This GAWD DAMNED PIECE OF CRAP THAT FORD BUILT SHOULD BE UNDER A LIFETIME WARRANTY.....AND TRANSFERRED TO EVERY OWNER OF THE VEHICLE!
NUMEROUS....AND I MEAN....NUMEROUS, REPLACEMENT OF BATTERIES WHICH HAVE EVENTUALLY BURNT OUT THE ALTERNATOR WHICH ALSO HAS BEEN REPLACED NUMEROUS TIMES.....
TRIED WD40,
REMOVAL OF THE INTERIOR AND COURTESY LIGHT BULBS,
SANDED OFF THE CONNECTIONS,
UNHOOKED DRIVER'S SIDE SAFETY SWITCH,
HAD THOROUGH WIRING CHECKED - WELL OVER $1,500.00 TO 'ISOLATE' THE PROBLEM AND STILL, THIS GAWD DAMNED THING IS STILL DOING THE SAME. I CAN'T EVEN GET IT WORKING LONG ENOUGH TO SELL OR TRADE-IN THE PIECE OF FORD CRAP!
AGAIN THE BRAND NEW BATTERY & ALTERNATOR HAVE BEEN KILLED, EVEN WHEN I REMOVE THEN NEGATIVE BATTERY CABLE OVERNIGHT, IT SUCKS THE DAMNED THING DRY WHILE DRIVING
THE DEALER WON'T REPLACE THE BRAND NEW ALTERNATOR OR BATTERY FREE OF CHARGE, BECAUSE IT WAS NOT THE PROBLEM, THIS F** FORD CRAP GLITCH IS FOREVER THE PROBLEM!
FORD - GET YOUR CRAP TOGETHER AND START REIMBURSING THE MONEY YOUR NOW HATEFUL CUSTOMERS HAVE HAD TO SINK INTO YOUR POOR QUALITY WORKMANSHIP AND POOR QUALITY SERVICE! YOU OWE YOUR CUSTOMERS MORE THAN THE MONEY YOU RIPPED TAXPAYERS OFF BY BEGGING FOR A HAND-OUT BY THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT TO KEEP AFLOAT! THE BEST THING THAT EVER COULD HAVE HAPPENED WAS FOR THEM TO PULL THE PLUG ON YOU AND YOUR INEPT COMPANY!
it all started when i replaced the battery... door lights on... dings dings. & beeps at me none stop.. I have to pull the connector off the battery... my mother told me a connector is bad.. so i bought one to replace it but i don't feel it will do much... its always ding before when driver side door opened but sometimes it wont ... now its getting worst. i figured a sensor or something but if u smack the steering wheel in the right place it stops ... lol.... i am the crazy person next to u beating up the steering wheel... door dings are my pet peeves freaking annoying... that's just one problems, but i love it... its almost payed for..why cant it wait... going to try the wd40... but i think its in the steering column...
One of the doors registers as being open, and the internal light stay on all the time as if door was open. even when I recheck all of the doors, when speed is over 15 miles per hour it stops, but is very annoying at stoplights. I gave up trying to fix it and removed all interior light.
I love my van, it has been a good one, we seem to be having this trouble more often, it does seem to happen only in cold seasons, it has run the battery down, a pain in the a when I have to unhook the battery and hook it back up in the morning. We just had to replace a 2 year old battery, thank god it was still under warranty My wife is getting sick and tired, wish I could afford to fix, it or better yet replace her with a Ford SportTrac pick up she wants. How do you fix it? where is the fuse to pull?.
The door chime rang continuously until 20 mph reached. Also red door ajar light remained lit. Also the interior lights would not turn off. If ignored long enough, the problem would solve itself until I opened the car door.
I found the solution on the AutoBeef site. I just sprayed very little WD40 on and into the Drivers Door exposed door catch on the door frame. Immediate solution. I am very pleased.
When the 1998 Ford Windstar is cold it has intermittent electrical issues. Started this morning with the airbag indicator lighting up, followed in quick succession by the door ajar indicator coupled with the low windshield washer indicator going off. When all three were lit then they went out. This went on for about an hour then suddenly on my way home from the store the door ajar indicator lit up and wouldn't go out. I opened and closed all the doors numerous times and still the indicator light stayed on. No dinging, lights went off after a few minutes. Then a few minutes later I went out and the lights stayed on and the incessant dinging noise. Finally goes off after a warning tone, but whenever I slow down or turn the wheel sharply the dinging starts again. Then the next time I drive the vehicle the dinging is gone but the indicator light stays on, then the next time the dinging and the lights don't turn out. Now light will not go out, starting to drain battery, so we pulled the fuse will look at it in the morning.
Update from Oct 10, 2010: When the weather warmed up this stopped however when it is cold or damp it happens again. We were advised to open up the door panel and retape the wires but this continued. The van has damage at the side door panel and if you open the door then the indicator light stays lit for about 2 or 3 km until the automatic door locks engage.
We had a similar problem in our 1995 windstar. The dome light would stay on and would not shut off even after a long time. I got soo annoyed from it. Then I figured out the problem and fixed it.
If I use the side door of my van, the door ajar light stays on and the interior lights stay on for an hour after the car is turned off. Dome light goes off after I reach 15MPH. You can pull the fuse, but that is a pain in the rear each and every time you stop the car. And yes, if the battery is older, it drains it pretty quick. I had it fixed once on 2002 for $200 and they had to replace the door panel when they broke it. It lasted 4 years. Had it done again Jan 06 and now it is back 1 year later. The dealership tried their own little remedies of tapping on the back of the door and such when I stopped in the other day. Didn't work. They said it is a common problem in ALL vehicles. In all the 40 years I have had cars, I have never had this problem with any of them. Made an appointment with the hope they are going to cover some of the cost, but I don't think they care. I am cancelling the appointment and trying solutions I read here first. Why is there not a recall or something for this? It sounds pretty widespread. I've had other things repaired under recall reasons. I don't have the extra cash to spend on this repair and it's getting very frustrating!!!!!!!!!
Bought the van, drove many miles the first day, everything seemed beautiful. The next day problems start. Dome lights, door ajar. I can live with no lights, carry a flashlight if I have to, but I want power windows, or better yet, lets go back to old fashioned window cranks! Now I also have a service engine light is on (needs plugs and wires, or so I hope that is all) and today I appear to have no heat, which was just fine yesterday. Yes, so glad that I got a different vehicle. SURE I can't afford to see what might be next.
I I actually have another post on this board but my miles were way off .My door ajar light has been been staying on my interior lights wont go off but mut dinging would go out. Now my Power door locks keep repeating themselves,locking ,unlocking,locking,and so on.
Ive tried everything from silicone in the door latches,relays,fuses.everything that i've read on this or any other board for about 5 years now.
Another guy on hear led me to this and i tried it and it did work .When you open the sliding door on the right side of the opening along the frame of the van there is some contact points set in black rubber. They are suppose to be be bright silver.They may not be.Take some extra fine sand paper to them and brighten them up Do the same to the other contact points on the other side,smaller points. It worked for me ,So far it has solved my problem ive had for years.YOU notice i said 'So Far' Good Luck
Actually my problem isn't fixed yet but you wanted an answer.
My Dome light still stays on all the time and my power door locks work whenever they feel like it sometimes repeatedly maybe four or as many as six times before they finally stop. I finally had to take all my interior lights out so i would have working power windows and no dead battery.
By the way I've use silicone spray on all my sensors on my doors for years .It used to work for me to .so it thought. That doesn't work any more either. I pulled all the relays out one by one ,that did nothing,checked all fuses,nothing. Ive been reading your fixes and im ready to try anything.
When I bought my vehicle, I noticed that the previous owner removed the dome light. I later figured out it was because the door ajar light would sometimes stay on. The dome light wasn't that big of a deal, but then a few months ago the van would ding as if the door was open while the keys were in the ignition. The only thing was, the door wasn't open. It continued to ding and ding until I reached about 20 MPH and then it would stop, but then when I slowed down it would ding again. This would happen on and off until recently, then it would stop. I read the complaints on this site. It gave me an idea of how to fix it. I posted a tutorial on how to fix it along with pictures check it out:
The door chime and interior light stayed on while driving the vehicle. It was very annoying. We fixed problem by installing a new driver's side door safety switch. Do not use liquid lubricant to fix the issue!
we soldered the bottom 2 sensors together on the sliding door and it solved it !! after a year of annoying lights and dinging! my 95 did the same thing - nice to see ford putting out the same problem. my last ford for sure - hope this cheap fix helps.
I was so glad to find company in my misery. I have been telling everyone for the past few years about how whenever it rains, my car's "door ajar" beeping thing and interior light stays on the whole time you drive. Everyone in turn, from mechanics to family and friends, looked at me like I was crazy and it must be in my head, for how could the rain have anything to do with this? I have to say, it is more annoying that a gnat, or a neighbors barking dog. And, I DO believe it is a safety issue, because if it is night time, and you are trying to back out into traffic with the interior light on, it is very difficult to see. At one point, my uncle unplugged a fuse which took care of the problem. But it was the same fuse that controlled the wiper blades. Ironic huh? so I had to plug it back in the next time it rained, just in time to hear the beeping again. I have taught my children so many new words in my sentiments to Ford while driving. It is awful. Thanks for the advice, I am going to try these fix ideas...BG
I had a constant "dinging" when the key was in the ignition and the vehicle was idling or driving at a low rate of speed...after consulting a mechanic i found the following---->
If the "dinging" continues it is your drivers door that is the problem, if there is no "dinging"but the door ajar light is on and the dome light is one it is one of the other 3 doors. The "dinging"can be stopped by replacing or "lubing" the pressure switch inside the drivers door. It is connected to the door clasp mechanism(inside the door) there are 2 sets of wires one is for door looks(if equipped), the other is for the door open indicator. I have removed mine and sprayed it with WD-40, push the switch several times to make sure it is in working order and put it back inside the door. Mine has worked fine for the past 6months. The passenger side door also has the pressure switch and can be fixed with the same technique. Use a low grit sand paper on the side sliding door on both sets of contacts, this fixed my problems with them. Have had no problems with the rear door so no fix for that one...YET!!!! LOL
Problem has happened on and off over the last 5 years. Usually I get out of the vehicle and slam all 4 doors and that has fixed the problem. Now I am going to try the lubrication and also perhaps shining the contacts with a high grit sandpaper on the sliding passenger door. Not sure where the other 3 door ajar sensors are located. Are they in the lock mechanism or somewhere else. Good luck to all!
This is a matter of sanity. The door ajar light, with the faithful bell, continue to come on whenever I stop at a traffic light. Pressing the lock button, slamming the doors and whispering threats to the engine do nothing. It continues to haunt me. Fords are an embarrassment to the United States. No wonder it was easier for me to afFORD one than any other minivan. Does anybody know what the WD40 solution is? Ford should recall these, but they only recall for threats to safety... (avoiding law suits).
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
This GAWD DAMNED PIECE OF CRAP THAT FORD BUILT SHOULD BE UNDER A LIFETIME WARRANTY.....AND TRANSFERRED TO EVERY OWNER OF THE VEHICLE!
NUMEROUS....AND I MEAN....NUMEROUS, REPLACEMENT OF BATTERIES WHICH HAVE EVENTUALLY BURNT OUT THE ALTERNATOR WHICH ALSO HAS BEEN REPLACED NUMEROUS TIMES..... TRIED WD40, REMOVAL OF THE INTERIOR AND COURTESY LIGHT BULBS, SANDED OFF THE CONNECTIONS, UNHOOKED DRIVER'S SIDE SAFETY SWITCH, HAD THOROUGH WIRING CHECKED - WELL OVER $1,500.00 TO 'ISOLATE' THE PROBLEM AND STILL, THIS GAWD DAMNED THING IS STILL DOING THE SAME. I CAN'T EVEN GET IT WORKING LONG ENOUGH TO SELL OR TRADE-IN THE PIECE OF FORD CRAP! AGAIN THE BRAND NEW BATTERY & ALTERNATOR HAVE BEEN KILLED, EVEN WHEN I REMOVE THEN NEGATIVE BATTERY CABLE OVERNIGHT, IT SUCKS THE DAMNED THING DRY WHILE DRIVING THE DEALER WON'T REPLACE THE BRAND NEW ALTERNATOR OR BATTERY FREE OF CHARGE, BECAUSE IT WAS NOT THE PROBLEM, THIS F** FORD CRAP GLITCH IS FOREVER THE PROBLEM! FORD - GET YOUR CRAP TOGETHER AND START REIMBURSING THE MONEY YOUR NOW HATEFUL CUSTOMERS HAVE HAD TO SINK INTO YOUR POOR QUALITY WORKMANSHIP AND POOR QUALITY SERVICE! YOU OWE YOUR CUSTOMERS MORE THAN THE MONEY YOU RIPPED TAXPAYERS OFF BY BEGGING FOR A HAND-OUT BY THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT TO KEEP AFLOAT! THE BEST THING THAT EVER COULD HAVE HAPPENED WAS FOR THEM TO PULL THE PLUG ON YOU AND YOUR INEPT COMPANY!
- FordMAKES J., Somewhere, SK, Canada