Killing the Door Chime?

My 98 chimes any time the driver's door is open. I don't have the speed/chime problem others talk about in the forum.

Why does this thing think the key is in the ignition when it's not? And how do you kill the chime, assuming I can order parts to fix this. I've looked up under the dash but it's not easy to locate the source of the dinging.

Thanks!

The '99 had some electrical changes ... so the chime may not be located the same.

The way I use my '99 van, camping trips, etc; there are many times I need to have the doors open and key in ignition. The loudness of the chime was running me bonkers... the thing was definitely designed for the hard of hearing...and no way I could find to reprogram the loudness level.

So...I found the sounder located on the back of the instrument panel (a bit of work to remove) and squeezed some RTV inside the little rascal. This action brought the sound level down to something I can live with. I chose not to remove the sounder as the on-board controller might be alert to that.

I had the same kind of issue with mine for a while, till I read somewhere to spray WD-40 into all the door latches (into each door and frame of van for each door) I did it, opened and closed each door, including the back gate with the WD-40 in there, a few times, and presto. No more incessant chiming. Give it a try; can't hurt.

I had thought it couldn't figure out that the key wasn't in too.... The WD-40 worked. It was the door latches all along. *smile*

My '97 has a worn out keyswitch... the wife can turn the engine on and pull the key out, leaving the van running keyless. Kinda neat except for the fact that if she doesn't positively engage that off position, the switch is still in the "run" mode, at least partially, and you get the stupid bonging. Something to consider.