How to repair door ajar - chimes sensor on Windstar?

Answer 1

3 Step Cleaning & LubeThis is a common problem and is caused by the door switch plunger sticking (due to dirt, other elements or rust). This can often be corrected by performing the following:

1. Thoroughly spray the door switches (on each door) with:

• Cleaning spray - clear the sludge out of the mechanism - electronic contact cleaner, carb, brake, etc
• Air, canned or even better, from a compressor
• Spray lubricant - a dry lube (best), silicone spray, WD-40 or similar

2. Open and close each door several times to work the lube into the mechanism

This is usually sufficient to clean the electrical & plunger mechanism inside the door switch.

If this doesn't work, you could remove the door panel and do the spray treatment from the inside also.

If this doesn't work, the switch may have to come out for repair (see below), or replacement.

Curling Plastic SurgeryOn my '98 Windstar, the door latch hooks (the part on the door not on the door frame) were coated in plastic. As they got older, the plastic wore through and then started to curl. The curls caused the hook to stick just enough to set off the door chimes and lights.

Lubing the latches sometimes helps, but when the curls are big enough you can use a whole can of WD-40 and it isn't going to help.

Get out some needle nose pliers and a sharp utility knife. Cut and peel away the curls. You might need a magnifying glass to see them.

This has worked on both doors (driver's side usually goes first). My In-Law Taurus Station Wagon had the exact same thing happen. Looks like Ford used the same bad latch hook design.

Long-term FixMany people say that if you spray the latches with WD40 or PB blaster it will *fix* it. Well it is more like a band aid not a repair. It WILL happen again.

Now I will explain the way to fix these sending units. I will be using the rear lift gate as my example.

1. Remove the trim panel from the rear gate.
2. Using a t25 torx bit remove each complete latch assembly from both sides of the lift gate. There are 3 of these screws per side. I take one off at a time so as not to stick wrong one on wrong side.. however it really isn't that complicated if you pull both.
3. Once you have them out you will see an electric sending unit on each latch with a 2 wire connector, remove that. Then if you look closely at where the sending unit slides into the latch.. you will see a plastic backing that has the words "tab" stamped into it. Now... very carefully slide a small screwdriver under where it says "tab" and apply a little pressure upwards, not too much or it will break. While you have the pressure applied rotate the sending unit clockwise so it unlocks and slide the sender out of the latch assembly.

   Now if you want to never have the door bother you again... throw these in the trash and put everything back together and you're done.

   HOWEVER if you want to do it right.. take the sending unit and either replace it with a new one for each latch or use some quality carb or parts cleaner to clean the heck out of them.

   You will see a small metal sliding switch, when this switch gets stuck IN it causes the door chime and lights to stay on. So clean it will it moves easily on its own. A few drops or lubricant will help AFTER it is cleaned.

After you have them moving freely just put everything back together. I myself also use carb or parts cleaner on the complete latch as well till its totally clean of all old grease then I spray on some new white lithium grease before putting everything back together.

Spraying the latch with WD40 will sometimes work, however in the long run it will only last a while. The issue is the sending units are sludged up and the more wd40 and such you spray on the more dust and stuff it will collect... making it sludgy and sticky again.

AnswerInstead of WD40 or other alike product that will cause more dirt to be attracted and make the switch more sticky and harder to move, I suggest to use an ELECTRICAL DRY CONTACT CLEANER, you can buy this product at any auto parts store. I did it and it works, it resolved my CHIME crying all the time. More Answer Thoughts

• Another symptom of a persistent door ajar situation is the interior lights will no longer work. Fix the false reading and the lights will start working properly again.
• sounds like you have a door jam switch gone bad. In most cars this is easy to replace, just unscrew old, unplug, plug in new, screw back in. The ford part number is SW5195.
• Some vehicles have a sensitive switch that controls the dash lights IF the switch is set 2 almost FULL on OR DOME light on THE light will flicker-sometimes.

Answer - LiftgateNOTE: The first 3-step approach applies to the 2 latches on the liftgate as well

I have this problem every 6 months or so...here is another tip: On the rear door....open it, but lift it only about 1 foot or so. I say this, because that is the angle that the lube seems to need to hit the switch just right....then use the WD 40 or similar penetrating lube and spray the heck out of the latches.....get the red tube into the tiny crevices and gaps around the latches on all doors and into the hidden switches that are connected to them. Do this on each side of the rear liftgate door as well as front and sliding door.

I think I now know how to solve this problem. The rear door or 'back lift gate' as it has been called, has two latching mechanisms, one on each side of the door. These are positioned from the inside of the door itself. At the very bottom of this latch is a small spring loaded micro switch that senses if the latch is open or closed. The switch gets dirty and then won't allow the pin to travel to the fully protruding position which should indicate the door is closed.

I found this out by going to a vehicle junk yard and removing the latches from the back door of a scrap vehicle. I was able to disassemble the switches but the latches were on my work bench when I did it. I'm not sure how hard it will be to remove the switch while the latch is in place because I haven't actually replaced the non-working ones in my van yet. You need a screwdriver to pry up a tab which keeps the switch from rotating 90 degrees. Once the switch is rotated, it drops out of the latch.

clean the little square plates at the top of the rear hatch with rubbing alcohol

my 98 has small black plastic box sensors on side and rear door that senses when door is open they are about 1 inch square i sprayed these lightly with wd 40 and moved them to and fro with my fingers to free em up no more unlocking or dinging or lights

The sensors for the rear hatch on the 2003 Windstar are on the latching mechanisms inside the hatch. I sprayed mine with WD-40 today and it worked like a charm. I accessed them by removing the plastic panel from inside the hatch.

In hind-sight, I think that spraying the mechanism from the exterior would have been adequate.

AnswerThis always happens to our Windstar when it rains a lot...

So, I took a blow-dryer (hairdryer) and pointed it in the latch holes of the rear hatch door (right inside the door) and just in case, at the lower spring latch.

After a few minutes, the light went out--without shutting the latch!

It went back on briefly when I shut it-- then went off and stayed off.

Don't know if this is a permanent fix--but it did work.

Answer- Sliding Sidedoors ContactsClean the contacts of on the slider door:

• an old fashioned pencil eraser effectively cleans the surface tarnish off the contacts. It's an old computer technician's trick and best of all, it works!
• household cleaner - wipe them down with some wd-40.

  This is just a temporary fix, and needs to be done about every 4 weeks.

• fine sand paper, steel wool,

ANSWER - Sliding Door SurgeryFinally I realized that it was my sliding door that was the problem. There are 4 buttons on the door itself that make contact with 4 round metal sensors on the door jam when shut. I put toothpaste on the buttons and shut the door. The toothpaste allowed me to see how good of contact the buttons were making with the four round metal sensors on the door jam. I realized that the buttons were only making contact to the far right side of the little metal contacts. I removed the rivets that hold that little contact plate on the door jam and moved the plate over about a 1/4 inch and this allowed the buttons to contact the round metal sensors more in the center. I have not had a problem with the door ajar light or dinging since. I was even able to put my fuse back in for the dome light. This is a permanent fix instead of all that WD 40 every few months.

When moving the sensor plate on the door jam it may be necessary to take a jig saw and cut the square hole a little wider in order for the plate to fit back on the door jam properly. Use sheet metal screws to reattach the sensor plate.

AnswerThere is a problem with corrosion in the wires that run to the fuse box take it to a ford dealer it will be fixed within an hour. I had the same problem. AnswerI had the same problem on my 95 Windstar. I found that one of the switches in the rear hatch had stuck in the "open" position. I cleaned and worked for a month then failed again. I finally bypassed (jumpered them both). They are located inside the hatch close to the latches so you must remove the inner panel to access. Hope this helps. Redsand Answer- How to RemoveIt is located inside the door.

You have to remove the door panel to gain access to the door latch assembly and it is located on the lower side of the latch. You'll find two connectors one for the lock actuator and one lower for the door ajar switch.

Loosen the latch and twist the door latch out and you'll here it pop and come out.

reverse process to install

AnswerI have a 96 Windstar with the same problem. Every night I had to disconnect my battery cable. A real pain in the butt! Along with the light not going off I also had that annoying bonging sound while I was driving! I sprayed WD 40 in all the door wells and after a minute everything quit! It seems to be a cold weather thing because that was when it started. But the panacea seems to be the WD40. AnswerI had this same problem in years past, I spoke with a Ford mechanic and he suggested rather than put it in the shop and pay to replace sensors etc. just spray the door sensors with WD40 and the problem will go away. I tried it and it worked immediately, and hasn't come back to haunt me.

I've had this same problem with my 2003 Winstar. The problem is the contacts on the sliding doors. The dealer cleaned the contacts and the problem was resolved for about a month. You have to keep cleaning these contacts regularly or what I did was turn off the dome lights. This problem can kill your battery so I always keep the dome lights off.

Answer

Had same problem i checked all doors and the sliding door was the cause fix it by crossing the black wires of the sensor no more chiming or light on

Usually this is a sticking or faulty door switch on the tailgate. It affects multiple years of the Windstar. Typically the only solution is to replace the switch. There is one switch attached to each side of the tailgate door.