Hi all, I have discovered a slight problem, while driving to a friends house today, my interior dome light and footwell lights came on. I thought that I might have just accidentally turned them on, so I switched them off and continued on. Several minutes later, the lights came on and my passenger window dropped slightly like the door had been opened! so, at the next stop light, I opened the door and re-closed it; thinking that may have left it open.

No Dice. about five minutes later the window started going up and down repeatedly and each time the interior lights turned on and off each time the window went down and up. This continued to do this the entire night luckily the window stopped, but my lights kept turning on and off:impatient .

What I am trying to figure out is if there is a sensor that tells the car whether or not the door is open. I am afraid that I might need to replace this sensor if one exists...

If anybody has had similar problems, or knows of a fix, please let me know! I would rather not take the car to the dealer Thanks all, and I really look forward to any solutions that might come up!

-Chase

 

i have seen this problem before a couple of times...

the door lock actuator tells the body contol module(BC1) that the door is open. it could be anything really but most probably one of those 2 items. the passenger door lock actuator(lock) or the BC1.

 

Thank you! I'm going to have to open up the door panel to see if all wiring is tight and dry, this really helps me find where to look! Again, Thanks!

-Chase

 

How old is the car? Possible symptom of a dying battery??

 

The car is an '03 built in October of '02, so, about 5 years old. I'm glad you've asked this, I really should check the battery...

-Chase

 

That sounds really creepy...

 

could be the door pinch switch. its a round button on the door jam. they are usually cheap and easy to replace.

 

Whereabouts? That was the first thing that I thought of, however when I checked (albeit quickly being as I was in the rain and it was dark) but I didn't find/feel one

-Chase

 

the minis don't have those, they use the door lock actuator for that.

oh and yes check you battery first... duh dumb of me

 

Battery? Fuse box junction large plug might be getting moisture and thus some corrosion (unplug, spray with electrical contact cleaner and re-connect).

 

Just had exactly the same problem on my '02 Cooper S with the added bonus that the jumping window was setting the alarm off when 'locked'.

Wiping down the latch in the door and a liberal spray of WD40 seems to have fixed the problem for the moment (fingers crossed!).

 

Well, I was able to check the battery today, it is just fine, and the contacts are a-ok. I was switching out steering wheels, accidentally closed my hatch and wasn't able to get it open! Turns out I also don't have the emergency hatch release cable!

Once I get finished with my finals this week, I will open up the door panels and see what could be possibly messing things up. I'll keep everybody updated! Thanks so much for all of the help!

-Chase