1999 Ford Taurus Logo
Anonymous Posted on Feb 18, 2010

Ford Taurus SE 1999. Dome Light - Door Ajar indicator problem. This is an intermittent problem, hence far more difficult to isolate. OK. I will be thorough in describing this "set of problems" as I do not know if they are related or not. About 2 years ago the "Low Coolant" light came on. It never went off. Whether coolant level is low or not, the light stays on. (no biggie, just irritating) Then the seat belt unfastened indicator light malfunctioned. It comes on when you start the vehicle and stays on for awhile. But whether you fasten the drivers side seat belt or not, it goes off. (not a big problem and I included it in case these are all related.) Lastly, and most frustrating, is the door ajar light. Sometimes it works perfectly, and works well for days. Then the dome will stay on. The door ajar light will stay on. You can't lock the drivers side door while this is occurring, as the door will immediately unlock (only while driving). If you park and turn off the car the dome light will stay on. I will open and close the door to no avail. One night, I had to disconnect the battery to keep it from going dead. Then mysteriously, it will start working fine again, and sometimes for days. One time, while it had been working correctly for days, I got out of the car and the dome light did NOT come on. I got back in the car and started it. I left the door open, yet the dome light stayed off and the door ajar light was NOT lit. The car thought the door was closed. This only happened one time. Often, when driving with the door ajar light on and the dome light on, the car will make a audible "bing" and the dome light and ajar light will go off. The other 3 doors have zero problems. I lubed the driver's side door (wd40) and made sure it is aligned correctly. I made sure it fully latches. I do not know if it's a coincidence or not, but the door ajar light, seat belt light, and low coolant light are all located in the same area of the dash. All three indicator lights may function with the same logic controller, but I really don't know. Should I invest in a code reader? Any ideas? Please help, because when that door ajar light fails to go off, the dome light will drain the battery. During the day, it's hard to notice the dome light stayed on. I know a dealership will charge me a boat load to troubleshoot this with no guarantee of resolution. Plus, every time I've tried to demonstrate this problem to someone, the car's lights work fine. Weird. Thank you, M.N..

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  • Posted on Mar 29, 2010
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I must say that i feel your pain with this,, my door ajar light does the same thing but my dome light doesn't come on when the doors are open, i have to flick the switch on the dome light to make it come on. In my opion and i stress my opion it saounds like a issue with the body controller, im not sure what ford calls it but it controls all the body functions, i dont think the low coolant light is connected to the body contoller but i dont know this for sure, i think that light is controlled bny the engine ecm. some times a dealer can connect to the body controller and see if there are any fault codes for circuits that it controls and or monitors, also they can reflash or update the configeration and or calibration level cause ford release's fixes for issues all the time, same theory works for any control module on a vehicle. i dont think any of the auto parts stores have the right program to connect to bofy controlers but i could be wrong, worth looking into. i only put up with mine cause i use it as a beater, if you are worried about your dome light staying on and drianing your battery then you could pull out or disconnect the dome lights for the time being, its not a fix but just a band-aid.

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Same issue with my 1999 se. However if i let the car warm up in the morning for about eight minutes, dash indicator goes off and driver side door lock works perfectly and the alarm for the entire day...see if that works for you.

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