truck thinks a door is open, and tailgate will not lock

[jeeplj8]

I am going to go out on a limb and say maybe these are related?

My door ajar light on the dash is on and the interior lights want to stay on until I put it in drive. All doors are securely shut. Is there a way to tell which door is sending the wrong message?

And I noticed at the same time the tailgate does not lock. It is latched, and appears secure, and I can here the lock solenoid when I hit lock, but it still opens. Is this is a common problem?

[tuckman]

I went to Ford and got a "liftgate remote control", it came with everything from the latches to the locking mechanism plus the door lock actuator. I found out that the door latch assembly wears out and binds up causing the door lock actuator to break its arm. So just replacing the door lock actuator is not the fix, you have to replace the latch also. By the time you buy the latch assembly and the actuator, you are at the same price as the kit. It took me about an hour to replace the whole setup, while you are in there you might find that one of the plugs to the latch has come off causing the door light.

[jeeplj8]

how much does the kit run?

[tuckman]

Originally Posted by jeeplj8

how much does the kit run?

I got mine at a Canadian dealer so the price will not be the same. If I lived in the states I would check out Tousley Ford website or go to your local dealer. This is a dealer only part and you will not find it anywhere else, trust me I tried finding something else to work. I would also advise against getting a used one from a junk yard as they may only part with the whole liftgate or the part will be old and starting to fail too. It is not the cheapest fix but in my search this was the only solution as the old latch was worn out so bad that no amount of grease was going to make it work.

I go in every 3 months and spray some lithium grease on the latch mechanism behind the liftgate handle, to keep this one from failing like the last one.

[cbubac]

just a "hope so" case senario, my door light was on and found the sensor in the right front door latch wasn't getting activated. Shot some brake clean in the latch and then some lithium grease opened and closed the door a few time and problem went away. Its a common issue we get a lot at my shop, noticed it more since I discovered my problem. The tailgate I dunno. It may be the body cpu keeps the gate from locking if the doors are opened. Just a thought.