2012 Drivers door jamb ajar switch

[TD Charlie]

2012 SXT 162k.

 

Car wouldn't start today at the worst possible time, naturally.

 

I put a 200a charger on it and it fired up right away. Let it run 5 minutes, shut it off, and started right back up. The battery and alternator were replaced 7 months/12k miles ago.

 

I noticed in the dash that the drivers door ajar light was flashing erratically, even with the door closed. I normally set the dome lights permanently off, but recently switched it on when doors open. I think the door ajar switch/sensor is quitting on me and this caused a parasitic drain over the course of a couple nights. So i set the dome lights to stay off for now while I figure this one out. I'm not entirely sure if that will prevent the drain either.

 

My thoughts are to either pull a fuse or replace the drivers door ajar switch. I will have to look through a fuse diagram to see if that's even feasible, and I'm doubting it is. The door ajar sensors are $5 pieces of plastic but I don't know where they are located yet.

 

More to come. Thread opened for suggestions and documentation purposes =]

[TD Charlie]

Not having much luck finding the switch for sale. Lots of stuff that is "suggested" by various searches but nothing willing to flat out say "this one fits." I may have to remove the door panel and look for something that looks like the door ajar switch and shop based on that.

 

In terms of fuses... I might try the F101 Interior Lights or F122 Driver Door Module. On the F101, I'm still wondering if the switch will send signal to the car and that in itself will draw, or if it's just the interior lights that caused the draw. If I pull F122 I'm gonna lose everything from the drivers door switch, which I replaced recently and documented in another thread...and is already starting to malfunction just a few months later btw.

 

Also, as I found out now driving around the block, the car chimes erratically because it thinks the door is randomly opening and closing.

 

This is a fun one

[TD Charlie]

Also wondering now if I jumbled up wiring in the door jamb when I was troubleshooting the master switch. I suppose it's possible that I didn't put the wiring back exactly as it was (I mean, it's a MESS of wiring in a tiny little crevice) and now a wire carrying the door ajar switch is broke in the jamb.

[OhareFred]

I would think if the wire was broken it would either not work at all, or be on all the time(if it’s grounded out).  I suppose if there was enough movement it could randomly touch a ground.  Can you move the wires slightly and see if it goes away? Wouldn’t fix it, but might help narrow it done.  Ahh electrical issues in a rolling computer.....?

[TD Charlie]

4 hours ago, OhareFred said:

I would think if the wire was broken it would either not work at all, or be on all the time(if it’s grounded out).  I suppose if there was enough movement it could randomly touch a ground.  Can you move the wires slightly and see if it goes away? Wouldn’t fix it, but might help narrow it done.  Ahh electrical issues in a rolling computer.....?

 

So right now there's a little snow rolling through and it's 20ish degrees. I don't see myself touching this until I'll be able to feel my fingers while doing so.

 

The plan for tomorrow is to blast a bunch of WD40 into the door latch area, and then if that doesn't do it I will be tickling the wires in the door hinge area.

 

All that being said, I have discovered that the door ajar switch, the door latch mechanism, and the door lock actuator are ALL ONE ASSEMBLY. Not only that, the replacement process is absolutely ridiculous. It's going to take a Herculean effort to get this $140 part replaced (EDIT: Found a $40 and $80 unit on Amazon). Based on the time and money, and the fact that this is still just my best guess, AND the fact that I might be able to just keep the dome lights off without causing problems, I am not sure if I'm prepared to attempt this just yet.

 

There's definitely a ton of electrical quirks in that drivers door though. Between the latch issue, the master switch, the lock/unlock button, the wires in the door hinge, and my door handle auto unlock feature...I'm just chasing a ghost.

Edited February 19, 2021 by TD Charlie

[John/Horace]

You might be better off with a door harness assembly if the wires are super brittle,. Breaks can be repaired with solder and heat shrink but it gets time consuming. There are articles that say the newer wires on pretty much all cars are made of some environmentally friendly soy or organic based plastic coating now. Critters like to chew on them more than in the past; although not related to your problem. 

 

Frustrating and awkward to work on problem. I battled something similar on the first year of Grand Cherokee Jeep’s; when the truck had 200k miles on it. Local wrecker had a loose damaged door lying around and I was able to buy just harness and learn how everything came apart without breaking stuff. Upull section of car wreckers can be good for that sometimes. But in the summer weather.

[TD Charlie]

8 hours ago, John/Horace said:

You might be better off with a door harness assembly if the wires are super brittle,. Breaks can be repaired with solder and heat shrink but it gets time consuming. There are articles that say the newer wires on pretty much all cars are made of some environmentally friendly soy or organic based plastic coating now. Critters like to chew on them more than in the past; although not related to your problem. 

 

Frustrating and awkward to work on problem. I battled something similar on the first year of Grand Cherokee Jeep’s; when the truck had 200k miles on it. Local wrecker had a loose damaged door lying around and I was able to buy just harness and learn how everything came apart without breaking stuff. Upull section of car wreckers can be good for that sometimes. But in the summer weather.

 

I wouldn't mind sitting there and reconnecting all 30 wires or whatever they jammed into the harness, but there is absolutely ZERO slack/play, and I'm not adding wire in between cuts. No thanks.

 

The good news is that I've tracked down the issue. My car has been sitting a good 24 hours, with my dome light wheel clicked all the way off and the door still "open" - and this did NOT drain the battery. Car started without issue and it's 20* right now. I blasted some WD40 into the latch/lock actuator assembly, closed the latch with my fingers and sprayed more in there. Then I just yanked the rubber sheathing in the door hinge, pushed the plastic harness cover around a little bit, basically just tried to move the wiring around in a different order in the hinge. I gave everything 15 minutes to settle, came back out and everything works properly. I mean everything now. I regained my door handle touch unlock, and my lock/unlock master switch buttons. The door also recognizes when it's closed now.

 

ONE STRANGE CAVEAT

 

With the car running, I got up and went inside for a minute, holding the keys. The dash never said "KEY NOT DETECTED." I think this is because I started the car just by leaning in with the door open all the way, and never closed the door. Technically, even when the door closed the car at that first moment still considered it open, so it never gave the KEY NOT DETECTED warning. When I got back in later and closed the door, holding the keys, I got KEY NOT DETECTED. I toggled the dome light switch on/off and everything miraculously normalized.

 

That dome light wheel has to be fed power from each door latch actuator assembly in order to recognize when one is open. So I am pretty sure the issue is the wiring in the door hinge, as everyone seems to have issues with. Further evidence, I started having problems with the factory master switch even after fumbling with the door hinge harness. So I've been playing around with the wiring in that hinge recently. 

 

SOLUTION FOR THOSE READING DOWN THE ROAD:

Some good shots of WD40 into the door latch, in open and closed position

Loosen up tension in the door hinge wiring

Part 931-900 was NOT needed

[2late4u]

hope it stays working for you. and maybe the wd 40 loosen some corrosion, but my luck on what you did was just kicking the can down the road for a while but at least you seem to be on the right track with the door wireing good luck and keep us informed

[TD Charlie]

On 2/19/2021 at 7:04 PM, 2late4u said:

hope it stays working for you. and maybe the wd 40 loosen some corrosion, but my luck on what you did was just kicking the can down the road for a while but at least you seem to be on the right track with the door wireing good luck and keep us informed

 

lol I one hundred percent kicked the can down the road on this one. I don't think this issue is truly "resolved" but there's a feasible workaround for the time being. I'm sure other electrical gremlins will show themselves in the door eventually, but with everything that's happened so far I think my first thought will always be "it's the wiring in the hinge again."

 

Could be a lot worse I guess.