Flakey Door Open Sensor? (1 Viewer)

[Brentbba]

Posting this for a friend here at work who has a '97. Haven't gotten him on this board yet. He says that he'll be driving along and intermitently the dome light and door open light on the idiot dash panel will flicker on and off and the door locks will unlock. He's pretty sure the doors are unlocking since the truck 'thinks' there is a door ajar.

Any suggestions as to what he can look into?

 

[NorCalDoug]

Yep. Requires a special tool...a phillips head screwdriver

Have your friend check the screws that hold the striker to the "B" and/or "C" pillars. One of them is likely loose. IIRC, there are 2 screws per striker on a '97 (on a 94 there are 4 screws). If one of these screws is even just a little loose, the "door ajar" light will come on and the doors will unlock.

Ask you friend if this happens more on left or right turns...that might help to determine which door is causing the problem. If it occurs on left turns, it'll likely be the passenger side door, if on right turns, the drivers side door.

That's what I'd check first. If this is the the cause, the next place to investigate would be the door switch (the rubber covered gizmo that indicates whether the door is opened or closed).

 

[landtank]

don't forget about the rear hatch.

 

[sjcruiser]

Mine does exactly that on hard left turns, with the front dome light flashed - so the problem was isolated to the front right door. Tighten one of the striker's crew (almost 1/4 turn) fixed it.

 

[Brentbba]

Thanks guys - passed along your suggestions.

 

[Shipwreck]

I just fixed mine last night. Did the exact same thing. Lights would come on if I leaned on the arm rest or when making right hand turns. I tightened both door latch and striker to no avail. It turned out to be a poor ground at the door switch. Removed the 10mm bolt, brushed the threads and tightened it back up. Problem solved.

 

[Scamper]

I had the same exact problem on and off for a while. The problem is that the circuit is controlled by the ground from this switch, so you have to have good ground, or you get the light. I finally solved it (over a year now) by removing the two screws and switch (just pulled it off the pillar), and lubed it all up with copper anti-seize. Made a nice connection and the light has not come back on since.