AJAR INDICATORS

DESCRIPTION

Door and liftgate ajar indicators are standard equipment on all instrument clusters. The ajar indications appear within the fixed segment odometer Vacuum-Fluorescent Display (VFD) unit of vehicles not equipped with a reconfigurable VFD, or in the reconfigurable VFD unit of vehicles that are equipped with the reconfigurable VFD unit option. The odometer VFD ajar indicators are textual messages that appear in place of the odometer/trip odometer information, while the indicators in the reconfigurable VFD consist of an icon representing an overhead view of the vehicle that shows the location of the condition as well as textual messages.

Both VFD units are soldered onto the cluster electronic circuit board, and are visible through windows with a smoked clear lens located at the base of the cluster overlay tachometer dial face for the odometer VFD or the speedometer dial face for the reconfigurable VFD. The dark lens over the VFD prevents it from being clearly visible when it is not illuminated. The ajar indicator textual messages or icons appear in the same blue-green color and at the same lighting level as the other information displayed in the odometer or reconfigurable VFD when they are illuminated by the instrument cluster electronic circuit board.

The ajar indicators are serviced as a unit with their VFD units in the instrument cluster.

OPERATION

The ajar indicators give an indication to the vehicle operator that one or more of the passenger compartment doors or the liftgate may be open or not completely latched. These indicators are controlled by the instrument cluster logic circuit based upon cluster programming and hard wired inputs received by the cluster from the door and liftgate ajar switches.

The ajar indicator function of the odometer or the reconfigurable Vacuum-Fluorescent Display (VFD) unit is completely controlled by the instrument cluster logic circuit, and that logic will only allow this indicator to operate when the instrument cluster receives a battery current input on the fused B(+) circuit. Therefore, the VFD ajar indications can occur regardless of the ignition switch position. The instrument cluster will turn ON an ajar indicator for the following reasons:

• Ajar Switch Input - Each time the cluster receives a door or liftgate ajar switch input indicating that a door, the liftgate or any combination of these is open or not completely latched with the ignition switch in any position, the appropriate ajar textual message or icons will be illuminated. If the cluster detects a vehicle speed input greater than zero (kilometers or miles-per-hour) while the ignition switch is in the ON or START positions, the ajar indication will be accompanied by a single chime tone. When the ignition switch is in any position except ON or START, any and all ajar indications will time out after about five minutes.

The instrument cluster continually monitors the door and liftgate ajar switches to determine the status of the doors and the liftgate. The door and the liftgate ajar switches and their circuits may be diagnosed using conventional diagnostic tools and methods. Refer to the appropriate wiring information.