Electrical issues with interior/courtesy lighting

[Sonofamitch]

Hello all! My 04 explorer has been having a strange issue that, thus far, I have heard of no one else having anywhere, from this forum to other websites. My interior lights are no longer turning on when any door is opened or when the light dial is turned all the way up. All interior lights still turn on when the button for that housing/bulb is pressed. I have tried the fixes for the door ajar that usually apply to most light/ajar issues. They hadn't worked to bring the lights back on. Just today I tried the paper clip test for the door ajar switch and that still worked for the door ajar light, but not for the interior lights. I have also checked all fuses I can find that even come close to relating to any type of lighting and all still carry an ohm reading which means they all have been good so far. I have also now replaced the door latch itself, as it had been acting up for awhile and not latching or sending the signal to turn off the door ajar light.

I have thought maybe a fuse plugin spot could have been coroded a bit or maybe blocked by something but I havent looked or tried that yet, nor have I traced any wires under the headliner/up the pillars leading to the lights themselves.

(A little context to when the lights stopped working 8 months ago, they had flickered for about 2 weeks, and then cut out all together one day and havent turned on all together since. I also have swapped all incandescent bulbs with leds i.e.puddle lights, map lights, and all cargo/overhead lights. I havent tried putting regular bulbs back in yet to see if maybe the leds dont make enough of a draw, but they still work when the buttons are pressed so that doesnt make any sense to me.)

 

[yeet1331]

I also outfitted mine with all LEDs inside, but they work fine. Start by putting the old bulbs back into at least the rear housings (I know how much pain the front one is) and trying it. If that doesn't help, replace the fuses for the relays you suspect are the issue, even if they are still good. It likely won't solve the problem, but you don't know if you don't try. If you have a trusted mechanic, have them look it over. The dealer will likely want to make you replace a bunch of unnecessary stuff for money. Flickering may mean that over time, a wire has been slowly coming loose.