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1998 Ford Explorer Map light Vanity Mirror Lights Not Working

I discovered there is a hot wire splice in the A Pillar. I missed it before
because I checked the wires close to the headliner after they split. Unfortunately
for me, the splice is good which means that the fault is further down the circuit.

Dash-2.jpg
 



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I discovered there is a hot wire splice in the A Pillar. I missed it before
because I checked the wires close to the headliner after they split. Unfortunately
for me, the splice is good which means that the fault is further down the circuit.

View attachment 429322

That big bundle of wires near the top of the dash comes from the GEM and Relay Box 4. There is
a cluster of connectors behind the vent opening. I believe the fault is somewhere in that area. I
hope I can access it by removing the fuse panel.

1Cluster-1.png
 






That big bundle of wires near the top of the dash comes from the GEM and Relay Box 4. There is
a cluster of connectors behind the vent opening. I believe the fault is somewhere in that area. I
hope I can access it by removing the fuse panel.

View attachment 429323
Better Image...

1Cluster-2.png
 








Workaround Solution:

Thanks to the generous posters who shared electrical diagrams,
I know that the hot wire that supplies power to the dimmer switch
is on the same circuit as the mirror and map lights. By splicing a
wire into the dimmer switch hot wire and splicing it into to A Pillar
hot wire my mirror and map lights will work. I have verified this.

However, I prefer to correct the fault which I believe is in a connector
behind the vent opening.

1Cluster-3.png
 






Workaround Solution:

Thanks to the generous posters who shared electrical diagrams,
I know that the hot wire that supplies power to the dimmer switch
is on the same circuit as the mirror and map lights. By splicing a
wire into the dimmer switch hot wire and splicing it into to A Pillar
hot wire my mirror and map lights will work. I have verified this.

However, I prefer to correct the fault which I believe is in a connector
behind the vent opening.

View attachment 429326
thank you for providing your solution!!! far too often do we not get a solution, and when someone else comes around with the same problem, were stabbing in the dark a bit, as we never know if OP solved it!!! thanks again!!!
 






thank you for providing your solution!!! far too often do we not get a solution, and when someone else comes around with the same problem, were stabbing in the dark a bit, as we never know if OP solved it!!! thanks again!!!
Well, that's just a workaround option. I am still working on the real solution.
 






Well, that's just a workaround option. I am still working on the real solution.
if that is the connector 267 in the wiring diagram, then look for a light green orange wire going into one side and coming out the other side of the connector. If you have 12V on the inlet side but not on the outlet side I'd jumper across the connector and call that a final solution. I doubt that you will ever need to take that connector apart again.
 






Update

I made a lot of assumptions that lead me in the wrong direction. Here
are my latest steps.

I disconnected the fuse panel to allow access to the A Pillar wire connector
and disconnected it. I verified that the A Pillar has no continuity problems.

There is no voltage in the "hot" wire that runs to the connector. While
tracing the wire I found out that it goes through the door which totally
surprised me!

The vanity mirror / map light circuit runs through the driver side door!

My guess is that the wire is broken in the door boot. I will check and advise.
 






Update

I made a lot of assumptions that lead me in the wrong direction. Here
are my latest steps.

I disconnected the fuse panel to allow access to the A Pillar wire connector
and disconnected it. I verified that the A Pillar has no continuity problems.

There is no voltage in the "hot" wire that runs to the connector. While
tracing the wire I found out that it goes through the door which totally
surprised me!

The vanity mirror / map light circuit runs through the driver side door!

My guess is that the wire is broken in the door boot. I will check and advise.
On the plus side, jumpering around a break in a wire in the door should be a lot easier than trying to to it in the A pillar.
 






On the plus side, jumpering around a break in a wire in the door should be a lot easier than trying to to it in the A pillar.

Oh, I already know how to make a jump connection to circumvent the wiring fault. However, I want to find the actual root cause. Whatever the root cause is could result in other problems in the future which I want to prevent. Also I guess have a bit of OCD : )
 






Update

I made a lot of assumptions that lead me in the wrong direction. Here
are my latest steps.

I disconnected the fuse panel to allow access to the A Pillar wire connector
and disconnected it. I verified that the A Pillar has no continuity problems.

There is no voltage in the "hot" wire that runs to the connector. While
tracing the wire I found out that it goes through the door which totally
surprised me!

The vanity mirror / map light circuit runs through the driver side door!

My guess is that the wire is broken in the door boot. I will check and advise.

Ok, I made another mistake. After inspecting the wires in the door jam
I have concluded that the problem lies somewhere else. Based on a diagram
posted earlier in this thread, I believe the problem is in the 322 splice. It sends
current to the rear and front map lights / vanity mirrors . My rear map lights are working.

So where is the 322 splice? I have a manual that only tells me an approximate
location. Based on the video posted below I believe the exact location will be in
the floor wiring running along the driver side step panel.

I think that separating the carpet from the molding on the floor to expose the
wiring is easy enough but I am not so sure about reattaching it. I don't want to
damage anything. Can anyone offer some advice?

 






Ok, I made another mistake. After inspecting the wires in the door jam
I have concluded that the problem lies somewhere else. Based on a diagram
posted earlier in this thread, I believe the problem is in the 322 splice. It sends
current to the rear and front map lights / vanity mirrors . My rear map lights are working.

So where is the 322 splice? I have a manual that only tells me an approximate
location. Based on the video posted below I believe the exact location will be in
the floor wiring running along the driver side step panel.

I think that separating the carpet from the molding on the floor to expose the
wiring is easy enough but I am not so sure about reattaching it. I don't want to
damage anything. Can anyone offer some advice?



I located the 322 splice and tested it. The splice is good! So yet another of my
assumptions has been proven wrong! Fortunately the actual fault is very
close the the 322 splice and I found it!
Take a look at the image below.

You see two LT GRN/ORG wires going into the splice. One of the wires comes from
the 212 connector under the dash and supplies power to the rear ceiling lights which
are working properly. The other wire goes up into the 267 connector behind the
dash and from there into the A-Pillar and vanity mirrors / map lights.

The actual fault is shown in the image. Can you see it? Have some fun and put your
power of observation 🔍 to the test by telling me where it is. ;)

20220821_143546.jpg
 






Many thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread!
20220828_125046.jpg
 






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