Last night went to pull out of the garage and when I manually turned my headlights on I got headlights but no interior dash lights. Clock worked, radio work, brake lights worked, however parking lights and interior dash lights were a no go. Then when I switched the head lights off they still stayed on ? ? Long story short I found the 15 amp fuse blown in the engine compartement fuse box which I replaced, it blew again. Tried a 20 just for kicks blew again. Ford is telling me there is a way to release that dial to get a view at the backside to see if there is a short or something but I CANT figure that one out. ALso, they said a new switch is $200 which I hate to spend unless I have 2!. Any ideas Ford brothers??

Thanks in advance!

 

Do you have any electrical items added to the truck ?

If so, where did you get power for them ?

When you say you switched the headlight off, and they stayed on, did you return the main headlamp switch to the off position, or did you accidentally turn it to the autolamp position ( i.e. they went off in the time setting ) ?
If you are sure you did not turn the main headlamp switch to the autolamp position, how did you get the headlamps to turn off ?

 

Scully I have no added extras to my truck.

Yes, I did turn the headlights to the off position. I dont have the auto feature at all, just manual.

Eventually, I had to pull the lead on the battery to get the lights off. After that, the headlights as well as the fog lights respond as normal to the switch but come on early in the P, parking light position

The interior dash light and P parking lights do not function.

 

I had the same problem not too long ago. It's probably not the headlight switch, but if you keep replacing this fuse and blowing them, you will probably end up damaging the switch, too.

You likely have a short in your exterior light system. I ended up finding a short under the dash where some wires had been cut from a once installed trailer brake controller. It took me several fuses before I found the problem. My headlight switch then went a couple days following due to exposing it to this short circuit repeatedly. I replaced with a headlight switch from a salvage yard.

I ended up finding the short by elimination starting by disconnecting all exterior lights going to the rear of the truck by the linkage on the driver side of the spare tire. I finally found the problem (which was intermitent for me) by hitting dash with my fist causing the fuse to blow. I then knew the short was in the dash.

These are not easy to find. I guess I got lucky, but I'm sure someone else here can recommend a more systematic approach that doesn't require repeated blowing of fuses before finding the problem which is not good for your electrical system.

 

Thanks TennTriton. I finally got the switch out last night, the polak way, only broke a few little plastic tabs, should go back in though. I am going to check the rear lights like you mentioned 1st, then go try a switch. ON a side note i did recently replace my front headlight bulb a few days earlier. Wonder if I bumped something up there or jarred a wire loose. Keep you posted.

PS Do you know what different yrs will work for that switch I will be trying to find in the parts yards? Just 99 or others, thanks!

 

Most of the exterior lighting is fed from a solid, light brown wire. Look at these wires especially when trying to find the ground.

I'm not 100% sure what switches will work, but I think 99 - '02. Wiring diagrams found in a Haynes Repair Manual are helpful. It also tells you the proper way for removing the light switch.

1) Disconnect the battery
2) Turn the **** to on and pull out
3) Through the hole on the bottom side of the ****, use something long and thin (like a small screwdriver) to press the releasing mechanism on the **** and pull the **** off
4) Turn the **** 180 degrees from how it came off and put it back on
5) Turn the **** to the right (or maybe the left, can't remember) while pulling on the light switch to remove from the dash.

Good luck.

 

Thanks TennTriton.

Here is what I have found and done so far. I did get the headlight **** off, I just pried the cover off with a small screwdriver, then I got to the lever to get the switch out, cleaned it off, everything looked good. Last night I bypassed the rear light by unplugging the Y, tried the **** again with the fuse blowing at the 1st turn(parking lights). Reconnected that then I checked my trailer harness wire, all looked good. I next looked at every wire I could possibly see in the engine compartment, headlamps, parking lights, fuse box area, different grounds to the frame, didnt see anything. I next took apart the climate control panel since I do remember noticing the light behind the hot/cold dial seeming darker recently but found that whole block was all a solid component piece and everything looked and smelled good. So right now I think I have ran out of things to try or look for. This am on the way to work, it was rainy and dark I turned my lights on, only needed to turn to the P lamp position, that's where the light come on now versus the 2nd turn where they should come on and ran them all the way to work. Went I got to work and turned the **** to the OFF position, again they remained on and I ended up disconnecting the battery lead to get them to go off.

Right now I was thinking I should go find a switch from the salvage yard for less$ and replace that to see if it might be the switch or not. I just wish I could figure out where the lights are drawing current from to remain on even though the switch is OFF???

Any other thoughts here? Thanks

I suppose I should check the parking light bulbs and well as the tail light bulbs???