Door ajar lights H3

[artjackson]

Noted some old discussions on the "door ajar" light illuminating and creating havoc with dome lights and head lights. Anyone have any new and definite fixes for this problem? My H3 just started it and no GM dealer wants to admit he's ever heard of it. Let me know if anyone has a fix for it. THKS

[Mark]

Could be that the rear door latch needs adjusting.

[RKSmith163]

I don't know how your door ajar indicator would have anything to do with headlights. The switch on the tailgate is normally the first on to go bad. They are about $12.00 and are very easy to change. They are called door jamb switches.

[artjackson]

Could be that the rear door latch needs adjusting.

Thanks for the response Mark. I have tried all of the doors. The failure seems to migrate from one door to another and at times there are no responses from any of the doors. I have attempted to activate the switches manually, with no results. I took it to Palm Chevrolet in Punta Gorda, FL. The technician went around and opened each door and indeed when the front passenger door turned it off, he was convinced that was the end of it and spoke as if I was an idiot. I read one report about a Body Control Module (BCM) near the light switch on the instrument panel that can cause the problem. I am now interested in determining the difficulty of gaining access to the module. It seems it must fail entirely for a technician to accept it as the problem Thanks again

[schyl3r]

that is really weird, the technician should know what's goin' on. it's better to read the module a little bit then fix it yourself. ugh!

[artjackson]

Well, here it is June 25 and the problem is back. It seems to appear during rainy days and then go away when it dries up. It appears this is becoming a major problem with H3 owners. Some events more dramatic than others. I guess I will capitulate and pay the $540 they want to replace the Body Control Module (BCM) and hope it fixes the problem. I like my Hummer and don't wish to dispose of it, but I need/want reliable transportation. I have spent a small fortune on keeping every little thing maintained on it and people exclaim how it looks brand new. It now has 102,000 miles and runs like it was new. I just hope another $540 will be worth the investment. The dealers are not warranting that it will fix the problem.

[RKSmith163]

I still think it could be a door jamb switch. They can be intermittent. Buy a couple and start with the tailgate.

[artjackson]

FOUND MY PROBLEM:

It seems that when my vehicle was being assembled the wire harness installer allowed three wires to lie across a frame seam located along the entry way of the front right passenger door. This area is covered by a plastic threshold cover, which can be easily removed by upward pressure to relieve the plastic retainers underneath it. It seem these three wires were circuits for the Door Ajar switches, a tail light and a circuit to the Body Control Module. After a few years of entries into and out-of the vehicle these wires became chaffed to the point of making contact with the metal frame. It appears that during dry conditions, not sufficient grounding occurred. However, when the entire underframe became damp and/or wet it created a condition which permited the wires to be grounded completing and/or breaking a circuit. This sent an incorrect signal to the BCM creating a situation resultant of a door ajar, when there really wasn't.

If any member is having similar problems; it is very simple to check this out. Simply pop off the plastic cover along the bottom of the door way and inspect the wire bundle. Thanks to Matt Wagoner, Service Assistant and Glen, Electrical System technician at Bill Buck's Chevrolet in Venice Florida for their persistance and for their acceptance of my report of the problems experienced and to Tropical Storm Debbie for keeping the problem alive during their search for the problem. I have photo of the corrected cable. Unfortunately I don't know how to post it to this message.

[RKSmith163]

Glad you got it fixed. Thank you for the information.

[Mark]

Would have never thought to look there, nice work finding it guys. We are still behind on rain but TS Debby sure has provided us with PLENTY this week