Thanks for accepting me as a new member in your awesome forum! :)

We picked up a 2001 ranger XLT a week ago. Battery was dead, and guess why... the driver door door latch isn't working so the door ajar and dome light is always on. We got the battery issues cleaned up and sorted out, and disconnected so it won't just die again... and have now disassembled the door and removed the latch today. Where would I ask for help regarding replacement parts for the power door lock and / or door ajar sensor / switch ? Google is not very helpful today.

We do have a Pull- a part not very far away, is that our best bet for parts like these ?

 

The door ajar switch may have some gunk and crap on and in it.

They say you should first soak the thing in your favorite penetrant to rule out taking the thing out and repairing it.

If it doesn't free up, then here's a video of what it looks like to test it and fix it:


It's the same on my 2003, so it will likely be the same on yours.

Pro-tip: duct tape the edges of the sheet metal if you're removing the thing. Your knuckles and hands will love you for it

 

Thanks for awesome advice! We did end up taking it out... And it was all gunked up and is clean and back to working order now. We tested it with a multimeter and it works so we will keep the old part. The door latch was also all stuck..."some"/a lot of silocone spray later both are moving. We will for sure put some tape there when putting it back together... getting that latch out was a fun challenge ;-) the access of these parts inside the door... Wasn't the easiest way to start our diy car mechanic careers :-) but wow did we learn a lot.

these two issues combined killed the battery...we have gotten a new one but keep it disconnected until we know for sure we don't have anything else drawing power.

also both the windows are sagging...generally all the electrical door components are either partly working or not working at all, so maybe it has been standing outdoors with open sagging windows for a while?

We got the truck at a public car auction so we have no idea about the history of this truck. It's cool...it's blue.. it's almost in working order a week after we got it...well..there of course is some issues with a 18 year old car :-) but that's what we signed up for!

 

Good job!

Of course, I had the same problem about 3 years ago, but because my truck is so smrt...I mean smart, after about 5 minutes, it would shut off automatically. Maybe the GEM has a timer? I dunno.

I got weary of it happening, so I soaked the thing in WD-40, close and opened the door about 50 times...thanx YouTube!

I wasn't a part of this forum back then. Wish I was waaaaay earlier.

I had the cleanest latch in the world...until the road dust said hi again.

Regarding your rig...Take it one step at a time. Try not to multitask on it. Fix one thing, and then, move on to another. You'll get it up and on the road in no time

 

Thanks!

Yes , baby steps and not starting fixing more than one thing at the time is for sure our plan..
Next up after we get the door back together...

we have had continually rain since we got it out.. so we have started a major garage cleanup to be able to get at least half the truck under a roof to work on it..

is to make sure the leaf spring brackets are not as bad as they look before further inspection...they are possibly soon going to bust...or .it's just the paint on them that are peeling...not taking the truck anywhere before that's checked and sorted out

Than we have the away bar link thingys that we know are completely busted...

And we have all the fluids...

We are making a list :-) and also will start using the truck for it's purpose as soon as it's safe to drive :-) we have a majorly overgrown "forest" area in our back yard...and our main purpose for this truck is to be able to drive stuff we get down to the dump... :-)