1997 Mountaineer Interior Lights Will Not Turn Off

[allmyEXes]

A few minutes ago (Friday night 9:45 p.m. Central time) I went outside to roll up drivers window. Opened door, rolled up window. Closed the door. Interior lights will not turn off. 15 minutes they were still on. Checked all door and back hatch. Still wont turn off. Un-fastened battery positive for the evening.

 

[J_C]

You probably have a broken door latch switch. Keep in mind that as far as I know, the battery saver circuit would have turned off the light after however many (40?) minutes it runs till it times out, but letting it do that multiple times might be hard on the battery.

Till it's replaced it might be more convenient to pull the fuse instead. That is, I assume the battery saver circuit will still time out with the door open (same effect as switch not working) but I have never tested that. Pulling the battery saver relay instead would definitely fix that but it's a bit of a PITA to get to in the box under the dash on the right side of the driver's footwell.

 

[allmyEXes]

I guess it depends on what all is on that fuse circuit. If I didn't have to start undoing the bottom of the door panels to get to the courtesy light bulbs (I assume the little white light/red reflectors stay in the panels) I would take out all the interior bulbs for now except the two map light OHC bulbs. Road trip coming up in 4 weeks and the doors might be open more than not at times.

(ADDED) But then again, If I take off the drivers front door panel, can I simply unplug the door light switch in question? These newer Fords don't have the older style interior light "plunger" switches.

(ADDED) This early morning I have been reading different posts on this forum and found several possible problems.
2 questions though...
#1- If the switch is working correctly, With the door open, Can I trip the latch catch to the latched position and the lights go off if the switch is good ? AND
#2- If the Teflon or whatever the plastic material is made of on the striker posts is gone, will it cause switch function problems ?

By the way, the striker post plastic can be replaced with a small piece of 1/2" PEX tubing trimmed to fit at hardly any cost (3 cents). (30 cents a foot if you purchase a 100 foot roll). Enough for all of your Explorer Forum friends


witches.

 

[boominXplorer]

Make sure your dimmer switch isn't rolled all the way up. It's to the right of your headlight switch.

 

[410Fortune]

drivers door master switch is my guess
its built into the drivers door latch
They go bad can be rebuilt

 

[toypaseo]

I would take out all the interior bulbs for now except the two map light OHC bulbs.

When my driver's door ajar switch was acting up, all interior lights would stay on, including the two map lights. I removed those bulbs, the back seat bulbs, and the cargo bulb, until I could swap switches out. I got my replacement from a junkyard. You might be able to clean/lube your existing switch to make it work, but I would consider a new replacement. I pulled two switches from the junkyard, since the first one worked for a while, but started acting up.

This might be the correct one, https://www.amazon.com/Motorcraft-S...14&sr=8-10&keywords=door+jamb+switch+explorer

 

[J_C]

If you have never replaced the spring in your driver's door latch (most often people just replace the whole latch when the spring breaks), you might think about replacing the entire latch mechanism which comes with a new switch. That spring is a very common failure point on these vehicles. My vague recollection is that spring breaks more often than the switch does.

To clarify I am not implying that a broken spring would cause your issue, because it wouldn't.

 

[allmyEXes]

This morning I used a 2 small pieces of pex tubing and replaced the plastic pieces on the drivers front door and the right rear hatch striker. I hooked my battery back up and when I closed the door and hatch, the lights turned off. I was in a hurry or I would have done one and check it etc. However, we already had a daytime road trip planned and on the trip today, several times the doors and hatch were opened and closed and didn't have a single problem with it. I'm keeping my eye on it though, Wife drives it to a 3rd shift job and don't want to get her stranded. But we will see how it goes for now. Thanks guys for the help and input.