My interior lights stay on even after the engine is turned off. | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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My interior lights stay on even after the engine is turned off.

I have a 2002 explorer ltd. Out of the blue, the interior lights stay on after the engine is shut off. The never go out (mirror lights also) I have lubed every door hinge...nothing, I make sure all doors are closed...nothing, those damn lights won't go out. One other thing..the drivers side door trim door lock switch doesn't work, after I shut the engine off, unless I turn off the interior lights but rolling down the swithh until it clicks off.
If anyone has any insight i would appreciate it. I am so frustrated with this. IF I have to I will bring it to the dealer.
Thanks
 



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Welcome to this forum! I've renamed your thread, and moved it into the lighting section.
 






Could be your interior light relay. This happened on my wifes Lexus and after replacing the relay the problem was gone. I also had a similar experience on my Explorer and adjusting the the Door Jam switch solved the problem. You may have a Door Jam Switch that's on it's way out too (failing). As for the door lock switch, the contacts become corroded over time and the only way to fix it is to remove the switch and sand down the contacts with fine sandpaper. Other than that, I don't know what else to tell you.
 












Thanks for the information guys, I am going to check the relay. I looked at #17 fuse today and it was fine. Do you think there is a connection between the interior lights and the door lock switch? The switch works fine when i manually turn off the interior lights
 






OK heres the deal.....the interior lights went off after 10 mins (not bad) All I have done so far is wd40 the door latched. I was about to check the interior light relay. Before all this crap started, when i turned off the car the radio and the interior lights would stay on and time out after some time. The radio shuts off when I turn it off now...It's getting wierd. Still the relay??? This is going to drive me nuts
 






OK try this. Hit the rear defrost button and see if the door ajar comes on. If so it is a ground wire. Look at this thread.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=157065&highlight=door+ajar+gem
My 02 Mounty done it and the guys here helped me out now it is fixed. I bet that is what it is.
Just read the part about the radio. Yep I bet for sure it is the wire. My Radio would cut off when I cut the key off, hit the defrost and the door ajar comes on, interior lights and puddle lights stayed on would have to cut them off when got out. What a pain, but not a hard fix just a ground wire broke between the door and the interior of the vehicle. Little tight to get into to work but not hard work.
STU
 






Thank you STU. As soon as the sun comes up I'm going to try that!! I amm determined to lick this thing. I'll keep you posted.
 






I had a similar issue with my 02 xlt. The dome lights would stay on until the battery saver feature turned them off, the driver side puddle light didn't work, the keypad on the door would set off the alarm when I pressed it, the door ajar light would flash and beep at highway speeds, etc. A lot of issues can be traced back to broken wires in the boot between the body and the door. I found a broken wire and repaired it and all is back to normal!

Here is a great thread with pics for checking for broken wires in boot between door and the body: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums//showthread.php?t=270081

Post #3 in this thread has great instructions for removing the door panel: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=271333

Hope this helps. Good luck.
 






Wow..you have just described more of my symptoms with my "posessed" explorer. I was going to call a priest or something to get rid of the evil spirit living in the electrical system!! Thank you for the info. I'm checking everything.
 






STU, the rear defrost didn't trigger the door ajar light. But I'm about to look for a loose, broken or damaged wire between the door and body...will let you know what I find.Thank you again for the information
 






My 2000 had the same issue, I found that the latch on driver door had to be replaced, and the passenger rear door switch on the latch was bad, not hard just took an hour or so, I had the light switch from the drivers door. You have to know where the switch is to spray it with any thing.
 






After all the AWESOME information I read from all of you, I systematically went through all the advice. I pulled back the rubber boot between the drivers door and the body of the x and there it was, the thick black wire was pulled apart. I could see both ends. I used a scrap piece of wire the same thickness and spliced the bigger end and threaded it through the boot and pulled out the short end of the black wire and spliced it to my wire. I tested the door switch...bingo, it worked. I wrapped all connections with electrical tape and replaced the boot. I got in the x turned on the ignition then off and the radio stayed on, perfect, opened the drivers door and closed it and the interior lights went out. YES. I engage the alarm and the horn beeps ONCE. EVERYTHING is fixed. Thanks to all of you for the advice...I love this forum.
 






eirechef, I'm glad you you got it fixed. You are correct, this forum is good to go. Hey, is Palmetto Ford still in Charleston? I bought my '89 Mustang GT from them many years ago!
 












Palmetto Ford is still there. I have a good friend that works in the body shop there.
 






Palmetto Ford is still there. I have a good friend that works in the body shop there.

Cool, I was stationed at Parris Island and went up there to buy the 'Stang in 89.
 
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RECALL? Class Action Lawsuit? :(

:mad: OMG - For one thanks to this post because if it was not for you guys I would have been out hundreds.

Heres my scenario:
My car lights would not cut off neither when I locked my vehicle. Also the horn beeped twice but my doors were shut and I never got a door ajar button so I knew the problem could not be the doors. My radio also did not relay. The radio cut off when I pulled the key out of the ignition. I tried everything and found out that all worked fine as long as I turned off my interior lights via the dial on the right of the headlamps switch.

I installed an aftermarket alarm/remote starter and thought my wiring may have caused a problem so I immediately took apart all. Then while everything was apart I decided to do some research online and found this forum through Google by typing in key words like (interior lights stay on, horn beeps twice etc.). I looked at the wiring in the driver's door, took off the driver's door and did not see a thing so I checked the number 17 fuse on the drivers side in back of the steering wheel. I even thought the problem was a relay on top of the fuse box.

I looked through this forum again and decided to take apart the door again. This time I took off the dirver's side speaker and looked through the wires traveling into the car from the driver's side door. BINGO! I saw (barely) this black wire peeking out of the boot and it was a difficult time getting to this wire. I was so pissed I thought if everyone is having this problem Ford should fix it for free instead of charging upwards of $300 for a fix. I simply did not want to go through the hassle of trying to repair a fix I think is Ford's fault especially after I also had a alarm/remote start system to tape back up again.

I said forget it and soldered a black wire to the broken wire and taped up my alarm/remote start system and everything works fine now. If anyone is having a similar problem either check the wiring real good(this means spread apart the wires, look all throught the rubber protective boot, flash a light to look into the wires) or just tell Ford you know what the problem is and tell them to fix it and that they will have to foot the bill for this repair.

I think if so many people is having the same problem this was not caused by us (the customer) therefore, we should not have to pay for such a repair. I couldn't imagine how many $300 Ford could have gotten or already made off of fixing an issue that was their f-k up in the first place.

In all thanks to your contributions it saved me alot and I also gave me evidence to approach Ford (if I wanted them to foot the bill on this).
 






:mad: OMG - For one thanks to this post because if it was not for you guys I would have been out hundreds.

Glad you got it fixed. :thumbsup: You have to admit, this forum is awesome!! :biggthump
 



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My prob is almost the same

Ok here I go , Lets see what happens.
2000 murcury mountaineer auto 4x4. 4.0
1st Thank you all for the information you have given to me before I even had to ask.
2nd A description of the problem
Interior lights stay on at all times even pulling the fuse, the right mirror light stays on but goes off if I roll the dimmer switch all the and click it in the up position( I believe the left mirror light is blown it has not worked since I bought the vehicle about 2 yrs. ago. This still does not turn off the inside lights .
No door ajar light they all work fine. The window lock switch is (Im assuming stuck locked) or there is just no power to all other windows driver window works fine. I also think The driver side lock actuator needs replaced (acts weak or in a bind).
I have also had the fuse blow #26 batt sav,elc shift relay, int.lamp relay,elec shift control mod. when this blows I have no 4x4 no speed control no windows, this still does not turn off the lights.

3rd my thoughts shorted wires near the fuse panel, combo of window lock switch and dimmer switch. Im leaning towards shorted wires because of the mirror light being on the same line as the interior lights but the interior lights not going out and the mirror light going out when the switch is in the wrong position.

4th HEEELLP!?
 






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