've had to get a couple of mine done to fix a sticky
door issue due to a broken spring inside the latches.

Your first step is to try and detemine which door is at fault. Not sure if
there is any way to do this without taking each door apart but WD-40 or
repeated latch manipulations might help. Did you check your rear hatch -
that the one that usually isn't closed well enough when I have the door ajar
light come on.
--
Allan Williams




Bill Rubino wrote:
> Thanks, how Ironic, I just found it here too like 5 minutes ago....
>
> Any idea on the switches??
>
> I did read something about them sticking in the doors. Someplace in
> the latch mechanism. I read to douse them with WD40 to loosen. I did
> that at lunch, but not sure if I got the switches or not...but I will
> keep at them like once a day for a while
> "Tom from WI" > wrote in message
> ...
>> You can get this newsgroup on news.eternal-september.org. It is free.
>> Tom
>>
>> "Bill Rubino" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> Got in my truck on Saturday started it up, noticed "door ajar"
>>> light on. Got out and opened and shut all doors and rear window at
>>> least 5 times each. The light remained on. Interior lights remained
>>> on except when parked, they go out after about 30 minutes by
>>> design. Where the heck are the door switches. I am assuming its
>>> either the drivers door or the tailgate or tail gate window, since
>>> they get used the most. Hope I can get help before AT @ T shuts
>>> down this news group. 98 Explorer XLT
>>> SOHC
>>> 217,000 miles