We all have that annoying door-ajar chime that goes off when you put the keys in, leave you lights on, open your door when it's running, etc. etc. Here's how to make it quiet or make it go away completly!!!

This process may seem too complex, but it's really very easy, and only takes about 10 minutes.

• Take off your radio-bezel (remove the two 7mm bolts located above the A/C controls. After removing the screws, the bezel is held in place with some clips which will release with some pulling).
• After you get access to behind the radio bezel, there is a black box with two wire-harnesses going into it on the left side. (it's mounted to a "wall" between the radio-bezel hole, and the dash-gauges) It's about the size of your hand. It's held in place with a torx-bolt at the bottom, and clipped in at the top. Remove the bolt and slide the black box up, then out. (I had to yank on it to get it...just be forceful)
• Disconnect the two wiring harnesses by using a small flat-head screwdriver to pry them up. (make sure the ignition isn't on, and the key isn't in the truck while doing this step)
• You should now have just the black-box in your hands.
• The box is held together by clips on all sides. Get a small flat-head screwdriver and un-clip the cover from it's base. Be careful when doing this, since the inside is full of circuit boards. Once you get into it, look for a small, metal, circular object with a small hole in the top of it, located on a corner of the circuit board.
• (NOTE:~I re-connected the harnesses and turned the key on at this point,to make sure it was the source of the dinging noise. You may want to do the same, just to be sure)
• I stuffed the small "speaker" with paper-towel and sealed the paper-towel in with duct-tape.
• Now, the dinging isn't completely gone...it's much quieter, and it doesn't annoy the crap outta me anymore. If you want to make it completely silent, just drop some thick epoxy or thick, strong glue-like substance in the hole and it will stop making any noise.

 

Just a quick FYI - Bob's mod also works great on a '98; it even provides these additional benefits:

1. With the driver's door open, key in the ACC position, and engine off, hitting the button not only silences the door chime, but also shuts off the interior lights.

2. With the driver's door open, key in the ON position, and engine running, hitting the button shuts off the interior lights and also turns off the "door ajar" light on the instrument panel (there is no chime when the engine is running and the door is open).

The only exception to the above is that, if the interior lights are on for any reason other than the driver's door being open, then hitting the button will not kill the interior lights - they will stay on, as desired.

^(As far as I know, the same is true for the '99).