My interior lights come on when I come to a stop, whether it’s at a traffic light, stop sign, whatever. My ‘door’ ajar’ light is also indicated on my dash console despite insuring all doors are shut. I have a '97 Lincoln COntinental in good condition with 150,000 miles on it. Does anyone have any ideas on what I could do to eliminate the ‘door ajar’ signal (which I think is causing the interior light issue…)
I had a similar problem with the “door ajar” light on my '97 F-150, but not the problem with all interior lights coming on. I was reading some threads on this forum and someone mentioned lubricating the door latches ( I think that’s what it was), so I did that and haven’t had the problem since. Even if it doesn’t work at least it didn’t cost you much.
Joe
I think the advice/cure for barky2 would have been to lubricate the door switches, rather than the hinges. The rationale would be that one of them is sticking in the “door open” mode. If the lights come on only when you are coming to a stop, then maybe there is, in fact, something loose in a door switch, and the deceleration forces are putting the switch in the “door open” state.
If, however, the lights come on when you apply the brakes while already stopped, I would guess a short somewhere between the wiring for the brake pedal switch (that controls the brake lights and maybe some other things) and the wiring for the “door open” circuit. Rationale: grounding the brake light circuit is also grounding the “door open” circuit. Easy to check for this: if there is such a short, then the brake lights would come on when you opoen the door.
Use an electrical contact cleaner when cleaning the door light (plunger) switches.
The popular WD40 is not recommended for this application.
If the lights come on when you step on the brake pedal, car in motion or not, remove your fuse block, turn it over and examine it for a short. Look for melted wire connections.
i have a 97 lincoln it kept saying driver door ajar. so I went at it with some wd40 and a qtip and rag cleaned greased all hinges and latches. no more problems
I agree that the trouble is due to a dirty door switch. The braking action is causing the switch to close and turn on the light. I would suspect the problem to be in the driver’s door first.
The door switches are internal to the door and part of the door latches. The advice to lubricate the door latches is correct.