Console lights and alert sound when the car is open

Sounds like that dr. door switch needs to be shimmed out about the thickness of a washer.

Should I attempt to do this myself or should I get someone else to? I just don't want to f*ck up my damn door and then have to get the whole thing fix!! Now is that for both or just the sound?

There I a common problem with the Ranger door switches I had a similar problem with my 95 Ranger. Does your interior light stay on also?

The door switches are inside the door and either get dirty or corrode. The switches are located just behind the door latch mechanism at the rear edge of your door. I'm not talking about the striker mounted to the body, but the latch assembly that is operated by your door handle.

Spray electrical contact cleaner into the latch area at the rear edge of the door. You will probably find a small hole near the latch assembly that a spray nozzle tube can fit inside. You can also use WD-40; but, contact cleaner is better. Spray liberal amounts of cleaner inside both door latches, open and close the doors 1/2 dozen times each after and see if that fixes it. Mine hasn't had a problem in several years since I did that.

If the lights FAIL TO TURN ON, then suspect a fuse. When the lights are on, the fuse must be good, and the failure to turn off is caused by something else.

And the other question is,

Being a girls should not prevent you from knowing how stuff works. Being a boy prevents me from learning how to operate a vacuum, but that's another story.

Your Ranger sounds like it is having problems with the Door Switch. When the door is closed, the lights that remain on should turn off because of the door switch. The chime that you hear should be silenced by the same switch.

Back in the olden days when I was selling gasoline for $0.32 per gallon (and long after for some cars) the door switch was simply a plunger in the door jamb that the door hit when it was closed. You can press such a switch with your finger and mimic the door opening and closing.

Current technology likes to go crazy with microswitches. They can now mount a microswitch on the door latch mechanism that does the same job as the old tried-and-true plunger.

You test the plunger-type switch by depressing it with your finger. If it works this way, then you have to determine the adjustment strategy and make the adjustment in the direction so the door hits the plunger sooner.

You test the microswitch-in-the-door-latch system by manipulating the latch with a screwdriver -- or your finger if you are strong enough. Notice that the latch has claws that wrap around a post on the door frame. To test, you close the claws just as if the door was latching on the post. BUT DO IT SLOWLY. Notice if the interior lights respond or not, then see what happens when you move the claw(s) beyond the point where they would lock around the post. If you can move the claws beyond the locking point, and then the lights respond to the Door Closed condition you just recreated, then you need to try spraying a suitable cleaner inside the latch to see if you can free the sticky linkage inside. Odds favor this failing, and you will need to remove the interior door panel to gain access to the latch mechanism. With the mechanism removed, you will be able to identify the linkage that operates the switch, and affect the needed cleaning/repairs.

I drive a BMW that recently had a similar problem, the interior lights and other functions related to the Door Closed condition failed to operate. The microswitches in my car turned out to be okay, but the linkage operating them was very dry and sticky. My BMW is a '94, which is not much different than your Ranger. I found that I could make the functions operate each and every time when I manually operated the claws. You can test your truck without taking anything apart.

You mean, like a man?

I just

Such language spewing from those lips!