Question on Front Running lights and turn signals

[NRA Life Member]

My wife has a 2014 Explorer Limited that has 83,000+ miles. Most everything has been perfect up until yesterday when we noticed that when we put the right turn signal on, the blinker went very fast like a burnt out light bulb. Saw a reflection in the car in front of us and sure enough the front bulb wasn't blinking so I thought it was burned out. Got home and checked the bulb and it is perfect. Ohm'd it out just to make sure I wasn't seeing things. It the vein of trouble shooting, the front left turn signal bulb isn't blinking either but the blinker speed is normal. I put on the emergency flashers and no front blinking lights. All the rear bulbs are working perfectly. As I watched my wife leave this morning in the dark, none of her front running light bulbs are on. Only the headlights were working. I should also note that the led's in the mirrors work as they are supposed to when the hazards or turn signals are on. I've searched the forums and youtube but nothing comes up on this problem. Any ideas where to look?? We checked fuses and relays and all seems good. Boy that fuse box is a pain in the rear to get to.

 

[Jon M]

Did you check the under hood box as well? There are a couple of turn/park light fuses/relays. My best guess, from what you've described, is #77. That's assuming you also checked the rear and confirmed they are working?

 

[thefranchise713]

If the bulbs and fuses are OK for sure and they're still not lighting, a FET might have tripped and shut down the output to protect the circuit. Query the BCM for codes.

 

[peterk9]

Did you check the under hood box as well? There are a couple of turn/park light fuses/relays. My best guess, from what you've described, is #77. That's assuming you also checked the rear and confirmed they are working?

#77 is Trailer tow park lamps relay. There are several fuses/relays for Trailer Tow but I don't know if they actually affect or are tied into the vehicle's lighting system itself. Interesting though.

Peter

 

[NRA Life Member]

I did check the relays under the hood. You can feel and hear them working I suppose because the rear lights are flashing as normal. I do have a code reader and will try that when I get home but the check engine light is not on indicating a code.

 

[thefranchise713]

You need to use FORScan or higher end scan tool, not just a generic OBD-II code reader that only pulls emissions/check engine light related codes.

 

[JAPeterson]

Did you check the socket for voltage and check the ground at the socket also.

 

[NRA Life Member]

I did not check for ground or voltage at the socket. Only continuity through the bulb to make sure it was still good on both elements. It's odd that both front running lights/ turn signals/ emergency flashers all go out so sudden when all the rear lights are working perfect.

 

[Odrapnew]

Have you tried new bulbs? I know you check continuity, but they could be failing, but not completely failed. Long shot, but if bulbs are cheap, worth a try.

I had a car that blew out both rear tail lights at the same time. I thought it was odd that they both went out, but I replaced them and they worked for another 50k miles, so it was just a fluke.

 

[thefranchise713]

Bulbs often fail in pairs, so it's not implausible that they failed at nearly the same time.

On my Taurus, my marker bulbs went out within a week of each other.