Interior lights stay on

[robert feeney]

The vehicle thinks that there is an open door and keeps the interior lights on all night.I have cleaned the contact plate and the contacts on the sliding door but to no avail.The contact plate on the side door is burned at the top and bottom contacts,is that for power locks or lights The door ajar light is lit with the ignition on.the warning beeper only sounds occasionally.As strange it it may sound this problem goes away when driving above 10 MPH.Any ideas.

[Jaerschky]

I had the same problem in my 98. First, you need to make sure the problem is actually with the sliding door switch. Take a piece of electrical wire about 6" long and bare both ends. Open your sliding door, and touch one end of the wire to the top of the 4 pads on the door post, and one to the bottom pad. Wait a few seconds, and see if the interior light now goes out. If it does, you definitely have a problem with the sensor in the sliding door. You have a few options. You can try soaking the back and front latch in the sliding door with WD-40. (I'm not sure if both front and back latches have sensors.) Open and close the door a few times, and see if that helps. It helped for mine, but the fix only lasted a few days. You could buy a new sensor and install it, but you will need to remove the interior paneling, which can be a pain. I put the fix on mine by installing a jumper wire at the connector block that attaches to the back of the 4-pin unit in the door. I drilled out the 2 large rivets holding the assembly in place, and then removed it. Then, I removed the connector. The 2 middle wires are for the power locks, so don't touch them. I cut the top and bottom wire, leaving about 3/4" sticking out of the connector block. I removed about 1/4" of the insulation of the wires, then soldered a wire about 2" long to the wires in the connector. Plug the connector back in, and re-attached the 4-pin assembly with new rivets, or some large diameter sheet metal screws. This fixed mine for good. The beauty is that the interior lights will still come on when you open the door, as the connection between the 4 pins and the pad on the door post is broken. When the door is closed, the circuit is complete because of the jumper wire. The downside is that if the door really is slightly ajar, you will no longer get a warning. Total repair time for me was about 30 minutes, and it was well worth it for me!

[ModMech]

The Windstar vans have switches in EVERY door on the latch that signals open or closed. The best thing to do to keep the interior lights working properly is to lubricate the latches every three or four months with "LPS" or another good latch lubricant so they will close fully.

I agree completely with the sliding door ideas, very good.

The "LCM" (Lighting Control Module) controls every light in your van less the headlamps. It shuts off the interior lights above 10 MPH, as it is illegal to drive with them on. It is supposed to do this, nothing is wrong, and you are not nutz.