Door open / interior light on? Here's a fix!

Many people here are having the same problem I did with the warning light on the dash staying on as though a door is open. Of course the interior lights are also staying on.

I have seen on several threads here people state that the 4 plungers on the sliding door have nothing to do with the door open sensor. THIS IS WRONG! ( at least when it comes to the 98 like mine ). I racked my brain for days trying to figure out why I couldn't find the plunger everyone was refering to and avoided the 4 pins because of the misinformation. If you can not find a plunger then yours does go through the 4 pins and here is how to tell if the problem is there. It's real simple and you'll know in a matter of minutes!

HOW TO TEST !!!
Do not bother even trying to pull off the moulded side pannel ..... it will break without the right tools. Close all doors except the sliding door. Clean the bottom two contacts on door frame. Start the van and the open door light is on. Take two screwdrivers with plastic handles and touch one to each contact you just cleaned. Holding the plastic handles cross the screwdrivers to each other making the connection. If your problem is here the dash light will go out ( as long as your contact area is clean enough ). Uncross the screwdrivers and the door chime sounds along with the dash light comming back on.

A SIMPLE FIX !!!
Solder a small jumper wire across the ends of the bottom two pins on the sliding door( creating a contact between them. This creates a bypass on the switch mounted inside behind the pannel that would normally make the contact when the door is closed. The solution will still allow the door sensor to work ( dash light and chime come on when door is opened / go out when door is closed ). Saves any need to pull the pannel off and you will not risk breaking any parts !!! If you have any doubt and want to test this before making a solder simply wrap a piece of wire around the ends of the two botom pins as a temporary test. Solder is sugested because it is hard to keep the jump wire from falling off without doing so.

Can you post a pic of the solder wires? I would like to see how you did it. I am having the exact same issue you had and have the same model.

Can you post a pic of the solder wires? I would like to see how you did it. I am having the exact same issue you had and have the same model.

I'll post a pic by the end of today. Right now I just have the jump wrapped around the pin ends untill I find where I last placed my solder gun ;). But it's the same thing.

A couple questions in the mean time .... First, does your 98 have a stereo speaker in the sliding door or just the fake pannel? Did you do the test as I explained because this will tell if the problem is there first without even changing anything.

Here is the jumper pic as promissed. I also included a pic of how to test. Not sure if posting the pic directly here is allowed or if you have to link to another location. So if I have done wrong someone please let me know so I am aware in the future :)

Hope this helps you! I know from exp that the dreaded door ajar plague can make people go insane ;)

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93/stretchabuck/Sample%20pics/doorswitchjump1.jpg

Should note in pic that when doing the test you have to wait a bit for the light to go out ( because of the delay ). Contacts have to be CLEAN.

Thanks for posting the pics. I do not have speakers on the sliding door. They are in the back (near the back seats). I will do the screwdriver test to see where the problem is. I'm fairly certain that it is the sliding door. I will follow-up. Thanks for your help.

And yes you are right, it does drive me insane! LOL.

Ok, we have tried the screw driver test many times but to no success. We've waited a while for lights to go out, but they do not. I actually think our problem is with the back door. We used to be able to shut it just right or hard enough for the lights to go out. I'm thinking thats where our problem is instead of the sliding door. Anyone know about where or how we need to be looking to go about fixing this? Are there sensors on the back door like the sliding or anything thats any easy fix? Thanks

Ok, we have tried the screw driver test many times but to no success. We've waited a while for lights to go out, but they do not. I actually think our problem is with the back door. We used to be able to shut it just right or hard enough for the lights to go out. I'm thinking thats where our problem is instead of the sliding door. Anyone know about where or how we need to be looking to go about fixing this? Are there sensors on the back door like the sliding or anything thats any easy fix? Thanks

Do a search under door ajar .ect. There are a couple of posts where the procedure to remove the rear panel and gain access to the hatch switches is described.

:wink: :wink: :wink: :wink: :wink:

Thank you so much for posting this helpful information!!!!!! It is greatly appreciated. We tried your fix and it worked thank goodness. No more interior light issues. Thanks again.

Sorry, I was following this close to help you but on the weekend my computer monitor decided to fry! filled the room with an awful burnt smell :(

Any way, the rear door switches are in the latches on the sides of the door. Best thing to do first is soak them both a few times with WD40 spray. Most of the time this corrects these ones.

If that doesn't work then you are looking at pulling off the back plastic pannel on the hatch door. Gently pry off with a long bar or screwdriver. It's not an easy task to do without breaking some of the plastic pins. Try to locate the pins behind the pannel and pry at those locations only. That will help some to keep from breaking the pannel it's self.

Once the pannel is off you can check one side at a time. Using a multi meter you can bear off a very small portion of the wire coating on both wires running to the switch. Set the meter to OHMs. touch one prong of the meter to each of the bared spots with the hatch open. Meter should show an open circuit ( no current ). Climb in and close the hatch. Test again and if the switch works it will no be a closed circuit ( current ). This will determin which switch is defective without removing the latch assembly. Be sure to tape bared wire spots up when done.

I can't provide any pics on this ( my pannels back on ). Once the pannel is off you will see a pair of wires tacked to each side of the hatch door that run up to the latch assembly. They are the ones you bare off and test.

Hope this helps and even though it probably doesn't seem like it, I did try to be as clear on the instructions as I could :)