Door open switch doesn't work on driver side

[clarehills]

Hi, I have the opposite problem of what I found when I searched the forums. When I open the driver door I don't get the "ding ding ding your lights are still on you idiot" sound and the dome light does not come on. The passenger side door does make the dome light come on however.

I tried spraying WD40 into the lock mechanism and opened/closed the door a score of times but to no avail. Could this be caused by a fuse? Do I need to take the door latch apart? ANyone done this before?

Car is a 2003 GT Coupe
Thanks.

 

[screamin gt]

I've got a similar thing on my 99, the dome doesn't come on when the doors open, haven't tried the passenger side yet. I get the "ding ding ding" anytime the keys in the ignition whether the doors open or not though.

I chalked it up to a blown fuse but haven't bothered to check yet

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Most likely cause is door switch is broken or disconnected.

Also could be broken wire in the tube that goes between the car and the door in the door jamb.

 

[4.6andSlicks]

If it was always like this, you could have the same problem as everyone else but the last owner disconnected the switch so he didn't have to listen to the ding ding ding when just sitting with the engine off listening to the radio waiting for his girl friend to get out of work.

 

[clarehills]

All good suggestions! Thanks! So it seems like I need to take apart the door - anyone have a procedure for doing this?
Thanks.

 

[joey_corleone82]

Did anybody ever find a solution to this ? I have the same issue on my 2001 GT. When I open the driver door , no interior lights come on, but when I open the passenger side, it works fine.

Also, manually turning on the interior lights works fine, so I assume it HAS to be either a fuse that controls only the driver side door switch, or the door switch itself??

I would have no earthly idea on how to go about replacing a door switch. Does anybody know how to do that, or even where I could start ??

 

[Isaac-1]

It is a common problem, the one on my car went flaky a few years ago, sometimes the interior light would go out after a couple of minutes, sometimes it would not. I got tired of having dead batteries when I was ready to go to work in the mornings so I just pulled the fuse. Aparently the Mustang does not have traditional reliable pin switch, instead there is an sensor built into the door latch that is difficult to get to.

Ike

 

[clarehills]

So last weekend I tried to get to the "door ajar switch", which after doing some research, I found out was attached to door latch mechanism on the inside of the door. I got button console, door handle shield, mach 460 speaker, and finally the door panel off after a little effort.

I was then able to see the door ajar switch attached to the back of the locking mechanism (I had a diagram which helped). As it was difficult to reach and get a good look at I tried to get the door latch mechanism disconnected from the actuating rods. This turned out to be a real pain in the hole, the connectors are plastic and I couldnt see how to get them off with breaking them. So then I tried something different, I removed the 3 screws holding the latch to the inside of the door so that I could move it around a bit. Even so I was unable to figure out how the door ajar switch it attached to the door latch mechanism.

Right - so my questions are this:
1) Can anyone tell me if there is a knack to disconnecting the plastic clips for the door lock actuators so that I can remove the door latch from the door and thus make it easier to remove the door ajar switch?
2) Can anyone tell me how to get the door ajar switch off the door latch mechanism? I was trying to find (through a hole in the door panel) where the clip holding it in is.

I had to give up and put it back together - I suspect I will need to have a new door ajar swithch to put in there anyway as when I disconnected the wire going into the door ajar switch there was white goo in there (I know, I know, don't start) - like moisturizer - I don't think it was dialectric compound so I suspect it is leaking something that lubricated the plunger or something - can anyone shed some light on this?

Thanks for any help you can provide lads, I am trying to figure this out for myself and at least 2 other people who PM'ed me to see if I had a solution for them after seeing the original post...
C

 

[joey_corleone82]

I fixed my problem. Suprisingly, it was NOT the door switch. I just hard wired my passport 8500 x50 radar detector. To do it, I used one of those "add-a-circuit" widgets. Somehow or another when fiddling with it tonight I noticed when I applied pressure to the add-a-circuit where it pushes into the fuse board my light popped on. After pushing on it firmly for a while it fixed the issue. The part I don't understand at all is that the fuse slot where the add-a-circuit goes is fuse #20 which the manual says is just the convertible top. ????

 

[clarehills]

Hey Joey,
thanks for the help! I checked the fuse box under the hood during lunch and could not get the same effect as you by fiddling with it. I did notice that there appears to be a missing fuse though, it is in bottom left hand corner if you are looking at it from the driver side of the car - should this space be empty? Does anyone have a diagram of what the fuses are for?
Thanks,
C

 

[joey_corleone82]

Well I don't have an electronic copy, but if you have the manual for your car or can find one online, it says right in there what each fuse is for and has a map of which ones are empty. I have a 2001 GT convertible model.

 

[Mike97gt]

So last weekend I tried to get to the "door ajar switch", which after doing some research, I found out was attached to door latch mechanism on the inside of the door. I got button console, door handle shield, mach 460 speaker, and finally the door panel off after a little effort.

I was then able to see the door ajar switch attached to the back of the locking mechanism (I had a diagram which helped). As it was difficult to reach and get a good look at I tried to get the door latch mechanism disconnected from the actuating rods. This turned out to be a real pain in the hole, the connectors are plastic and I couldnt see how to get them off with breaking them. So then I tried something different, I removed the 3 screws holding the latch to the inside of the door so that I could move it around a bit. Even so I was unable to figure out how the door ajar switch it attached to the door latch mechanism.

Right - so my questions are this:
1) Can anyone tell me if there is a knack to disconnecting the plastic clips for the door lock actuators so that I can remove the door latch from the door and thus make it easier to remove the door ajar switch?
2) Can anyone tell me how to get the door ajar switch off the door latch mechanism? I was trying to find (through a hole in the door panel) where the clip holding it in is.

I had to give up and put it back together - I suspect I will need to have a new door ajar swithch to put in there anyway as when I disconnected the wire going into the door ajar switch there was white goo in there (I know, I know, don't start) - like moisturizer - I don't think it was dialectric compound so I suspect it is leaking something that lubricated the plunger or something - can anyone shed some light on this?

Thanks for any help you can provide lads, I am trying to figure this out for myself and at least 2 other people who PM'ed me to see if I had a solution for them after seeing the original post...
C

Next time I get some jackass customer bitching about the 1.5 hours I charge to replace the switch I will show him/her a copy of your post

BTW the switch is not held in by a clip it twists out of the latch. if you just pull the latch away from the door a little then you should be able to twist it out.

 

[clarehills]

Mike, focking sweet! Thanks for the info man, I will try it and let you know how it went. And from me 1.5 hours is more than reasonalble. it is a pain in the hole of a job. One question though - when you change the switch did you ever notice any white fluid in the connection between the cable and the switch? - Could this be a sign of failure?

Joey, I tried the fuse thing but no go - I will have to try replacing the swithch to see if that is the problem.

 

[clarehills]

Driver door ajar Switch

So I finally got around to getting the replacement 'door ajar switch' - see first image below. So I took the door apart again and was still not able to get the damn thing off!! I tried twisting and pulling but no go, here are my questions:

1) Looking at the pictures of the switch below with the little metal tab thing, does it look like a twist off or does it look like there is something else holding it in? The last picture is of the switch inside the door still attached to the doorlatch

2) Can anyone tell me if there is a knack to disconnecting the plastic clips for the door lock actuators so that I can remove the door latch from the door and thus make it easier to remove the door ajar switch?

3) When I was unable to remove the switch, I decided to make sure that was the actual problem. I plugged the connection into the new one expecting the light inside the car to come on and it did not, I pushed in the little button on the top of the switch and still nothing - does that mean the switch in the door is really ok and the problem is elsewhere? Should the connection have a live current that I could check with a multimeter or something?

I would really appreciate some help on this lads, the car is still in pieces but I have to put it back together tonight for work tomorrow.

 

[clarehills]

Problem Solved (Kind of)

Hey lads,
well I don't have to worry about the door switch issue anymore because my poor 03 GT was totaled by a drunk drive

Check out the pictures of woe:

Next I will be getting a Mach 1 but these pictures really make me sad

 

[MyStangGT]

Well there ya go. Next time any of us have ANY problem of ANY kind all we need to do is drive near bars about 2:15 AM till a drunk runs in front of us and hope he has insurance. ROFL

BTW, I cured this problem on my 99 by spraying WD40 in the key hole on the door. I guess enough got to the plunger to free it up and it's been fine ever since.

 

[rabidscoobie]

Man that sux,I had the same problem in '05 when a drunk nailed mine,just click on the My Garage link to see the pics.At least mine wasnt totaled.It was mostly body damage and damage to everything the front wheel mounts to,total repair bill ended up being $9500,I thought they were gonna total it.Since the repair have had no issues other than not real good paint work done...kinda has chips but next spring plan to have it repainted.Good to see you made it out alive,hope no one was seriously hurt,cause you know the drunk is never hurt.

 

[clarehills]

Thanks guys.
Ya, I was lucky I wasn't in the car at the time- luckily the other guy was not hurt either - he did get hauled off to jail though.
Onwards and upwards - I go pick up me new 04 Mach 1 this weekend! Woohoo!

 

[rabidscoobie]

Man that sounds exactly the way mine happened in '05.Drunk hit my ride,went to jail all while I was sleeping,mine wasnt as bad tho.But hey it works out great now you get a Mach...man I really want one of those.Ive actually thought of selling my GT to get one but mines paid for and I dont want anymore payments.

 

[Top Fuel Friday]

I know this thread is really old, but It helped me work an issue I had on my mustang. I wanted to add that to change the switch out of the door latch assembly you there is a plastic tab you have to push in to rotate the door sensor 90 degrees. If you hold the new switch in position and look where the key tooth is pointing you can easily see the tab you have to push in. Once you push it in, rotate the sensor and it will pull straight out.