Lights out?

[Richard Toms]

I currently have 3 lights out on my 2004 ST with 182k miles.



Putting the vehicle in reverse, and I have no back up lights. Bulbs are fine, tested with new bulbs, same result. Any ideas what to check or look for? Is there a sensor in the transmission to activate the back up lights?



Turning on the interior light with the roll up switch on the dash is supposed to turn on the exterior lights where the third brake light is. That no longer works either. Any ideas what to check for in that area?>



I also have no third brake light. I believe, it has never worked. Any ideas?



Years ago, I replaced the standard third brake light for the recon. The exterior lights on their had worked before except for the third brake light. Now I have none. Changed out the third brake light for the factory one and still the same result. No lights.



Thanks for any help.

 

[Yardsale]

I suspect all the lighting problems are related. Always check fuses. Then bad ground or connector.



For the exterior lights controlled by the "roll up switch", try cycling it throughout its range. I have to do this with mine. It gets dirty and needs a wiping.

 

[Richard Toms]

Would you happen to know which number fuse to look for? Do grounds just suddenly go bad? I have running tail lights, turn signals, brake lights, head lights and fog lights. And for the dome light, it works in the truck but not out of the truck.



I will try doing the cycling range of the switch to the dome lights and see if that does anything. As for the third brake light, wasn't there a faulty switch near the brake pedal or something.



For the miles I have, I tend to want to just blame mainly on sensors. Odd things have been happening.



Food for thought, rear passenger window stopped working with both that door switch and the master driver switch. I didn't do anything to it. Just figured won't be using that window anymore. Then like 2 weeks later, everything worked fine again. Really weird.

 

[Yardsale]

19: Daytime Running Lamps (DRL), Reverse lamps, PCM

26: Interior illumination, Battery saver

32: Auxiliary Center High-Mounted Stop Lamp (CHMSL)



Check in your Owner Manual or Google "2004 sport trac fuse box diagram".



<a href="http://www.fleet.ford.com/maintenance/owner-manuals/" target ="_blank">Find Owner Manual here.</a>



The chance of three fuses blown at the same time is remote. If fuse 19 were blown, lighting would be the least of the problems.



Clean the battery cable clamps.



So, look to a bad ground. And yes, they do just suddenly go bad - wires fatigue and break, screws work loose, connectors come loose.



The "Auxiliary Center High-Mounted Stop Lamp" (third brake light) and the cargo lamps are on the same harness and may share a ground. If the harness, connector or the ground is bad, there's that problem.

[Broken External Image]:



Use a multimeter and check for continuity of ground at each of the bulb sockets, and wrk your way upstream.



There is a sensor in the transmission for the reverse lamps. Maybe check that with a multimeter.



The right rear window is probably a broken wire in the driver door hinge area.

Check <a href="http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=348395" target="_blank">Serious Explorations</a>.

 

[Todd Z]

DID you try Tilting steering wheel all the way up towards windshield and re check?



Todd Z

 

[Richard Toms]

OK good information I am seeing. Tilting the wheel makes no difference. I don't drive the truck as much as I did. It is mainly a weekend toy now. In the last 6 months, I have only put on about 1k miles, due to buying another Ford.



I doubt the fuses would be blown, but worth a look at. More or less, might be the wiring. Will check when I have the time to get around to it. Thanks for the information given.