procker
New Reader
2/13/09 9:57 a.m.
So my manager at work has a '97 Ford Taurus that has been acting strange lately. The interior lights stay on, and the dash panel warning light for 'door ajar' stays on when the car is running, and after it is turned off. The interior lights stay on when the car is parked, and he is sick of jumping his car every time he wants to leave. He is now just disconnecting his battery whenever he parks his car to avoid it draining.
QUESTION: Is this a simple fix such as a fuse? Is it a bad door closed sensor? How can I help him to fix this problem?
thanks dudes and dudettes
Pretty much points to a bad dome light switch. Problem is, which one? 
procker
New Reader
2/13/09 10:19 a.m.
funny thing is, my manager took out all of the interior lightbulbs from his car lol...still, I'm gonna go check out his car on my lunch break...thanks!
I recall a similar situation with my '99. We turned the dome switch to off, it had a 3 position switch in the dome assembly. As for the Door switch, it would read closed after a few minets. you might beable to get away with pulling a relay.
Hold on to your hats, boys.
Get your trusty WD-40 with the extension tube on it.
Open each door.
Spray WD-40 into the door LATCH (where it meets the striker post, on the DOOR, not on the car body, in the key hole, near the handle, etc. Go nuts. Soak it thoroughly in WD, make sure everything gets sprayed.
Close each door.
Open each door.
Close each door.
Open each door.
Close each door.
Open each door.
Close each door.
Open each door.
Close each door.
Open each door.
Close each door.
Open each door.
Close each door.
Now the dome lights and door ajar indicator light will function perfectly for years to come!
Aha. That means it has the switches that are piggybacked on the latches, like a Ranger.
Something similar happened to our '96 Taurus wagon, where it would drain the battery whenever it was parked. Whenever my dad parked it, he would pull a fuse to prevent this. I was too young to remember which fuse or what the problem turned out to be, but 93gsxturbo's post sounds plausible.
I used to own a 98 Sable and have personally fixed 5 cars with this method. One of my friend's family used to have 3 96-99 Taurii in their stable.
