Hey guys,

I recently purchased a 2001 4.0 4X4 XLT Ranger and the first thing I noticed is in the cold weather (as in below freezing) every time I hit a bump or turned sharply the door ajar light would come on, the interior lights would come on, etc.

This problem only happens when it is below freezing though..has anyone else had the same problem?

I'm a high-schooler on a tight budget so I can't really take it to a shop to get it fixed, and I'm fairly knowledgeable about cars so I might just work on it myself..

If I disable the door ajar sensor, etc, would that fix the problem? I was concerned that if I disabled the sensor then the truck would always assume the doors were open and the interior lights would never go off without those be disabled too...

Opinions welcomed!

 

Pretty common problem on Fords. Just spray some WD-40 (or similar oil) into the door latches and it should fix the problem.

 

WD40 or just start slamming/close hard the rear supercab doors if you have them.

 

Yeah i have this problem sometimes too.. just gotta slam them doors.. or disconnect the sensor. ;]

 

yeah just slams that ****er shut, we dont have a traditional door pin. ours are built into the latches. stupid design,

 

It's the driver's door one.
i bought the door sensor once and a few months later the problem came back, now everytime it happens i just take the damn POS hard-to-get-to sensor off and clean it with WD40 put it back in and that's it.
For some reason grease keep getting around the sensor and that's why it stops working HTH

 

I had the same problem, slamming the doors worked for a while, then it stopped working. The door sensor is inside the door latch, give it a little squirt of WD-40, it fixed it for me.

 

mine are on 24/7 and i live in Florida i took my dome light out and keep a flash light now... its a pain in the *** nothing worked no wd40 or pb blaster anything. nothing worked.... if there's a sensor that i can disconnect some please tell me i want my dome light back :(

 

last time that happened to me it was a rag caught under the rear door.

but the wd-40 works well.

 

Dang when I finally can answer a question on this site everyone beats me too it!!!!! Thats a good thing though . Like all the above comments get some wd-40 and spray in there. If that does not work take it to the dealer and just talk to the service guy. I dont know if they are friendly like the dealer I go to but I had that problem and he took a can of wd-40 and showed me how to fix it.

 

yeah mine does this often too just slam that damn rear door closed it fixes it for me every time but it is a PITA to do it while driving ha

 

Thanks for the input guys.

Yeah about a week ago I did spray some WD-40 on the sensor and it did keep it working well for a few days..but once again it just continually goes off. I slam the doors, etc, and it always just eventually comes back.

I'll spray it again and if that doesn't work i'll just disable it.

Thanks though!

 

you can always take a old toothbrush and srub the latch. because it sounds like the sensors get dirty and stop working so try to clean some of the built up grease off.

 

I get a screw driver and open/close the latch so the WD 40 can make it to the switch better. Work it open and closed a few times while WD'ing and all should be good. I've done that once and never had the Door light on since.

 

Thanks guys. And rolsmojave3 I took your advice and did that, and it's been fine for over a day now. So hopefully that'll solve the problem for now!

 

My passenger rear door is one that if I don't slam it, it doesn't close all the way. 18 months and (knock on wood) it still works fine to slam the door.

My biggest issue now is my stupid drivers door window, doewsn't roll up all the way and my window seal is crap.

 

at work when i fix them, i use wd40 or pb blaster. i found pb to work better, i hose em down and open and close the door about 20 times