fiesta zetec 2004 - door open light stays on, unable to lock car

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Thu 25 Aug 2016 15:09
fiesta zetec 2004 - door open light stays on, unable to lock car - michmc100

Hi. I have an intermittent fault on my 2004 zetec. It only seems to happen when it has rained or when I use my washers to clear windscreen. The door open light comes on and stays on even when all doors are shut, then I am unable to lock car. The central locking (not remote). I have to put key in door to lock, but as soon as I turn key to lock it instantly unlocks itself. I have read loads of threads and it seems there is no easy solution, it looks a bit like trial and error. Someone did say that he was aware that there was a fault with the windscreen seals perishing on some models, enabling water to ingress onto gem board (whatever that means) which would make sense in my case re using the washers. I belive water is getting in somewhere. But I don't know where to start. And if I take to a garage I feel I would be ripped off. Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

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Thu 25 Aug 2016 19:35
fiesta zetec 2004 - door open light stays on, unable to lock car - elekie&a/c doctor

The Gem unit (general electric module),is situated above and to the right of the accelerator pedal.These rarely give trouble and i have never seen one with water ingress.The problem is more likely to be related to a door or tailgate "door open"contact .These are located on each door striker plate and on the tailgate door latch.

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Fri 26 Aug 2016 17:38
fiesta zetec 2004 - door open light stays on, unable to lock car - michmc100

Okay. Thanks for the info. alot of the other posts said about the latches being the problem, where although the doors were closed the latch wasn't going in deep enough to tell the computer it was closed. How would I know if that was the case, or is it just trial and error. Is there a test I can do. I recently had a diagnostic test done for another fault and it wasn't picked up then, although at that time the light wasn't on and all was normal. It's hard because it is intermittent and not continuous.

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Fri 26 Aug 2016 22:33
fiesta zetec 2004 - door open light stays on, unable to lock car - galileo

Okay. Thanks for the info. alot of the other posts said about the latches being the problem, where although the doors were closed the latch wasn't going in deep enough to tell the computer it was closed. How would I know if that was the case, or is it just trial and error. Is there a test I can do. I recently had a diagnostic test done for another fault and it wasn't picked up then, although at that time the light wasn't on and all was normal. It's hard because it is intermittent and not continuous.

The 'door closed' sensor isn't the latch, it's a little plunger somewhere on the shut surface, has a black rubber dust cover: take the cover off, take the gadget out and check the contacts aren't corroded/wire intact etc.

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