Help! My Jeep thinks the doors are open!

[JC]

I'm driving down the highway today, and all of a sudden, my doors unlock, the courtesy lights come on, and the odometer indicator stats flashing "door". All the doors as well as the liftgate were closed. I've tried opening and shutting each door numerous times, I also disconnected the battery hoping that it would reset to no avail. No matter what I do, the courtesy light will not go off, as it thinks the doors are open. I'm afraid that it's goink to kill the battery.

Has anyone ever had this happen, and is there anything I can do, short of taking it to the dealer?

 

[Marlon_JB2]

Well this is a new one...

 

[K Dje Ryu]

Been through any deep water? Maybe the infamous "ice build up under the pedals, melting and puddling under the driver seat, where there happens to be a bundle of wires"?

 

[JC]

Been through any deep water? Maybe the infamous "ice build up under the pedals, melting and puddling under the driver seat, where there happens to be a bundle of wires"?

No, no deep water. Actually, it's the first day I've driven it in two weeks, so it hasn't been driven through anything. It has rained a lot this week, but I dont see any signs of water in the interior anywhere..

 

[DougBenn]

Well there you go! It feels neglected since you have abandoned it for 2 weeks and now wants some attention. Jeeps tend to do that when you ignore them.

 

[Bimmer_2002]

Did you touch the button to open the lights inside the car??? I had that problem with my Intrepid and it ended up being that. The car thinks the doors are open because all the interior lights are on.

 

[JC]

Did you touch the button to open the lights inside the car??? I had that problem with my Intrepid and it ended up being that. The car thinks the doors are open because all the interior lights are on.

Nope, didn't touch them. I did try to turn them off using the courtesy lights after the fact, but the lights just stay on. I just ran another errand a few minutes ago. While driving down the road, the Lib suddenly "healed" itself, by locking the doors and the lights went off. But within a minute, the doors unlocked, and the courtesy lights are back on. All this while driving a straight and steady 35 mph....

 

[JeepJeepster]

You can turn the inside lights off by turning the dim feature on the left stalk all the way down. That will take care of the lights being on.. Now figure out which door latch is bad..

 

[MoladoGuy]

Wow... It really seems as if these Jeeps go wacky if they have not been driven for some time. I had some ghostly problems after parking it for just over 1 week, Jeepster, who else.... lol

Disconnect the battery and reconnect it after 10 or so minutes. See if that helps.

 

[JC]

Wow... It really seems as if these Jeeps go wacky if they have not been driven for some time. I had some ghostly problems after parking it for just over 1 week, Jeepster, who else.... lol

Disconnect the battery and reconnect it after 10 or so minutes. See if that helps.

I tried the battery disconnect trick twice, with no luck. However, after giving up and letting it sit most of the afternoon I drove it again last night, and now it's seemed to have fixed itself again. Maybe some water got into the wrong place in the door panel or something. Or maybe it just got over being mad at me... Hopefully it will stay fixed so I can stay out of the dealer. Maybe I'll try to bribe it today with an oil change and a car wash..

The ironic thing is I bought my first Jeep to avoid stuff like this. I had a T-Bird that had electric/electronic everything, and it was always having problems from the day I bought it. So after the electronic tail lights caught fire, I decided to buy the simplest, least electronic vehicle on the market, with manual everything, a Wrangler.

 

[sevenhelmet]

I had almost the EXACT SAME PROBLEM last weekend, the EVIC thought the rear passenger-side door was open and the interior lights wouldn't go out. I had two passengers with me at the time. Later, driving by myself, the problem mysteriously fixed itself and has not returned since...

EDIT: Apologies for the thread resurrect- I didn't see the date before I posted.

 

[JeepJeepster]

Mine has been sitting for a week and I wont be driving it for another.. Hopefully the battery isnt dead and it wont be turning lights on and off on me!

 

[icarl]

I have a similar problem that lately has become worse. If I go down a bumpy road the glass light comes on, and then all the lights come on. I have to turn the dimmer switch all the way off to turn the lights off. To fix the problem I have to open and close the rear glass. This works until I hit another bump. At first I thought it was an electrical problem but sometimes if I do not stop the rear glass will just open automatically. Perhaps it is not closing properly and just needs some oil in the latch?

 

[icarl]

I had almost the EXACT SAME PROBLEM last weekend, the EVIC thought the rear passenger-side door was open and the interior lights wouldn't go out. I had two passengers with me at the time. Later, driving by myself, the problem mysteriously fixed itself and has not returned since...

EDIT: Apologies for the thread resurrect- I didn't see the date before I posted.

maybe your jeep can read minds and thought someone wanted to get out. haha.

 

[JeepJeepster]

I have a similar problem that lately has become worse. If I go down a bumpy road the glass light comes on, and then all the lights come on. I have to turn the dimmer switch all the way off to turn the lights off. To fix the problem I have to open and close the rear glass. This works until I hit another bump. At first I thought it was an electrical problem but sometimes if I do not stop the rear glass will just open automatically. Perhaps it is not closing properly and just needs some oil in the latch?

They had a recall on the 04 libertys and some other for the rear glass popping open. Im not sure what other years it covered but Im pretty sure it was no the 02's. It could still be a similar problem though. I believe the solenoid that opens the glass was getting wet and shorting out.

Im not sure about the lights on the dash coming on.

 

[2003KJ]

They had a recall on the 04 libertys and some other for the rear glass popping open. Im not sure what other years it covered but Im pretty sure it was no the 02's. It could still be a similar problem though. I believe the solenoid that opens the glass was getting wet and shorting out.

Im not sure about the lights on the dash coming on.

It did include the 03's, as next to the ball joint recall, thats the only other one my Jeep has been affected by.

 

[J-Thompson]

Well there you go! It feels neglected since you have abandoned it for 2 weeks and now wants some attention. Jeeps tend to do that when you ignore them.

not all of them
my TJ likes the week or 2 that it gets off between wheelin trips
get home and it is squeeking and rattleing
let it sit for a week or 2 and it runs like a champ
self repairing ,jeep gremlins

 

[ChiefRudy]

I had an issue like this with my 97 Taurus. There was a sensor inside the door latch that wasn't working properly and it was sticking. So when I closed the door all inside lights would stay on and the car would ding off constantly. To fix it I had to spray some lubricant into the door locks to get the sensors moving again and that fixed everything.

Are there any sensors like such inside the door latches on our KJs? I think there is but I’m not sure.

 

[JeepJeepster]

^^, yea, the switches for the doors are in the latch in the liberty.

Lots of times I will push the latch in if the door is going to be open for long periods of time with the key in the ignition. IE-working on the radio.

Just make sure you pull the door handle to unlatch it before trying to close the door!