Hey guys, I seem to be having an issue. My parents just gifted me their old 99 4Runner but it seems one of the sensors seems to be off as it keeps saying one of the doors is open. Can anyone tell me how I'd check to see which sensor is bad to fix this issue?

 

Does it tell you what door ??

If not you need to check all the switches to you find the one not working it will be closed all the time

The door that is shown to be open must have a bad switch in the door

Unless you have a short allowing one of the door switch wires to ground

The diode might be shorted as well

 

No, I never knew this was a feature in 4runners, the car in the dash just shows 2 doors open which I've always seen in older cars to mean "a" door is open, not necessarily which one.

 

There are 3 switches, one on either b pillar and one on the hatch latch. Mine only shows that one of the 5 doors is open but not which one.
Does the hatch light or dome light stay on when set on 'door', door closed? What happens when you turn the headlights on or have the key in, engine off, door closed?
door jamb switch:

bolt to remove it under the rubber cover

 

Thanks for the reply, I checked and with the dome light set to "door" the light will turn on only if the door is open, when closed, it does turn off.

I saw that the back hatch also had a dome light so switched that also to "door" and it stayed it whether the back was open or closed so I take it that's the issue? Where would I find the switch for that one? I looked around and couldn't seem to locate it.

 

Another quick check- look under the rubber boot that runs between the body and hatch. You're looking for broken wires. It'd have to be multiple to cause your problem but it takes only a minute or two to look and is common. If it's not that then it's time to dig deeper. The switch itself is inside the latch mechanism and should fail so the light wouldn't come on when on 'door'.

 

I couldn't seem to find any wires, would I have to remove any paneling to get to it? I noticed that the carpet ends under a plastic panel that has screws holding it down, would I have to remove this panel?

 

The boot with the wires she is talking about is at the very top of the liftgate between the hinges.

 

What he ^ said!
A pic of said boot:

 

Thanks, I just came from out there before seeing your post and saw this boot. How would I go about safely removing it from the body? It seems to be glued on there.

 

It's not, just gently pop it off the lip of the plastic retainer that's underneath that holds it to the body and push it aside to look at the wires underneath.
Start at the body side, that's the most likely side for breaks.

 

It shouldn't be glued. I just pulled mine off for reference. The black rubber boot is tightly fitted around a gray insert that is clipped into the hatch. It should come on off of there for you. I have had two of these trucks and have never had to go into the gate for any reason. I know that the tailgate on my 89 is a PITA to take apart. I have done it several times and the window is always in the way of what you're working on. If you do have to get in there to the switch, you are going to have to disconnect the harness and remove the gate at the hinges in order to lay it down and take it apart. If you don't just like working on stuff like this the way I do, you may want to explore the option of finding the wire that sends the door open signal and cutting or grounding it in order to solve the door open indicator issue. It's not like you are a mile away from the light when you open the hatch. You can always reach in and turn the light on when you need it.

On another note, Is that an inclinometer I see on your dash? I've never seen one on a 3rd gen. I want one!

 

Thanks, I went and pulled it a bit more and was able to get the rubber boot off. For future reference for anyone trying to do this, it's going to be a pain trying to get this boot back on that clip without taking the grey clip off. Remove the clip by taking a small flat head to two indents on the side facing you, as you push the flat head in, leverage the clip upwards out of the hole it's in.

As for the wiring, I wasn't able to see any frayed wire so I just left it as is.