First of all, I have never understood why headlights can be turned on when the key is in the "off" position... Is this some kind of battery conspiracy???

Anyway, you guessed it! I ran my battery dead in my 06 STX because I left the lights turned on...

Now, originally my truck automatically turned the headlights off after 10min or so.. But ever since I snipped the wires to that darn fangled door adjar switch my headlights quit turning off automatically...

Now, since this truck has basically been a piece of since the day I bought it brand new in 06, I have long given up on the idea of taking another mortgage out the house to have the Stealership fix or repair it daily.... Anyway...

Not to dog on the truck too bad, were all stuck with one eh.. And I know there are some true fanboys here that hate the idea of someone chopping and rigging up the truck.. But think of it this way, everything I fix hasn't needed fixed again, which is more than I can say for the Ford certified experts with there genuine Ford parts, at the Ford certified Stealership...

Anyhow, I would like to re-wire the headlights in such a manner that they will have no power when the key is in the "off" position.. Now, who can help me jump down this rabbit hole?

My first thought is to figure out wherever the headlights are getting power and intercepting with a power source of my own... I'm thinking: splice into the vehicles auxiliary hot wire, run that to an aftermarket relay that powers the headlights straight from the battery when the ignition switch is in the ACC or ON position... Now, does anyone know where those lights are currently getting their power?

 

Wouldn't it just be easier to just turn off the lights when you shut the ignition off?

 

I have proven to myself several times now that I am too dumb to do that on a consistent basis...

 

I'll start with an observation, and then move in for the help.
I can give you insight and suggestions, but I don't know THIS design well enough to give you step-by-step directions.

First, your snipping of the wire has created a state of affairs that tells the truck that your door is closed at all times.

• The reason this is important is that the truck now doesn't know you have opened and closed the door.
  
• As a result, it assumes you are still sitting in the truck, with the headlights on, and that you KNOW the headlights are on.
  
• The way it was designed, the truck would know you opened the door and stepped out, as the truck would read the change in door pin switch state related to the door ajar lead you snipped.
  
  
• In the original state, it would then know the door was not ajar, and the capacitor that kept the relay in the state that allowed power to the headlights would run out in 10 minutes, causing the relay to trip, and the power to be cut off to the headlights.

Now you have three options.

1. You can turn the headlight switch off every time and kick yourself when you forget, like I do.
   
2. You can reconnect that door ajar switch wires that you cut and the problem of a dead car in the morning is avoided, as the truck will now turn the headlights off the way it was designed to do.
   
3. Or, you can get an electrical flow chart of the wiring system for your specific year/engine/model of F150, get some relays and begin wiring your own work around

.

I can't begin to tell you how much wiring, how many wires you'll have to splice into, or how many relays you will need to guarantee that the headlights on won't kill your battery.



Myquestion is: what was it you disliked about the door ajar switch?

• Was it the light on the dash?
• Did the door being open cause a chime?
• Isn't the door ajar switch related to the dome lights being on? [did you lose automatic dome lights when door opens/closes?]

The reason I ask is that you could repair the snip job you did, remove the bulb from the instrument cluster, and the annoying door ajar light would no longer blink- if the light was the only issue.

If it was a chime, you might be able to reconnect the door ajar switch and then track down where the actual chime was to disconnect the chime/buzzer itself.

Good luck.

 

Well you have got me there.. Snipping those wires was definitely not the best solution..

I snipped the door ajar switch because it started going out and the chime would go off while I was driving down the road.. At first it didn't really bother me, but eventually the switch got so bad that it was triggering the door ajar chime in a way that is sounded like damn Morse Code while I was driving down the road. The dealer wanted $500 to replace so I coated the thing in WD-40 and went on my way, but even the WD stopped working and it eventually drove my bonkers enough for me to go searching for the thing with some snips!

 

THAT is completely understandable [frustration].

Again, I don't know the nuances of this truck, even if I drive them. As I haven't had it apart yet.

My understanding is that there are two basic ways car makers use to identify if the door is open/closed.

The first is an old-fashioned pin-switch, of some design. A simple switch, generally in the body, that is compressed when the door is closed, and springs/slides open when the door is opened. If I recall correctly, my 88 civic had something like this. So did my wifes' 94 Camry.

The second one seems to have that switch/sensor as part of the door latch mechanism. I had to replace that mechanism to fix this issue on either my wifes 03 GrandAm or our F150. I don't remember which.

I don't remember that switch costing over $100 when it was the door latch mechanism.

However, when it was the door latch mechanism [I am thinking GrandAm, but maybe my daughters 01 Civic?] it required the removal of the door panel and window itself to get at the thing. I've done window regulators before, so that was no big deal.

The only other area I can think of that would cause this fault would be a short in the wiring harness, and that would most likely be where it bends as the door opens/closes.

Yet, $500 for replacing that door latch mechanism seems excessive.

Or, like a 'stealership'!


Do you have the skills to pull the door apart yourself to replace that part? If so, you could fix it for the cost of parts- instead of all the labor and rent a shop has to pay also.

Just a thought...

Seriously though: I think doing this would be MUCH easier than finding a way to bypass this entire mechanism that affects lights off/on.

I've done light relays and they can be easy- or not.

 

Thats what I've gotten in the habit of doing, it's easier than getting a jump

 

Generally speaking, headlights are not supposed to turn off when the ignition goes off. It's a safety thing to prevent you from suddenly losing your headlights and also to keep your vehicle from becoming invisible to other drivers at night. They can be turned off when the ignition switch is off but they should not go off if that switch is on, even if the ignition systems loses power. Do you understand the difference?

BCZRX is right, you need to undo you changes to the door switches and that will take care of the lighting problem. THEN you can attack the buzzer itself. And FWIW I hate the buzzers too and I've disconnected the buzzer in every car that I've ever had and that goes back to when they first started putting them in in the 1970s!

Another thing that you could consider is connect a buzzer (or the same one!) and a diode to your headlight system and to your accessory power system. That way if both are on, no power flows through the buzzer and it's quiet. But if you turn off the ignition (and accessories) power will flow from the lighting system through the diode and then to the buzzer and to the accessory system. Yes, that could still drain you battery but only if you're deaf and didn't hear the buzzer. You'd need to take power from the light circuit BEFORE the dimmer switch so that it wouldn't matter of the dimmer was on or not. Add in a diode such as a 1n4004 to prevent the buzzer from operating when the lights are off but the accessories are on. The diode should have an arrow symbol on it, It needs to point in the direction that leads to the accessory circuit connection. You can connect to the accessory circuit on the back of the radio or any other device that is turned off and on with the ignition switch. This is how we did things back in the days before computers in cars!

 

This might be different than the E350s we work out of (ambulances) but when the chime would go off while going down the road, that would mean some sort of problem with the truck. Ours would chime 5 times then delay, series of 5 chimes, then delay.

 

I think that means the passenger airbag off light is burned out.

 

The chime coincided with the "Door Adjar" error displayed on the mileage LCD display. And when I snipped the wire, the error, and chime both stopped..

I really like the buzzer idea. I even have a little Piezo buzzer on hand. It will probably be just as much work as replacing the door adjar switch, but I think instead of fixing the truck properly ill just keep chopping and rigging until I fix all the problems... Hopefully I don't create any new ones..

 

It is smiple. Don't worry where the lights are getten power from. Jest mount you a realy on the front side of the panel whur the radiator is so air will cool it. Use a double contact one. Run the now wires goin to the head light bulbs through the contacts. Normally open I guess. Then wire the coil to the hot wire when ignition is on. Like the hot wire to the COPs or Fuel injectors.

 

Pretty standard I think. Allows one to park and take key out while leaving some lights on for others to see it parked like alongside the roadway.

Other than my wife's Forester and the old GL Hatchback we had years ago, every car and truck I or we've owned let you do that. The Subarus even have a "park light" switch top center behind steering wheel to allow you to turn them on without key.

My MCs also require key on for lights but there is a position where you can remove keys and leave just park lights on.

 

Hmm, I don't think my '93 Legacy had that. It is NICE to be able to turn on the headlights without turning on the ignition. I use it a lot when I'm doing something outside after dark. I usually leave my f150 lights on automatic but I have to turn them to manual On to to turn them on without the ignition. But the darned things still turn off after a couple of minutes!

 

Not so fast, Sparky! If you connect it at the head lights you'll only connect to the high beam side of the lights or the low beam. Either way will leave you only 1/2 protected. That's why I said to connect into the headlight circuit BEFORE the high beam/low beam switch.

I also don't know of the OP's truck even has A coil. But even if it does, they usually have a dropping resister between the coil and the power source so that's not a good place to hook up the buzzer circuit. Besides, modern electronic ignition systems get real "funny" about other things being connected to them!