Lights stay on.

[oldyellr]

1998 Ranger 4.0 V6.
Here's a strange one. My son drove to work this morning and parked ane went inside. A bit later someone told him his lights were on and they couldn't turn them off. He went out and started the truck, shut it off, lights were off and went inside. Lights on again, so he disconnected the battery to keep it from going flat. What could this be?

 

[RonD]

Is it the Headlights on or Parking lights only?

Or just Brake lights on?

Does it have keyless entry or an alarm that flashes Parking lights?

There is a Parking light relay that has 12v all the time if it should close the Parking Lights would be on 24/7, turning key on and off might reset it.
Power is from fuse #11 in engine fuse box, 15amp

This relay is activated by main light switch but also keyless entry and alarms which is why I asked

 

[oldyellr]

It's a base model, no keyless entry or any such bells and whistles like lights staying on for a while after you park. I just talked to him on the phone, so don't know if the he lights were the regular ones or DRLs. He would have arrived at work when it was still dark and turned the lights off when he parked. I'll let him know about the parking light relay and fuse #11.

 

[RonD]

Yes find out if its head lights AND Parking lights or just one or the other
Or Brakes light only

Flash to Pass high beams on multi-function switch have power all the time, fuse #12 engine fuse box, 30amp, it powers main light switch as well, but flash to pass has power regardless of main light switch position.

Fuse #33, 15amp in cab fuse box gets the 12v from flash to pass or high beams and sends it out to the bulbs, so you could pull that fuse to just disable High Beams if thats the problem.
But fuse #12 would be easier to get to, to test if flash to pass is the problem

Battery--------Fuse #12--------------Flash to pass/high beam switch-------------Fuse #33------------high beam bulbs

 

[oldyellr]

Thanks for the tips. When \he got home a\nd shut the truck off, the ioghts did not come on. Maybe it was just a freak occurrence brought about by the weather.

 

[oldyellr]

Well, he took it in to the shop and it's as I suspected, a bailed DRL module. Must be a common Ford problem. I had a '94 Taurus wagon that the DRLs stopped working, apparently due to a corroded DRL module. In that case it didn't matter because I could always turn the lights on myself instead of spending a couple hundred bucks. I junked that rust bucket a couple of years later anyway,

 

[55trucker]

Hello fellow Canadian,

what's happenin'............eh?