Hello!

I have a 2002 Durango, 2WD, V8.

I'm having very strange problems with my interior lights staying on, as well as the door "chime". I have to take out the fuse when I'm not driving, plus I can't leave it out, because it affects my brake lights as well.

I believe it must be something to do with the ignition or maybe the place on the door where it tells the car the door is closed, but I'm no mechanic.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

 

any ideas where the door jamb switch is located? I've looked around and couldn't locate it.

 

Well as far as it being a common problem, no. I've only heard and seen it a handful of times and theres a lot of other problems that go in the category of common.

The only way it can be a door problem is if the door ajar light in the dash comes on. If not, check and make sure your dome light dimmer isn't all the way turned up.

If the door ajar light is on, unfortunately is it in the door latch mechanism. There is no isolated switch that controls when the dome lights come on, it's just the entire lath mechanism in the door. They are moved by 2 T25 (IIRC) screws that keep it in and you must remove the door panel to remove it.

There is really no way to test each of the door latches without removing them and testing resistance because the wires are so hard to get to.

Of course if it says Gate Ajar, you know where to start. LOL

 

Thanks for the info. It doesn't indicate that any door or gate is open. So basically this is going to cost me a fortune to fix most likely. It may be time to retire old Betsy. I don't want to do that because she's got low mileage for an '02 (88K). Just my luck!

 

Well no it shouldn't cost a fortune. It could be something as simple as the dimmer assembly. I'd get it checked out by a good mechanic and see what they think.

Things like this are hard to diagnose over the Internet without being able to run different tests. More than likely it's a short somewhere or something stupid, trust me. If worse comes to worse the CTM is shot and you have the mechanic ship a new one and get it re-flashed.

 

I'm really thinking it has something to do with the ignition instead, because the door chime rings when I just open the door (which it never did) when there are no keys in the ignition (even after removing fuse). I guess I'll have to bring it in for servicing. Thanks for the insight.

 

Take it to an auto electric shop and give them an hour to diagnose the problem and let you know what they found in that hour. Boom $75 to find the problem. If they need more time ask them if they have a good lead on the problem and give them 1 more hour. 2 hours at a reputable auto electric shop will typically give you an answer.

 

The switches are located in the locking mechanism in the door. You have to replace the entire malfunctioning lock assembly.

 

Same problem. Ever figure out what the real problem was?

 

You won't believe it, but it was only the interior light dimmer switch that was on. That's all that was wrong with it. I thought I had checked that at first, but then my husband checked it and apparently I missed the fact that it was on just enough to create havoc.

Hope that's all it is for you too.