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Interior Lighting Problem

scottfmc

Well-Known Member
Joined
February 8, 2011
Messages
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Location
Nashville
City, State
Spring Hill, TN
Year, Model & Trim Level
2021 Platinum
Here's a strange new problem. The interior lights on my Ex will not fade out when the door is closed. They start to fade, but then come back on immediately. The only way to shut them off while driving is to manually turn them off at the right hand overhead override switch.

Also the cargo area light will not go off at all. I had to pry it out of the wall receptacle and disconnect it.

Anyone see these issues? I'm only 125 miles in and after the initial brake issues and now this, I may already hate this truck...

Thanks!
 



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Here's a strange new problem. The interior lights on my Ex will not fade out when the door is closed. They start to fade, but then come back on immediately. The only way to shut them off while driving is to manually turn them off at the right hand overhead override switch.

Also the cargo area light will not go off at all. I had to pry it out of the wall receptacle and disconnect it.

Anyone see these issues? I'm only 125 miles in and after the initial brake issues and now this, I may already hate this truck...

Thanks!
Sounds like you have a door sensor issue take it in and make them fix it. Electrical diagnostic will most likely take more than a day so they should provide a loaner or rental. Or it's new enough tell them to take it back because you do not want a vehicle with electrical gremlins. If you wanted that your could have bought a dodge.
 






Sounds like you have a door sensor issue take it in and make them fix it. Electrical diagnostic will most likely take more than a day so they should provide a loaner or rental. Or it's new enough tell them to take it back because you do not want a vehicle with electrical gremlins. If you wanted that your could have bought a dodge.

If it was a faulty door sensor, it should tell him the door or trunk is open. If it isnt warning him on the dash that one is open, I do not believe it could be the sensor.

I had two faulty sensors on my F350. Every time it would trigger, the door open/ajar message popped up on the dash. What a pain that was because by the time I looked at the dash, it disappeared. Took a while for it to finally fault longer then a blink of an eye for me to actually catch it.
 


















No open door alerts, just wonky light behavior. Great...
I recently had an issue in my F150 where the USB ports stopped working. I guess it is kind of common that one of the computers gets weirded out and just popping out the fuse for couple of minutes and putting it back it resets it. You could try something like that. Maybe just disconnect your battery for a couple of minutes or something and give things a reboot.
 












Did you read the post I linked about the cargo light?

Peter

If the new Explorer is like my F150 the light control button that was talked about in another post (the one that turns off the dome lights when opening the door) will reset all the dome/reading/map light in the vehicle. I use it while driving to turn off the map light in the back seat if my little one turns it on for something and doesn't turn it off.

And I think that is the button he is talking about in his post.
 






For the cargo light check out this post. 3rd Row Dome / Cargo Light Stays On

Peter

Thanks Peter, but I don't think that has anything to do with it. Normal behavior without using the override button is for the all lights to come on when any door is opened and fade out when the Ex is started, right? My lights all come on, but then won't go off when the car is started. They just flicker as if they are trying to fade out, but then brighten again. The flickering continues, but the lights never go off. They will go off if the engine is stopped and the car is locked EXCEPT for the cargo light which never goes off. I did not test to see if the cargo light would go out at the end of the 10 minute time-out. The only way to shut them all off right now is to use the override button for the door lights and fully disconnect the cargo light. When its not 24 degrees out, I'm going to try the earlier suggestion to disconnect the battery for a bit to see if a "reset" will make a difference.
 






Are we talking about a 2011 Limited or a 2020 Limited??
My link about the cargo light was in response to a 2011 Limited as shown in the 1st post. The 2011 has no "override" button as referenced in the post above on a 2020 Limited.:dunno:

Peter
 






Hey
Are we talking about a 2011 Limited or a 2020 Limited??
My link about the cargo light was in response to a 2011 Limited as shown in the 1st post. The 2011 has no "override" button as referenced in the post above on a 2020 Limited.:dunno:

Peter

Hey Peter, sorry but I mis-posted this in the 2011-2019 forum. Can/should it be moved to the 2020?

Scott
 






I thought I was imagining things, but maybe not. I couldn't get mine to come on for a while, then somehow one night when I wasn't trying, it came on and stayed on.....I noticed the light in the garage when I walked out to get something. I messed with every switch in the vehicle until I finally was able to get the light to shut off....I don't have kids, and I rarely get into the back area, so I just dismissed it.....maybe there is some unwanted behavior there.
 






Hey


Hey Peter, sorry but I mis-posted this in the 2011-2019 forum. Can/should it be moved to the 2020?

Scott
You didn't mis-post it. I moved it here based on the fact that your profile shows a 2011 Limited and your "Current Ride" shows the same.

Peter
 












Vehicle at the dealer for service. Will update when resolved!
 






Vehicle at the dealer for service. Will update when resolved!
Thanks for upgrading to an Elite Explorer membership Scott.

Peter
 






Dealer advises that the fix to the lighting systems is to reprogram one of the on-board computers. He did not say which. However, they have to have both keys to the vehicle as those will have to each be reprogrammed as well. Fingers crossed...
 






Been a couple of days now since the "fix" should have been done, but no update is available. I'm thinking that the vehicle has a problem that is either outside of the Workshop Manual or the BCM is bad and they are having to order another. No one seems to know. Frustrating.
 






Yep, new BCM on the way. I hope they are not just "fishing". Part due Tuesday.
 



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Update: Nine days later and still no joy. The BCM finally arrived, but the tech is having a “communication” issue between the Integrated Diagnostic Software and the vehicle. The IDS won’t pair with the vehicle. He is waiting to hear back from Ford Hotline to figure out the issue. He thinks it’s a re-program or some sort. I have yet to drive this vehicle for an hour, and its the second one (first unit contract was flat canceled due to a major dashboard issue that cropped up immediately). Really unhappy with Ford right now.....
 






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