Well I hope one of you has run into this issue before because I'm stumped on it. Yesterday while working on the truck and after opening the front doors I noticed that the dome light wouldn't go off even with me locking the truck with my fob. I'm thinking it's in the door switch but I have no idea where that is, does anyone know and does anyone have any idea what would cause this issue in the first place. I also removed the dome light cover so I could pull the bulbs so as to not drain the battery and forgot that the cover is glued on so any suggestions about what to use to glue it back on would be great. Thanks for any help!

 

Have you checked that the dash light dimmer switch isn't turning on the dome light?

 

The dimmer switch is not on although I'm now wondering if that switch is the problem.

 

Your door switch is inside the door. You'll need to take the interior panel off to access it. They're prone to failure.

 

You don't mention the YEAR of the Ranger?

But if it has keyless entry(fobs) then it should also have a Door Ajar light on the dash
Does that go OFF with doors closed?
If so then problem is NOT the door switsh

If its on as well as dome light then it is the door switch, it at the bottom of the doors latch, spray WD40 into the door latch and open and close the door a few times

Dome light can have a switch on it, it can be hit accidentally................

If you tell us the Year of the Ranger we can tell you what fuse powers the Dimmer switch, its different than door open switch power to dome light

 

https://www.ranger-forums.com/member...35-75875/First
Name Rory
Location Garden City
Year 2002
Model XLT
Engine 4.0
Drive 4x4
Make Ranger

 

Shoot, in 2002 dimmer and door both use fuse 26 in cab fuse box for dome light power, but fuse 26 powers a few more things(like speedo and GEM) so can't just leave it out

In theory the dome light should go off after 30min or so when GEM shuts off Battery Saver relay, but that's in theory if everything is working as it should

 

Thanks for all the reply's! The door ajar light does in fact stay on so it has to be the switch, I soaked it in WD-40 but it made no difference. Looks like I'll need a new switch.

 

Drivers side is most likely the one that's stuck closed
But if its a 4 door Ranger it can be one of the rear doors as well, all 4 doors have a door open switch in a 4-door model, and there is no way to tell which one might be stuck closed(grounded) without pulling door panels and unplugging each switch, one at a time

The switch is located at the bottom of the latch inside the door, it has 2 wire connector, this is a Ground switch, no voltage, when door/latch is OPEN the switch is CLOSED and sends a Ground to GEM, and then GEM activates "Door Ajar" light and Dome Light Relay turning on Dome light

The reason spraying WD40 into the latch can work to free it up, is that it WASHES out the switch at the bottom of latch
When it rains water can/does run down the widow and door edge and into the door, any dirt or debris comes with it and ends up in the switch, so it gets dirty and sticks

Picture of door latch with switch attached at the bottom: https://ricksfreeautorepairadvice.co...jar-switch.jpg

The switch is a "twist lock" so to remove it you have to loosen the latch enough so you can turn/twist the switch and it will release

You can unplug the switch and that will Cut the Ground to GEM so dome and door ajar lights will be off for now

 

Thanks for the heads up on each door having a switch Ron, I figured only the front did as you have to open the front doors to open the back doors. I've got the truck apart right now and have been storing tools in the back so I had both doors open, I'll try flushing the back tomorrow and see if it does any good. I'm getting ready to remove the doors and repair or replace them before repaint but I'd like to get this fixed incase I keep the doors I have, if I buy new doors I'm not really sure the sensors will be in them but likely they will.

 

Many people just unplug the rear door latch switch, its at the bottom of the door, because as you said the rear door need to be close or front doors won't close

Just FYI, earlier model F-150s(around 2000) have the same latch setup on rear doors as Rangers, but NO switch, so even Ford didn't think doing the switch on rear doors was needed, not sure how Rangers got so lucky