2003 Door Ajar / keyless entry

[ewtn2000]

I just recently bought a 2003 Expedition XLT, while on vacation, and have enjoyed it. Recently as the temperatures have risen, the "door ajar" light stays on keeping all of my interior lights on. I have yet to try the DW-40 spray on all of my lock assy., but I have also noticed that while this intermediate problem is happening, my keyless entry is unable to unlock all of the doors when you press 7/8 & 9/0 (After the entry code is entered). The driver door unlocks, but not the rest of doors. Another strange problem happens when the "door ajar" light is on, is when I try to lock all the doors using the driver electric door lock, all the doors lock but then the driver door unlocks right away. If I lock it manually or use the remote on my key chain, the door stays locked. I wont tell you what this does to my alarm system. If I turn the car off while the door ajar light is on, the alarm fails to set thinking a door is open.

[cdread01]

I have a 2003 Expedition EB, and I have a very similar issue. From what I can tell, my problem (and maybe yours as well) stems from the fact that the sensor that tells the electronic systems that the doors are either locked or open/ajar is basically a plastic plunger that fits into a 'nest.'

I live in Phoenix, so the heat thing can be quite an issue. When it is hot, the nest and plunger do not align perfectly, and so it never makes complete contact and never comploetely seats itself. I have not yet had the issues with the door locking, but I do have the issue with my remote alarm not setting because the sensors do not think the doors are locked completely. Yet, if I were to physically try to open one of them, they are locked.

The only solution I have found anywhere is to replace these parts on all the doors (or at least those you think are the most suspect) and see if that fixes the problem.

[DaveS1955]

I had a similar problem when it rained. The proble was one of the door switches. When the interior lights stayed on they would go off within two minutes of starting to drive the vehicle. By design, the drivers door will not lock if the key is in the ignition switch. This supposedly keeps you from locking your keys inside the vehicle. If the door ajar light remains on the alarm system will beep the horn two times to indicate the vehicle is not locked. Bottom line is you need to determine which door switch(es) is/are defective and it/they need to be replaced. Mine required two switches within three months.

[artart88]

There are other threads on here about this problem search for "door ajar" and you'll find them. Anyway the solution is probably as simple as spraying some WD40 or other cleaner/lubricant into the door latch (the hole in the door where the latching mechanism is). This curred the problem on my Expedition.

[cdread01]

I have used the WD-40 solution, and that works for a while, but is not a permanent fix by any means. My mechanic had another similar lubricant spray that also worked and lasted longer than the WD-40. He also was able to determine which door was the issue when connected to the mini diagnostic tool that probably every certified mechanic has. Than you can get the part from Fod for like $50 bucks and simply replace it/them.