Hi guys
Started getting intermittent red light with the above warning but now it's permanent. The door is closed but warning persists and doesn't allow me to lock the car. There seems to be two "units" behind the panel but which one is it likely to be? Can other reasons be the cause?


Thanks, hopefully


Dave

 

Dave, you have a simple switch that tells the computer whether the doors are closed or not. A trick you can try is taking the switch that is attached to the door latch mechanism and give it a good squirt with WD-40. Sometimes a switch will stick and it happens to stick in the OPEN position. After that, I would say to disconnect the 2 wires off of this switch and install a jumper wire between the 2 wires in the plug. The door ajar/open indication should go away. If it does, then this confirms the door switch is bad. If it doesn't, then you are looking at some damaged wiring and this is going to require hand over handing the wiring between the switch and the computer.

If you need me to give you wire colors and whatnot, let me know. I just need to know what year your car is. If it is a 2004, then what month/year it was made so I can get the correct version of the drawings.

 

Many thanks Thermo. WD 40'd it yesterday and previously thought about jumpering the cables but totally forgot to do it when stripped down, d'oh! Will have a crack at that next. It's only a 2002 model (Champagne tastes but only beer money)

Cheers
Dave

 

Dave, well, this is not going to be of much help, but, it is what it is. You are going to find 4 black wires inside the door. They will be split 2 and 2 between 2 plugs. If you follow one set of wires, it will go to a solenoid/popper that will be attached to a cable. This undoes the lock. This should be fairly high up on the door. The other one will run down to near the latch mechanism. This is the one that you are interested in. This is the "Door Ajar" switch.

One other check that you can do is to look on the plug and see if you spot a "1" and a "2". If you can, you can install a jumper wire between "1" and chassis ground. If you find that jumpering 1 to 2 will not cause the door ajar light to clear, but going 1 to chassis ground does, then your problem lies in the ground wire running from 2 to the body. This could simply be caused by a rusty lug inside the door. The fix is to simply remove the lug, clean it up using a wire brush or other suitable item to get the lug back to shiny silver (in extreme cases, a new lug may be needed) and then clean up the post that it gets attached to (in extreme cases, a new bolt on the door will need to be used to provide a better ground point.

Hope this provides you with enough info that you can get this fixed fairly easy.

 

Thanks again Thermo! The problem was the top one with two wires. I have, temporarily, joined the 2 wires which has removed warning and enables me to lock the car. Typical me though, I managed to break the plastic bit the metal linkage goes to on the handle. The car passed it's MOT on Friday so I have 1 year and 3 days to replace it. Loads of them on fleabay but not many two-tone HGG but, as I said, no rush now.
Thanks for all your time Thermo
Dave

 

Not a problem. Keep an eye out and I am sure you will find what you need.