99 Explorer Turn Signal Smoking out of column

Hello Everyone,
I have a 99 explorer and have a couple of electrical problems. Before I go to the dealer I wanted to see if you all may be able to give me some help in fixing this myself.
A couple months ago I noticed we had a rear brake light out. So I went and bought the bulbs and discovered it wasnt the bulb that was broken. Next stop was the fuse block... No blown fuses? What the hell?
So theres my first problem....

Secondly, my wife had noticed that sometimes the turn signal would stop working and/or stay lit when she would use it... No biggy.
But when smoke started coming out of the steering column whenever this happened, I realized we may have a bigger problem on out hands.
I already searched the recalls and theres nothing related to either problems.
Can someone help me fix these wiring gremlins myself?
TIA!!
Matt

Not sure about the brake light, but the smoke and turn signal issue is a faulty Multi-Function Switch (MFS). VERY common issue on the Gen 2 Explorer. I have a 2000 w/ 117,000 miles and I'm about to replace mine for the second time. Pretty easy repair. Here is the link to the write-up.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=137784&highlight=MFS

Good luck and welcome to the forum!

BTW, you'll see lots of people tell say "use the seach feature". Our forum has a great one, so if you know what item is giving you a problem, try that first. For one thing, you won't have to wait for an answer that way. But if you can't find it, or don't know what to search for, post away. We're happy to help.

Thank you so much for the reply Jeff, and sorry about that, I will use the search function now for the brake light issue..
Looks like switching out the MFS should do the trick!

Gee, guess I should have read this first. Sorry about my other post!

Matt, good luck with the brake lights. Glad I could help.

No worries jackal.... you were just proving my comment about this being a VERY common issue.

Well there is a recall right now for something with the cruise control wiring, where it can suddenly catch fire. If you need to get this checked out and haven't yet, i'd get that done right away.

Gator Jeff said:

Matt, good luck with the brake lights. Glad I could help.

No worries jackal.... you were just proving my comment about this being a VERY common issue.

Click to expand...

That it seems... If it's that common, I wonder how many people have had this problem and thought their car was on fire...