Door ajar light on

A

AzHic13

New member
Not sure what happened, parked car, locked it went to eat, and when I came back it's like my light's stuck on. Double checked all the doors and they're all shut completely but my dash light is still on, and I get that long beep when I try and lock the car with the fob. Any idea on how to begin troubleshooting this?
Thanks in adavance
 
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random and i know you checked all the doors but the back hatch seems to always be my door ajar solution. Have you opened the back hatch and pressed the sensor manually and watched the light on your dash?

Just an idea to try
 
broncosi said:
random and i know you checked all the doors but the back hatch seems to always be my door ajar solution. Have you opened the back hatch and pressed the sensor manually and watched the light on your dash?

Just an idea to try
Click to expand...

I hadn't but, I just when out at checked and that didn't help, cycled the rear hatch window while I was at it, but no help. Thanks though
 
OK, here's an update, light's still on, but now when I get in the car and turn it on, if I try and lock the doors, I hear an actuation under the dash, and the locks twitch and go down about halfway then pop back up again. But If i turn it off and use the drivers button to lock all the doors it's fine. Any ideas?
 
Did this ever get resolved

I just recently purchased a 1998 4runner and I am having the same problem. The dash light stays on ALL the time. Car on, off, all doors closed, locked, and it is driving me crazy.

If I move the dome light to "door" it seems to make the light flicker but doesn't go out. I have messed with all the door plungers and they all seem to have the same effect, it dimes slightly but does not go out. It is also affecting the locks. I was messing with the dome light today and all the doors unlocked on me.

I will be home tomorrow due to a doctors appointment that my wife has and will be disconnecting each plunger and closing the circuit to test each plunger, but short of that I do not even know where to start. I am surfing ebay and have a couple of FSM's that I am looking at and will be buying one with the EWD for sure since I have a couple of other gremlins to sort out.

Any input will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Matthew
 
for some reason i remember my 4runner doing this too. I remember most of the time you could peek in the window and see the door ajar light on. I unplugged all the door light sensors when i made tube doors so it is never on now.

I know the hatch can easily be open slightly but if your sure its that pull off the plastic off the b pillar and then the c pillar and start disconnecting the door light sensors. They are a small white plug with one wire or two if i remember right. maybe you can dial in which one is causing an issue then just leave it unplugged so you dont have to worry about it anymore.
 
Thanks, I haven't checked the hatch yet but will. The day I bought it I was able to get it to go off by monkeying with the passenger side front door and the dome light, so that is the one I will start with.
 
Ok, so I had a minute to fiddle with it and I am not sure I am any better off.

After unbolting and fiddling with all 4, now the dash light and dome dim when the doors are closed but still do not go all the way out.

Where is the hatch sensor? I looked around the rear and didn't see anything that loooked like a plunger. There was an empty hole on the bottom just to the right of the latch. Is that where it "should" be? Didn't see a bolt hole to hold anything in, unless it bolts in from the back side. I will crawl under and look shortly.

Aside from that, does anyone know if that circuit is tied to anything else? I can wiggle the switch and turn off the dome light, but I think that is just me opening that circuit because it doesn't affect the dash light.

Also, Toyota strikes again. I find it very interesting that they seem to break everything on the ground side. Plunger in closes the circuit and lights (are supposed to) go out, plunger out opens the circuit and the lights come on.

I haven't picked up an FSM yet so can't trace the circuit. Any insight would be very helpful.
Thanks.
 
Well, it is definitely in the dome light circuit, pulled the dome fuse and the light went out.... unfortunately the power locks are ALSO on the dome light circuit. Fuse out, light out, NO power locks.... freakin' awesome. There is a bare wire or a bad connection somewhere which is causing this so it looks like I will be tracing wires in my spare time to find it, major suckage! But at least now that explains the random door lock operation. I just hope the short isn't pulling down the battery.:suspicious: It does have a brand new battery in it...

Guess until I get an FSM EWD to look at my two options are let the light stay on or pull the fuse and have manual locks.

Edit: Balls, after putting everything back together and going to pick up my little girl I realized that the radio is also on the dome light circuit. Also, while driving I reached up and switched the dome light to "door" and doors unlocked... WTF

Can someone tell me where the door lock relay is? I am kind of worried about there being a constant short on the line.
 
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So I think I have ruled out the rear hatch. The rear interior light goes off completely when the hatch is closed and according to the EWD it is tied to directly to the hatch switch, so if it was that one the rear light would stay on.

I have looked thru the EWD and other than a couple of plugs and a ground, the locks and the door switches do not share an actual circuit. Power comes from two different circuits, so I am lost.

Anybody know anything about the door courtesy diode? Could that be causing it. The effin ground that is shared is on the PS up in the dash behind the AC blower in the worst possible place, nut looks solid and all the wires coming from the plug looked good so I don't think it is that.

Anybody?
 
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I unhooked each one. They ground thru the bolt that holds the plunger on the jamb, I unbolted each one and broke the circuit at each door. I also went ahead and unplugged each sensor and grounded each bare wire to the door jamb to make sure the light in the dash brightened. Each one did.

I believe the door lock issue is because the car thinks something is open. Same way it won't let you lock the doors when the car is running and it thinks you got out.

I think it is in the door switch circuit, just have to narrow it down to what.
 
I had an issue similar to this a few weeks back. I ended up testing the switches with a multimeter. All switches seemed ok. I ended up disconnecting all if the sensors for about 10 minutes as I manually pushed in (with a large amount of elbow grease) every switch, and flipped the key back and fourth. Then I pulled the dome fuse and left it out for another 5 or 10 minutes. Reconnected everything and still had the problem. So I gave up. About 30 mins later, I was joking with my friends asking if they wanted to buy my Runner so I could sell it and get a Lexus (2001 IS passed by). Got in the car, stared at the light for a few seconds, and watched it flicker and then, FINALLY, after weeks of agony, shut off.

Moral of the story... Threaten to sell your 4runner. It will hear you, and straighten it's act up! lol
 
Lol, hmmmm.... I may have to try that. Or, I will at least try your tactic of unhooking everything for a 30 minutes or so and see if that helps. I am going to call my parts guy and see what the door switches cost and just start chasing things down.
 
Lol, hmmmm.... I may have to try that. Or, I will at least try your tactic of unhooking everything for a 30 minutes or so and see if that helps. I am going to call my parts guy and see what the door switches cost and just start chasing things down.

On a side note, I bought some suspension parts from a guy in Hixson a few years ago. Some stuff he had cut off during his SAS on his early 90s pickup.
 
it may not be the switches. in my case, all of the switches were working correctly. look closely at the dash light and see if it flickers in brightness as sensors are triggered, or get someone else to look while you manually push in the sensors. mine would change in brightness and flicker as i pressed in switches. thats another way i could tell they all worked. so i disconnected them all. and even with them disconnected, the light stayed on. usually if the sensor is disconnected the light should stay off. even if the door is open. these types of problems seem to work themselves out eventually. have you tried pulling and replacing the DOME15A fuse? it will reset your clock and radio. but it is connected to the dome lights and door switches also.
 
Chandler that sounds exactly like my situation. The lights will dim but not go out when pushing the sensors and if I mess with the dome light. I am going to pick up some new fuses and try that angle.

Thanks
 
mrtucker80 said:
Chandler that sounds exactly like my situation. The lights will dim but not go out when pushing the sensors and if I mess with the dome light. I am going to pick up some new fuses and try that angle.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Before you go buying new fuses (even though theyre pretty cheap lol) check under the fuse box lid in the engine bay. under the lid, there should be 3 original fuse replacements and a fuse removal tool. the red one labeled 15A is the fuse to use if youre replacing the dome fuse
 
I can't help but think that a system reset may help you out. Simply unhook the positive battery cable for awhile-I believe some folks suggest 30 minutes
and connect it back up.


Other than that I am thinking corrosion of one of the grounds-guys could it be even at the dash itself?
 
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