Anyone heard of this?

[MERCMAN]

I have an early build '03.
On the way home from the KY meet, it was misting rain, so I had the delay on the wipers and my headlights turned on(for safety). The lights did not go out when I turned the switch to off, they stayed on until I shut the car off.

I assumed the LCM was bad so I took it into the dealer today. After explaining the problem and showing the tech the problem, he was bamboozeled as well. He got out the books and checked the wiring diagrams for the wipers and the lighting system. After poring over them for about 20 min, he went to the Ford database and pulled up a TSB on it. It seems that early builds(March-September) have a circuit built in that causes this. It will also happen if you use the autolamp feature and have the wipers on. The TSB listed a jumper that can be pulled to disable this feature if the owner doesn't like it.

I very seldom drive in the rain, so it doesn't surprise me that I haven't noticed it before, but I have had the car since new and thought I knew everything about it. Huh,, go figure.

You can test yours by covering up the autolamp sensor on the dashboard, turn on the wipers, then uncover the sensor and see if the lights go out.

I would be interested to see if it happens on the later builds in 'o3 and the '04s.

[Black_Noise]

they stay on for a couple minutes.... its a safety thing.

wipers on, headlights on... its a law in NY


try this.... run the wipers on a long delay, the headlights should turn on after 20 seconds or so.

then turn off the wipers... the healights should turn off in about a minute on thier own. or turning off the ignition will also turn them off if there are still "auto on" from the wipers being on

[Georges93LX]

My car is a June '02 build and it does the same as yours. The headlights come on with the wipers and will only go off using the key switch.

[MERCMAN]

Hmm,my lights do not come on when the wipers are actuated, but if I turn the lights on when the wipers are on, I have to shut off the key to turn them off. Thanks for the reply

BTW, my build date is the same as yours :up:

[justbob]

My lights will only come on after svereral passes or minutes of the wipers being on, also the lights won't go off untill the car is shut off. She's always been that way.

[chapel1]

My lights will only come on after svereral passes or minutes of the wipers being on, also the lights won't go off untill the car is shut off. She's always been that way.

What he said.

[1stMerc]

Mine come on after the wipers make a few passes and turn off shortly after wipers off.

BTW, Mercman, any further incident with your brake/tail lights?

[MERCMAN]

It is in the shop right now, switch was not bad(so he says) it just doesn't like the new pedals they installed, so I suppose an adjustment is in order

[gdmjoe]

As others have mentioned ...

SOP *Standard Operating Procedure
-and-
WAD *Working As Designed

[timfromme]

Mine is an 03 and when the wipers are on, the headlights come on after a slight delay. When I turn my wipers off, after a slight delay the headlights turn off. Thats what its supposed to do. I like that feature since my car is a DD and the law here in Maine states that headlights must be on when wipers are in use. I did have trouble before with my LCM; headlights shutting off by themselves and or staying on when I turn the headlights off. Modded my LCM for that problem; replaced the bad relay with a heavy duty external relay off from the LCM.

[DOOM]

Silversurfer demonstrated that for me with his car about 2 years ago.

[ChiTownMaraud3r]

My mom's 03 GM does the same thing. I have never witnessed it in my 04 MM though.

[gdmjoe]

*.below. Excerpts from the 2003 and 2004 Mercury Marauder Owner Manuals .....

[ROB502]

Mine had this problem and the dealer installed a light systems module?

[Bigdogjim]

Hmm,my lights do not come on when the wipers are actuated, but if I turn the lights on when the wipers are on, I have to shut off the key to turn them off. Thanks for the reply

Dan mine do this also. After almost $3K spent on the problem by Ford I just drive the car:rofl:

You will get use to it:argue:

[pantheroc]

Same issue after KY trip home.

[SID210SA]

I do not have that feature....my light do no come on automatically when I activate the wipers....

[tjg442]

Mine had this problem and the dealer installed a light systems module?
friend just replaced same on a 03, dealer, cost $500.00 ? said only effects early 03's ?

[carfixer]

I recall that this was a panther wide concern. We had customers coming in saying their lights would not turn off after the lights are turned off. There was a production change (don't remember the date) to change this. The later models turn the lights off after the wipers are off. Ford never offered a recall or anything like it. They didn't consider it an issue, however, if you replace the LCM, it will most likely have the latest update which will turn off the lights after the wipers are off.