HELP no lights..........

[newbie1]

Hello everyone and thanks in advance for assisting me. I have a new to me 2008 explorer and both Vanity lights are not working. The fuse is fine and all the dome lights are working. The dealership installed a new battery this weekend just before we purchased it? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

[03 Explorer XLT]

Are you referring to the lights in the sun visors? The cover hinges are known to brake. My passenger side was broke when I bought it. Since the cover wasn't holding the switch in, the Explorer sat on the dealer's lot with the light on and eventually killed the battery.

If your visors have broken covers, they might have just unplugged the cables to keep the light off. I would pull the visors off and see if the cables are plugged in. There is a connector on each one about 4 inches down the cable.

 

[Merlin8167]

You said all the dome lights are working. I need to ask about your map lights. If you are in the car with the doors closed are you able to turn on/off the map lights with the map light switches?? If not are you able to turn them on with the switch on the dash that controls the intensity of the dash lights? If this is the case there is a short somewhere in the wiring. Even though there is a fuse for them, they are on a separate circuit that includes the map lights. Once when I was at the dealership with my '05 my mechanic had just gotten done working on one that had the problem that I described above. After 2 hours of hunting he found the problem. When the headliner and cargo light were installed, one of the clips "pinched" the wire leading to the cargo light. It was just a matter of time (who knows how long it took) fot just enough insulation to wear away and cause a short.

 

[newbie1]

Thanks for all the advice.....the maps lights and dome lights work when inside the vehicle. I also double checked the dimmer switch and everything works as advertised. there are no broken covers on the visor as well. I am going to check the wiring in the visor tomorrow. Thanks