98 windstar lights and door ajar lights stay on help with this piece

[joe9872]

my wife's windstar interior lights stay on and door ajar sensor stay on even after i rubbed sand paper on sliding door sensor {the 4 prongs} where is the other sensors on the other doors {drivers passenger back door} also her abs activates all the time her light is not on help pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[LeSabre97mint]

Originally Posted by joe9872

my wife's windstar interior lights stay on and door ajar sensor stay on even after i rubbed sand paper on sliding door sensor {the 4 prongs} where is the other sensors on the other doors {drivers passenger back door} also her abs activates all the time her light is not on help pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Joe

Please do a search on the Windstar forum for dome light or door latch. There are a lot of good posts on this subject.

Most likely, the reason why the lights are staying on are the switches in the door latches are sticking. The grease gets old and the switch doesn't return the to off position.

Regards

Dan

[DRW1000]

You will also discover that the 4 prongs have nothing to do with the door ajar sensor system. They are for the speakers (2) and the door locks (2).

[MoveInRhythm]

That same problem drove me and my family crazy until I had the ignition switched replaced.

[gunner3oo6]

Originally Posted by DRW1000

You will also discover that the 4 prongs have nothing to do with the door ajar sensor system. They are for the speakers (2) and the door locks (2).

This info is wrong. I have a 98 as well and just solved the same issue. Please see this thread I just posted if you still are having the problem.

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...63#post3977963

[DRW1000]

Originally Posted by gunner3oo6

This info is wrong. I have a 98 as well and just solved the same issue. Please see this thread I just posted if you still are having the problem.

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...63#post3977963

Well I will admit that I own a 99 and the information I share assumes that all the years are the same. I could be incorrect but I do know that my 99 it does not go through the 4 prongs.

I still maintain that the 4 prongs do not seem like a good place to run the door ajar sensors. These make contact while the door is up to 1/2" open. This would mean that it would "think" the door is closed when not only is it ajar but actually unlatched.

I apologize if I am incorrect for 98s. I still do not believe it though.

[frostie]

I'm with DRW on this one. If gunner3oo6 jumpers the 2 prongs, then they would always either show the door open or closed.

[gunner3oo6]

Originally Posted by frostie

I'm with DRW on this one. If gunner3oo6 jumpers the 2 prongs, then they would always either show the door open or closed.

This is not the case! The bottom 2 prongs simply are a loop that circuit is interupted when seperated from the contacts on the door frame. If the loop is seperated inside the door you re-create the circuit by jumping the prongs. Door shows closed when closed and open when open. If you were to make the mistake of jumping the contacts on the door frame THEN the door would always show closed.

The 98 doesn't have any plunger besides these 4 prongs. I tested and corrected my problem with exactly as I said in the thread I posted. My door light is off when the door is closed and on when it opens, auto lock engages as soon as the van is put in gear and starts to move. ALL works just as it is supose to.

If the 99's have another plunger in the rear door frame then they are different from the 98's and exact location should be posted here to help others.

[DRW1000]

Originally Posted by gunner3oo6

This is not the case! The bottom 2 prongs simply are a loop that circuit is interupted when seperated from the contacts on the door frame. If the loop is seperated inside the door you re-create the circuit by jumping the prongs. Door shows closed when closed and open when open. If you were to make the mistake of jumping the contacts on the door frame THEN the door would always show closed.

The 98 doesn't have any plunger besides these 4 prongs. I tested and corrected my problem with exactly as I said in the thread I posted. My door light is off when the door is closed and on when it opens, auto lock engages as soon as the van is put in gear and starts to move. ALL works just as it is supose to.

If the 99's have another plunger in the rear door frame then they are different from the 98's and exact location should be posted here to help others.

If I understand you correctly then what you are saying is that inside the door on the bottom two plunger type contacts there is simply a connection between the two?. You are then implying that this simple "short"between the two conacts inside the door is somehow now an electrical open. Your external wire is simply doing the job of what was originally shorted inside (from the factory).

Does the 98 have speakers in the door? and power door locks? If so how do they get their signal/power?

As I said I did my evaluation on a 99.

[gunner3oo6]

On the 98 there is power door locks for the sliding door but the only doors that have speakers is the driver and passenger front door. Other speakers are in the body of the rear side pannels. There is a perforated pannel in the sliding door but it is style only.

The door ajar wiring runs from one pin up to a latch switch. Wire out from latch switch runs back to second pin completing the circuit when latch switch is functioning and closed. End result is a simple loop between the 2 bottom pins. Info is correct that these are not plunger switches. They are just a simple way to complete a circuit. However they do complete the door ajar sensor on the 98 model.

The circuit includes the latch switch so that immediate detection is made ( answers past point as how the pins would work when door can be opened partially before contact is broken in the circuit ). But the pins are required to bring into the vehicle both ends of the circuit seperatly and complete the loop.

Jumping the pins simply completes the loop on the door side that the latch switch would of if it were working. YES the door could then be open slightly before the door ajar signals when you jump the pins. But there is the child safety latch keeping the door from being opened by a child from the inside.

I am aware you are refering to the 99 model you have and I have no idea how they are. This is why I sugested posting exact location of the plunger switch people have been refering to. I can only accept that they do have a plunger switch and do not run through the 4 pins since mine is a 98 and I do not have a 99 to refer to. That is why I said the info is wrong for a 98 model.

Anyone who has a 98 or even a model of any year that they do not have any other plunger other than the 4 pins contacting with the sliding door can do a very simple check on this and will verify this. Mine's still workin like a charm!

[DRW1000]

Well I stand corrected. I checked the 98s and the signal to the door ajar sensors DO indeed go through the sliding door contacts.

The 99s it does not and in fact uses the plunger in the rear door jamb. My sincere apologies to anyone that I have inadvertantly steered the wrong way. This does explain why attention to these contacts does sometimes correct the problem. I know that 99 was a big change year but I didn't expect that.

[gunner3oo6]

So now should we asume the logical ( up to 98 is in the pins - 99 and up is a seperate plunger switch ) or is that too much to expect from Ford?

BTW ... Thanks for taking the time to verify and post. I was begining to think my van was a freek of nature lol.

[DRW1000]

Originally Posted by gunner3oo6

So now should we asume the logical ( up to 98 is in the pins - 99 and up is a seperate plunger switch ) or is that too much to expect from Ford?

BTW ... Thanks for taking the time to verify and post. I was begining to think my van was a freek of nature lol.

I was going to try and make that assumption/statement but I decided against it. LOL

The drawing I looked at seems to indicate that the 98s have a plunger attached to the back of the door and the signals to the rest of the vehicle travel through the door to the sliding door contacts (as I discovered they are called). This now explains the door ajar functionality in that regardless of the sliding contacts making contact the door will still indicate ajar until such time as the plunger switch is depressed. When you have a moment perhaps you can verify if you do have a plunger button on the door itself. I suppose in 99 they decided to add the speakers to the door and use these two conacts for the speakers and the plunger switch was moved to the vehicle door jamb.

In your case it may be that the plunger is defective. Your shorting bypasses the plunger but really does not proberly indicate a door ajar condition. Of course if your goal was to get the light off and have the interior lights operate as they should then this will not matter. If you really want to know if the door is ajar you may need to think about it some more.

It looks like I am the "freak of nature" and your van is normal. I am glad that I was enlightened.

As I mentioned beofre I sincerely apologise to anyone who I had "barking up the wrong tree"

[gunner3oo6]

I can safely say that my 98 doesn't have a plunger. I knew the defect was in my sliding door when my son got in and the dreaded door ajar came on and wouldn't go out. Spent a good week ( every spare moment I got ) searching for that plunger and just incase, spraying down the doors latches with WD-40 every time. Figured I had to be missing something such as it may of broken off. I was like our cat when he can smell a mouse but just can't get to it LOL. I visually searched and even ran my fingers along inside the whole track system incase it was tucked in somewhere.

Even went out and bought a haynes repair manual just for this ( don't buy one / not worth it ) but it doesn't show the door ajar wiring circuit for what I can see. So I broke down and began removing the pannel ( thats how I know you can't pull them without the right tools and not break ).

I would say that when they decided to put the door speaker in the sliding door on 99's they also chose to use the pins ( formerly for the door ajar circuit ) to power the change. Subed in a plunger by routing the door ajar circuit through the body rathure than the door pins.

NOW to add to confusion is it possible that the sliding door speaker was an OPTION ( maybe even on 98's as well ). I'm thinking that it might be possible when the option was taken they would route the power that way and opt in a plunger for the door ajar. This would mean that to determin if the vans door ajar circuit ran through the pins, you would have to first find out if the door had the speaker ( not just go 99 and up ). Reason I am pondering this is that during my search I did find one of those rubber plugs at the top/near the back of the body door frame. It appears the right size hole for a plunger switch but was never used. JUST A THOUGHT!