06 mountaineer hvac illumination stays on

[mounty06]

Hi, I have a 2006 Mountaineer with the 4.0. My problem is that the climate control illumination stays on at all times, even when the vehicle is off. This causes the battery to drain after about 9 hours. Also, when the headlights are on and the dimmer wheel is in certain positions, a buzzing noise comes from the dash board area. This all started at the same time. Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[Mitchs07explorer]

Sounds like a connection has shorted and the best place to start might be to look at your dimmer switch. I've never looked behind there in my vehicle so I'm not sure how you'd get at it but it sounds like something has fused, corroded or just worn out creating a short that's causing the buzzing and constant power to those particular lights. Do you smell anything electrical heating up? If you turn your dimmer switch all the way off do those lights still stay on?
I suppose it could be a bad dimmer switch, I know on the Gen 2 explorers, the turn signal lever starts to get loose over time, then starts to buzz and in some case even start to smoke.

 

[mounty06]

Thanks for the advice. I will check out the dimmer switch and go from there. I haven't smelled anything getting hot and the illumination stays on with the dimmer wheel in the off position.

 

[Mitchs07explorer]

Maybe see what fuse the dimmer is on and pull it to see if that shuts those lights off. That could help you narrow down which wires are involved. My Haynes manual has wiring diagrams in the back. When I get a chance I'll see if they have the illumination lights listed and I'll see if I can post those for you.