04 Dodge Ram

Door ajar light comes off and on several times as doesinterior light and it seems only way to stop it is to open close the door a fewtimes with button and then it stays off. When I bought the truck the back passengerside power lock did no work and just about a month back the back driver sidestopped working and it seems that my battery gauge is sitting way higher than normal.I know these trucks are bad for door wiring breaking in the rubber boot betweenthe door and pillar so I am going to start there as soon as it warms up.

I’m in Winnipeg Canada and the wind-chill today will be -43C or for my American friends on here ,colder than a witches tit. Not very conducive to fumbling around withlittle wires. I heard they used 16 gauge wire which is prettyflimsy and pretty cheap of Dodge. I also have seen pictures where they used theminimal amount of wire and it was tight as hell.

So I removed fuse 22 which provides power to the power locksto see if gauge would back to normal. Nope. So my question is can I remove the fuse for the power windows and check gaugeand then if no effect move onto removing the fuse for the power mirror, heatand finally the fuse for the stereo each time checking the gauge to see if itgoes back to normal? I have a booster pack and have had to boost it 2 days inrow -30 C over night last couple of days and whatever isshorting out it’s enough to draw the battery down just below being able tostart it.

Any ideas on determining where the short is, because therear driver’s side door was latest to **** the bed I think I will start there. Anywords of wisdom form you electrical gurus would be appreciated. Too cold to bpissing around boosting truck every morning. Thanks

 

Two things. One if there was a broken wire it would happen all the time. I suspect the door switch it self. Second if you battery is not in good condition the charging system has to work harder

 

Well I have 2 back doors that the power locks don't work (I assume broken wires??) 1 that just stopped working a week or so before the door ajar business started, the speaker in the passenger back does not work and the front drivers side as well (More broken wires??) but I can control all 4 windows from drivers door switch so those seem ok. The battery is only a year old and not sure if your familiar with -32 C but even a brand new battery will be at half cranking amps in 8 hours. Factor in the wind chill and were talking brutal cold North Pole kind of chit.


What normally occurred was once I put truck into drive and hit a certain speed the doors would lock and the way we go. Now when I hit that certain speed the interior + dash message "door ajar" light comes on and the truck keeps trying to lock the door and the door ajar light keeps coming on and interior light too. If I pressed the unlock button it would stop after a few more tries to lock and light would stay off. I Removed the fuse for power locks to see if the power gauge would go back to normal reading and once I get up to speed interior comes on dash says door ajar and If I hit the close door button once lights dim and don't see the message again until I have put truck in neutral or park and then got going again.


I think with all the things that are not working the combination of them is drawing the battery lower. I took post off last night it was a balmy -34 C and she started up no problem this am. I have a bad short somewhere. I was hoping to pull the fuse on the power windows and see if the gauge corrected itself on the dash but I cannot as its also the power supple for the ignition. So now I have to wait tell next Tuesday -2 C. I can stand outside and hack that for a few hours but this -40 C working on the truck. No thanks I will stay inside drink beer and watch hockey instead.

 

Ok Update took the back drivers door and pulled the rubber boot back and viola 4 broken wires and the rest were repaired using those crush collar deals which is a garbage fix job as the wire is tight as hell. So I am gong to repair everyone by adding a small amount of wire, solder and then shrink warp and tape the whole deal up. I am betting every door has a few broken wires. Been warm last couple of days so going to go hard tonight and try and get both back doors done then check out the front. Let you know what else I have found.

 

Get ready to fix it again in a few months!! I've repaired mine several times, only to have the same wire break an inch away from the repair!! Stupid!!!

 

Checked the Passenger rear door and it too had 4 broken wires. Fixed those up but still no power door lock working on that side. Speakers work now and cargo light works when I open the door. I add some wire so its not so bloody tight. Come summer going to replace all doors anyway as there rusty. I went to junk yard and scored the pig tails for all 4. Going to rewire each door with 18 gauge and make sure there is slack in the wire. Never going thru this again nor will next guy that buys the truck from me when I am done.


Question what is the voltage to the door switch's mechanism full 12 volts or less?