any work around for door ajar issue

[aroo1986]

I've been having the door ajar issue for about a month or so now and it is driving me crazy...I have looked at the tutorials on the site and i really don't want to take apart everything the process involves. My question is would i be able to install a plunger/pin type switch on the door and connect those wires to the wires that are coming off the faulty switch in the door? Im just trying to think of any other options. Any ideas or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

[enigma-2]

I had a Mercury Sable that had this problem, grease dries out.

 

I fixed it by spraying WD40 into the lock. The WD cuts through the old grease and allows the lock mechanism to function properly.

 

Try spraying some into the lock (open the door and spray from the latch side) and then open and close your door a few times to work the WD40 into the lock.

 

Used to have to do this about once every two or three years to keep it from sticking.

[ylwpaul]

I was having the same door-ajar issue but mine was the front passenger door. I have come up with a pretty simple work-around that should last the life of the car. I was thinking about finding a push-button type switch that I could mount in the main door post but I knew that would involve drilling into the post, something I really didn't really want to do as it's pretty intrusive. But then I thought about using a magnetic switch instead.

 

A magnetic switch is something easy to find. They are used in lot's of security alarm systems for monitring doors and windows. They are usually designed with pin-outs for both normally-open (N.O.) and normally-closed (N.C.). They have a a magnetically sensitive reed switch that moves open or closed when a magnet is close by.

 

The Edge door-ajar switch is looking for a GND when the door closes. Placing another switch in parallel with the door-ajar switch is all you need to do. There are two wires that come from the switch inside the door on the door latch mechanism. For the passenger door the wire you want to find is the white 22 AWG wire in the bundle coming out of the door. you can get access to this bundle by removing the (door sill plate) the plastic trim covering the front pillar area of the door opening. This will allow you to see the wiring bundle where it enters the car from the door up next to the glove box. There are two white wires in the bundle, a 20 AWG and a 22AWG. Look for the thinner of the two. This is the wire you need to splice into. (At this point if you don't care about the interior lights coming on when you open the door and you just don't want to see the door-ajar warning any more you can simply add a simple normally-open switch with one side of the switch attached the the white wire and the other to a GND. Turn the switch and the door-ajar warning will go away as you've now grounded the sensing wire at the Body Control Module. I simply added the switch so the warning went away and I left it that way until I was ready to install the magnetic switch.

 

When I was ready to add the magnetic switch I just paralleled the new switch across the switch I'd previously installed. I placed the magnetic switch inside the plastic trim just beside the top fastener clip. I afixed the switch with some decent double-sided tape. I reinstalled the trim. Then I then took a small but powerful neodymium magnet and moved it around the outside of the trim near the area where the switch was installed behind the trim until I could tell it was closing the switch. (I had a DVM across the switch at this point so I could see when the switch was closing) Once I was confident I had the right spot using some silicone adhesive I glued the small magnet to the plastic door trim directly across from the switch. Now when the door closes, the magnet is brought close enough to the magnetic switch that the door sensor receives a GND and the door-ajar warning is gone. It works perfectly and only cost a few bucks. If anyone is interested I will provide some pictures. BTW, for the driver's door the wire you'd be looking for in the the driver's door wiring would be the 22 AWG Green with a Violet stripe.

Edited May 22, 2015 by ylwpaul

[WWWPerfA_ZN0W]

Pics would be great! Do you have part numbers also, or are these commonly available switches? TIA.

[ylwpaul]

I'll get some pictures and post them soon. The magnetic switch is readily available in most hardware stores. They look like this: http://www.amazon.com/Directed-Electronics-8601-Magnetic-Switch/dp/B0009SUF08

 

You'll only need to use the part with the connections as the other component contains the magnetic and I think you'll need a more powerful magnet like "B" or "C" on this page: http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=32065 You want it to be large enough to close the switch but small enough not to be too noticeable.

[ylwpaul]

Here are a few pictures of the above project. The magnet is siliconed to the door panel. I've circled the area where the magnetic switch is mounted in behind the plastic trim panel. You can locate the white wire easily behind the panel and trace it along to where you can splice into it. There is also a nearby grounding point for the other side of the switch.

Edited April 9, 2015 by ylwpaul

[enigma-2]

Even through the WD40 worked for me on my old Mercury Sable, it does not appear to be effective for use on an Edge/MKX.

 

However, 2011edgese wrote that he had had excellent luck at fixing this problem by spraying electric contact cleaner (I was able to buy a can at my local Tru Value hardware) and spraying it into the latch at a specific point. As the alternative is very time consuming and expensive, I would think that this would be the preferred way to go.

 

Here's the discussion, the pictures of where to spray are at messages #39. & 40.

http://www.fordedgeforum.com/topic/10869-door-ajar-warning-on-at-all-times/page-2?do=findComment&comment=97238

[luckychance]

ylwpaul, would you happen to have pics of install or a simple diagram of how to do the magnet thingy? thanks

[fmrcaptevil]

Just went through this with my 2013, and in my case, any improvement from spraying was either coincidental or temporary.

[pilotdog68]

I was having the same door-ajar issue but mine was the front passenger door. I have come up with a pretty simple work-around that should last the life of the car. I was thinking about finding a push-button type switch that I could mount in the main door post but I knew that would involve drilling into the post, something I really didn't really want to do as it's pretty intrusive. But then I thought about using a magnetic switch instead.

 

A magnetic switch is something easy to find. They are used in lot's of security alarm systems for monitring doors and windows. They are usually designed with pin-outs for both normally-open (N.O.) and normally-closed (N.C.). They have a a magnetically sensitive reed switch that moves open or closed when a magnet is close by.

 

The Edge door-ajar switch is looking for a GND when the door closes. Placing another switch in parallel with the door-ajar switch is all you need to do. There are two wires that come from the switch inside the door on the door latch mechanism. For the passenger door the wire you want to find is the white 22 AWG wire in the bundle coming out of the door. you can get access to this bundle by removing the (door sill plate) the plastic trim covering the front pillar area of the door opening. This will allow you to see the wiring bundle where it enters the car from the door up next to the glove box. There are two white wires in the bundle, a 20 AWG and a 22AWG. Look for the thinner of the two. This is the wire you need to splice into. (At this point if you don't care about the interior lights coming on when you open the door and you just don't want to see the door-ajar warning any more you can simply add a simple normally-open switch with one side of the switch attached the the white wire and the other to a GND. Turn the switch and the door-ajar warning will go away as you've now grounded the sensing wire at the Body Control Module. I simply added the switch so the warning went away and I left it that way until I was ready to install the magnetic switch.

 

When I was ready to add the magnetic switch I just paralleled the new switch across the switch I'd previously installed. I placed the magnetic switch inside the plastic trim just beside the top fastener clip. I afixed the switch with some decent double-sided tape. I reinstalled the trim. Then I then took a small but powerful neodymium magnet and moved it around the outside of the trim near the area where the switch was installed behind the trim until I could tell it was closing the switch. (I had a DVM across the switch at this point so I could see when the switch was closing) Once I was confident I had the right spot using some silicone adhesive I glued the small magnet to the plastic door trim directly across from the switch. Now when the door closes, the magnet is brought close enough to the magnetic switch that the door sensor receives a GND and the door-ajar warning is gone. It works perfectly and only cost a few bucks. If anyone is interested I will provide some pictures. BTW, for the driver's door the wire you'd be looking for in the the driver's door wiring would be the 22 AWG Green with a Violet stripe.

 

The brake cleaner/WD40 method isn't lasting for me, and I'm tired of not having interior lights (I took out the fuse). I'm going to attempt this on the drivers' side.

 

1. has anyone else done this? Can anyone draw a crude diagram of how to connect the wires? I just want to understand it better before cutting into stuff.

 

2. Obviously there are a ton of wires in that vicinity because of the fuse panel being right there in the driver's wheel well. What are the chances there is more than one "22awg green with a violet stripe"?

[pilotdog68]

I figured it out and made a simple video, just in case anyone else is intimidated by all the wires in the kick panel. Sorry for the Portrait orientation, I didn't think about it at the time.

 

 

 

Some notes:

1. There are also green wires with RED stripes that at first I thought was a VIOLET stripe. The correct wire will have a dark purple stripe.

 

2. The car is looking for the wire to be grounded when the door is closed, so you could just forget the magnetic sensor and ground that same wire and it will disable the door ajar warning altogether.

 

3. Here is a link to the exact alarms I harvested the sensor from. I already had one laying around, but you can just buy the sensor itself online (Normally-open magnetic reed switch) or these security alarms are available most hardware/home improvement stores.

Edited April 16, 2016 by pilotdog68

[fishx65]

I gotta say this is a pretty sweet inexpensive fix for those suffering from this. Apparently some on here are smarter then Ford's engineers!!!!!

[Kmp14]

Ok, so I got this working on my 2011 Edge which was having the problem where the front DRIVERS side always indicated that it was open.

 

The magnetic switch idea is brilliant!

 

Some thoughts:

 

1. I was NOT able to track down the green/violet wire (the one for front Driver's side) under the door sill plate grouping of wires. I found "A" 22 gauge green/violet wire and connected it to ground to test, and I THINK that is the one that blew fuse 32, which, as far as the Ford owner manual says, controls the "power windows, moon roof...", but really only covered the DRIVERS side window and moonroof. That being said, I was a little careless and tried a few different wires that looked kinda like green/violet, so it may have been another one that blew that fuse.

 

2. Since the above didn't work, I had to get to the wire in question from the connector that plugs in above the fuse panel, right above where fuse 1 is. THIS IS NOT EASY. Very hard to reach up there, and there is no slack on the connector once you get it disconnected. Sure enough it was green/violet stripe. I used a connector that has a tap on it and after several tries was finally able to origami myself enough to get my hands up there and tap the wire. How did you guys who have done this hack do it??? It was close to impossible to work on the wire that far up under the dash.

 

Anyway, I am happy to report that this did the trick. Problem solved. But again, how did those who have done it, do it???

[dbender]

I don't see how the wire from the driver's door latch switch could pass through the driver's door sill, as Pilotdog68's video shows. Maybe his bad switch was in the driver's side rear door? Anyway, it makes more sense that this wire would pass through the rubber boot in the front door jam of the driver's door and go straight to the connector above the fuse box where Kmp14 found it. But I looked/reached up there and I really don't want to try to access the wire in that location. Hats off to Kmp14 for managing to splice in there!

 

My thought is to remove the door panel and splice into the wire inside the door, and then reverse the procedure these two members used: put the reed switch under the plastic on the door, and the magnet on the plastic trim on the body side of the door jam. Any thoughts on the viability of this approach, before I remove the door panel?

[Kennyp14]

I don't see how the wire from the driver's door latch switch could pass through the driver's door sill, as Pilotdog68's video shows. Maybe his bad switch was in the driver's side rear door? Anyway, it makes more sense that this wire would pass through the rubber boot in the front door jam of the driver's door and go straight to the connector above the fuse box where Kmp14 found it. But I looked/reached up there and I really don't want to try to access the wire in that location. Hats off to Kmp14 for managing to splice in there!

 

My thought is to remove the door panel and splice into the wire inside the door, and then reverse the procedure these two members used: put the reed switch under the plastic on the door, and the magnet on the plastic trim on the body side of the door jam. Any thoughts on the viability of this approach, before I remove the door panel?

 

I am kmp14. It appears I have 2 separate accounts on this forum, but only remember the password for this one (Kennyp14). Anyway, yes, it was REALLY HARD to get a tap on to that wire way up above the fuse panel. I think it took me an hour+ of contorting my body to finally get a working tap on there. Maybe the door panel approach you are considering might be easier.

 

Let us know how it goes, and if you have the patience, take pictures as you go so it can a useful for other in the future! Good Luck!

[dbender]

Well, I went ahead and took the door panel off, and I found the wire. There were two green/violet wires in the bundle, and I think they are both 22AWG, so I had to identify the correct wire by trial and error. I spliced into the correct wire and grounded it, and--as expected--the door ajar light (and map lamps) do not come on even if the door is opened.

 

I had to put the door panel back on temporarily so my wife can use the car tomorrow morning, but I plan to take it back off and attempt the magnetic reed switch workaround this weekend. I'll take some pictures at that time.

[aroo1986]

I'm planning on doing this very soon I'm having issues with front and rear driver side doors does any one know what wire I would be looking for on the rear driver door?

[dbender]

@aroo1986: I found a post that listed the wire colors for all 4 doors at the point where they reach the body control module. I don't know about the other 3 doors, but the wire color (green/violet) listed for the driver's door is definitely correct. Here are the wire colors listed for the 26-pin BCM connector:

 

pin 5 - white - passenger front ajar switch

pin 9 - green/violet - driver front ajar switch

pin 20 - green - driver rear ajar switch

pin 21 - yellow - passenger rear ajar switch

So I guess you're looking for a solid green wire. You can get to it by removing the door panel, but you could probably find it in the bundle that passes under the driver's door sill, which would be easier. To test it, use another piece of wire and tap into the green 22AWG wire in that bundle and ground it to see if the door ajar light goes out.

Duane

[dbender]

Okay, I finally got around to installing the magnetic reed switch to fix my driver door ajar light, and I took a few pictures.

 

 

This first picture is for orientation, showing the location under the door panel where I accessed the wire bundle. You can see two red plastic squares which are wire taps. They are just in front of the speaker.

 

 

This photo is a close-up of the two wires I tapped into, with a piece of white paper behind them to make it easier to see. I found two green/violet wires, and the first one I tried was the wrong one (of course). You want the green/violet 22AWG wire with the lighter green color. Find them both, and choose the one with a lighter green.

 

 

I added a waterproof 2-pin connector between the wire tap (on the door) and the magnetic reed switch (attached to the inside of the door panel). So now if I need to remove the door panel again, I have one extra connector to disconnect. The reed switch is the white rectangle in my palm.

 

 

This photo shows where I attached the reed switch on the inside front edge of the door panel. Before replacing the door panel, I routed the wire behind that white batting to keep it in place.

 

 

And this photo shows where I taped a coin-shaped magnet to the plastic trim piece on the A-pillar. I originally stuck the magnet on the other side of the trim piece, but for some reason this didn't work. When I closed the door, the door ajar light would go out, correctly. But when I reopened the door, the light would stay off, as if the reed switch was sticking. (In fact, I could get it to open by banging on the door panel right where the switch is attached.) I don't know why, but moving the magnet to the visible side of the plastic solved the problem. I'll leave the magnet taped this way for now, and maybe I'll try later to get it to work behind the plastic. Otherwise I'll glue it in place where it is now taped, and maybe paint it gray.

Edited September 22, 2016 by dbender

[akirby]

Nice workaround!

[aroo1986]

OK finally got around to doing this and grounded my two doors that are giving me problems to get rid of the door ajar notification.. Now has anyone been able to find these at any stores I've looked at orchard supply, Home Depot and radio shack no luck.. Guess I must order online

[aroo1986]

OK finally got around to doing this and grounded my two doors that are giving me problems to get rid of the door ajar notification.. Now has anyone been able to find these at any stores I've looked at orchard supply, Home Depot and radio shack no luck.. Guess I must order online

[Rewerbcrx]

dbender,

What year Edge are you working on? And are you still happy with your fix months later?

[pilotdog68]

I'm not dbender, but I'll chime in.

 

Mine was an '07 and the fix is working great. My magnets came unglued once and flipped themselves to a different part of the door, so I just glued them there and they have been fine since. The only downside is there's no warning if the door is mostly closed but not totally latched, mine starts chiming after the door is 2"+ open. That's not a problem for the drivers door, it's easy enough to tell by feel and sound. It could be an issue for the rear doors though.

[dbender]

pilotdog68, I answered Rewerbcrx, and I'm surprised the answer isn't here. Maybe it was a PM?

 

Anyway, the answer I gave him (or tried to) said that this was a less-than-satisfactory fix for me. For some reason, when I open the door, the reed switch doesn't open consistently. I have to slap the plastic door liner to jar it open so that the radio and dome light go off.

 

I gather from your response to him that you used the fix I described, but that it works consistently for you? If so, could you tell me what reed switch you used?