Door Ajar Alarm

[Dog_Driver]

Has anyone out there had a problem with the door open chime continually going off, even when all the doors are closed tight? We put up with it for about six years, and even had it back in the shop half a dozen times.

It appeared to occur more frequently when the weather was damp (either during or shortly after a rain storm).

Any one else experience this kind of problem?

I traced the problem to the sliding side door.

[stickman47]

I have had the same problem with my '95. The sliding door is the culprit. Check for wear on the guide rail. Mind had bad slide bearings that wouldn't allow the door to shut tightly on the back end. This let water in behind the door and over the switch. Since the switch is only a connection to ground it is affected by the water and loses its contact to ground.

[Dog_Driver]

I posted my "inquiry" sort of as bait to see how prevalent the problem is. In the case of our Caravan, the dealer could not find anything wrong with it, including the bearings, tracks, gaskets, everything.

In the end, it turned out that the switch does not have enough "push" to the plunger to make contact. I solved the problem by putting a small (1" x 2" x 1/4") piece of UHMW plastic on the point where the sliding door contacts the push button. UHMW plastic is very slick (we use it on the runners of dogsleds) so it does not put any extra strain or friction on the push button.

To test it, I used a piece of double-stick tape to hold the plastic on the door. Then, when we found that it was working, I countersunk two holes in the plastic and screwed it in place with some short sheet metal scews. The bloody chime hasn't rang since regardless of the weather conditions. And, the good thing is that we no longer have to "SLAM" the door in an attempt to stop the annoying noise.

Thanks for your response!