I have a 1997 Town & Country 3.8 LXi with a Braun Wheelchair conversion.

A while back I notice the parking lights were on after I got out of the van. It was the middle of the day and I didn't even have the headlights on during that drive. Because the I exit via the sliding door with the ramp, I almost never have a reason to open the drivers door. So I don't know if this started at the same time or not, but any time the drivers door is opened that chime sounds. I'm guessing that these 2 things are related. My only thought was the "key in ignition" switch was bad and the van thought the key was always there.

Today I replaced that switch and even with the connector to that switch disconnected, the problem still happened.

Some more details:
The ding only happens when I open the drivers door (which I almost never do so I don't care much about that) but the parking lights come on when any door is opened and then stay on for 3 minutes (I timed it). As far as I can tell all of the door ajar switches work fine. When any door is opened, the door ajar light comes on and then goes off as soon as the door is shut. The tail gate door open indicator also works as expected.

From all I have been able to figure out the only electrical changes made by the wheel conversion by Braun were rerouting of the tail lights and other wiring that gos to the rear of the vehicle and, of course, the addition of circuits and switches to control the non factory motorized door and ramp. The Steering and pedals are all standard factory controls, as I am able to operate the standard driving controls fine. As near as I can tell the only link any of that might have to the factory wiring is that the motorized sliding door switch is deactivated unless the car is in park. The remote for that system is different and independent of the car's remote.

It does have the factory alarm system in it too.

So my question is what else could cause the door chime and the parking lights to come on and stay on for 3 minutes?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

 

Looks like a feature my Voyager has. When I stop the car and remove the key to get out BEFORE I kill the light switch, the lights stays on for 3 minutes.
It's a feature meant for having some light at night when you walk towards your door in the dark.
I can avoid that the light stays on by switching of the light before I kill the engine and remove the key.

 

That is not the problem here. It happens weather the lights are on or not. Even happens when any door is opened if the car has been sitting for days. Also it didn't always do that. In addition the door chime always happens when the driver do is open it doesn't matter if the key is in or out lights on or off it happens every time the drivers door is opened.

 

Hi cdw3423,

That sounds to me like the light switch rather than anything else. The ding I believe is to tell you, you've left the light switch (parking light switch) on and I suspect the 3 minutes is a cut-off to save battery life.

My first thoughts? Rattle the light switch between off, park and dipped beam as I'm wondering if it's sticking (electrically, probably not physically) in the park position somehow.

Only a guess though as don't have any more evidence to back it up and don't have my own GV back yet to test for you here.

 

If the switch was stuck, wouldn't the lights be on when the engine was running? I figured that switch wasn't an issue because the lights go on and off normally when I'm in the van and the doors are closed. I could try a few other test and see.