Interior light stays on

[mike]

Strange. I get in and the interior light comes on as it should with the switch in the flat middle position. Start the truck, put it in gear, head down the road... at no point does the light go out. Toggle the interior switch to "on" then back to the flat/middle position and it goes out.

I have looked around at all the other settings and interior switches and don't see anything thag would cause this. Thoughts?

Sponsored

 

[mike]

Brought the truck in on Tuesday. They never called me Wednesday so Thursday I called and they told me to pick up, nothing wrong was found.

Talked to the service lead on my truck...he wasn't the one who checked it out but the person I showed the truck to when I brought it in. He said they couldn't duplicate it...I'm talking to him while my truck is delivered and left running. Tell him, I had been seeing this issue for 3 weeks and in fact it had done it one morning I had just opened the door, got something out and closed the door. Tail lights, daytime lights, dash and interior all came and the cycled off after a minute or so...except the over the dash interior light.

Anyway, go get in my running truck, close the door and...light is on. Sit their for a couple minutes..light still on. Roll the passenger window down and call the service lead over to have a look. He then calls over his electrical expert who gets in and futz's around. Looks like it only does it when it's cold or hasn't been started in a while. If that's the case, open the door, both interior lights come on (the interior light in the middle of the ceiling and the light over the dash. The middle light will go out and the light over the dash will stay on.

Cycle the off/on switch on the over the dash light and the light goes out. Open the door, both lights come one. Close the door and both lights go out as they should. Now that it is warm, there is a good chance that stopping the truck completely, get out for 5 minutes, come back and the system works as it should. My guess is, the technician cycled the light, then stopped and started the truck and couldn't duplicated after a couple tries.

He mentioned a few things that it could be..corrupt programming, faulty something or other.. They still have the truck and will do some diagnostics today.

Also mentioned about when I brought my truck in for those multiple error codes that prevented my truck from starting for 5 minutes and said it could have been a few things like Network congestion.

Cars got better with fuel injection and electronic ignition and power windows but now, they are just way too complicated.

 

[mike]

whats the network have to do with starting your truck?

Im confused and likely showing my lack of computer saavy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAN_bus

 

[mike]

those days are longgggg gone

 

[HenryMac]

those days are longgggg gone

I'd grab a 10mm wrench and unhook the negative cable from the battery for a few minutes... then hook it back up and see if the problem goes away.

Kind of like re-booting your home computer when it does wanky stuff.

I carry a 10 mm wrench in the console... don't leave home without it.

Hope that helps.

 

[Recoil1]

Have you tried to push the map lights in while this is happening?

 

[mike]

I'd grab a 10mm wrench and unhook the negative cable from the battery for a few minutes... then hook it back up and see if the problem goes away.

Kind of like re-booting your home computer when it does wanky stuff.

I carry a 10 mm wrench in the console... don't leave home without it.

Hope that helps.

We have two cars so no problem dropping it off at the dealer. I'm not even pissed about it...not like a faulty injector, leaning suspension, etc. Just following up.

 

[mike]

Have you tried to push the map lights in while this is happening?

Map lights..ya..that's the words I was looking for. That's what I called the "lights over the dash".

Yes, if the light stays on, you can push the map light off, then back to the neutral position and it will go off. That's not the way it should work though. With the switch in the neutral/flat position, the map lights and interior overhead light should come on when the door is opened, then go off automatically after the car is started. If the car is running, the lights should come one then go off automatically when the door is closed. That's not happening.

Anyway..see what the service department comes up with today.

 

[HenryMac]

I'd grab a 10mm wrench and unhook the negative cable from the battery for a few minutes... then hook it back up and see if the problem goes away.

Kind of like re-booting your home computer when it does wanky stuff.

I carry a 10 mm wrench in the console... don't leave home without it.

Hope that helps.

We have two cars so no problem dropping it off at the dealer. I'm not even pissed about it...not like a faulty injector, leaning suspension, etc. Just following up.

Maybe mention it to them then? It's easy peazy.

Good luck.. hope they figure it out.

 

[Recoil1]

Map lights..ya..that's the words I was looking for. That's what I called the "lights over the dash".

Yes, if the light stays on, you can push the map light off, then back to the neutral position and it will go off. That's not the way it should work though. With the switch in the neutral/flat position, the map lights and interior overhead light should come on when the door is opened, then go off automatically after the car is started. If the car is running, the lights should come one then go off automatically when the door is closed. That's not happening.

Anyway..see what the service department comes up with today.

You're absolutely correct, however those lights also work independently from that switch. You can turn one or the other on/off by themselves by pushing the outer edge the light itself upward. You may already know this, I just never saw it mentioned.

 

[mike]

Well, they checked it out and said it was a Body Control Module. That was last Friday. They needed me to bring in my second key to get them both re-coded. Brought those in Saturday.

Monday, didn't hear anything so called in and was told the technician was sick. Wednesday I called and found out the technician supposedly had a heart attack but was at work Tuesday.

Called yesterday and asked for the service lead to give me a call/leave a message letting me know the status. He called and said they are waiting on Ford Hotline to get back to them. lol

Take your time guys. That's 1 week down.

 

[Recoil1]

I know that feeling all too well. Mine was in the shop 33 days for a wire short due to delays by the ford hotline.

 

[mike]

Well, wasn't the body control module. Ford has a code update that's supposed to fix it. Thursday they will receive and install so see how that goes. If they have a code fix, I am guessing they have been able to duplicate the conditions.

 

[mike]

Well they were supposed to call yesterday and didnt so called this morning from the airport.

Apparently, they did the update but it "didn't all take" but the lights are now working normally. Doesn't give me a warm and fuzzy that some parts of the program update didnt take and the service manager didn't seem very confident in his explanation. just have to wait for a week when I get back to get more details.

 

[mike]

Just got back yesterday so went by this morning to pick up the truck and still not ready. I misunderstood the service manager. The update that didn't completely update but apparently fixed the light issue wasn't the final answer (makes sense, that just wasn't made clear at the time). Apparently Ford is still making code changes and there might be a new version uploaded to the server today. If so, they'll give it another shot.

Sponsored