as said above i am currently outta state with my family visiting family.

I have a 2000 xls without a message center.
We hardly use the highs but 2 weeks ago when i went to use them the headlights went out completely if i put it on high beam.But if i just used flash to pass and that worked fine.I then shut of the fogs lights and tried it again and they worked,even put the fogs back on and tried the highbeams again and all worked well.I thought it must have been a fluke.

Well fast forward to tonight and we are driving and it starts to get dark out.I have just regular lighting(no daytime running lights) and turned on the lights.
All the other lights work but the regular headlights.
If i hit the "flash to pass" lever towards me the highlights do work,after i leave go of the switch no more headlights.Even if i put the lever to the highbeam area(towards the dashboard) i dont get any headlights.

All that said i need help.I already checked every fuse and relay under the hood(even swapped all the relays just to make sure non were bad).Even checked all fuses that are located by drivers door.

Any help here would be great.We are about 600miles from home and are leaving saturday night so i should be able to hit a local dealer if needed.

Extreme thanks to any and all that hopefully can help

where in PA are you ?

I have seen two different ford vehicles, an explorer and a F150, both late 90s, have this same problem. In both cases it was the turn signal/dimmer switch.

The operative word is message center. You have a lamp out warning module that is probably defective. It senses headlight current and warns when the lam is out. This only operates on the low beams. If you are really stuck, look ehind the headlight for the white/lt green wire. Splice into this wit a wire and run it directly to the battery. DO NOT USE THE HIGH BEAMS WHEN YOU DO THIS. Both high and low beas will be on and it will melt the bulb.

The operative word is message center. You have a lamp out warning module that is probably defective. It senses headlight current and warns when the lam is out. This only operates on the low beams. If you are really stuck, look ehind the headlight for the white/lt green wire. Splice into this wit a wire and run it directly to the battery. DO NOT USE THE HIGH BEAMS WHEN YOU DO THIS. Both high and low beas will be on and it will melt the bulb.

Thanks for the wiring tip.
But as stated i DONT have any type of message center,neither on the floor area or on the ceiling.

I do know that when i hit the flash to pass highbeam area the highbeam notifying light in the instrument panel does light up.

So far it looks like the vote here is the switch lever thingy :confused:
I hope the dealership has one in stock tomorrow :rolleyes:

I want to thank all that have help here with their thoughts and suggestions and tips.

And happy holidays to all.

Thanks again.

where in PA are you ?

We live north of philly and south of bethlehem/allentown ;)

Too far for me to go help :(
sorry.
I agree with the switch.

I'd deffinetly bet on the "multifunction switch"(turn signal/dimmer). Most dealerships of any size carry them because they sell more than a few. Not hard to replace.

thanks alot all.
I am hopefull the dealership will have it in.
I am going at 8am to hopefully get it.
Anyone have a link to replace it?

Thanks.

And yes i have tried searching but it is messed up i guess.