Complete Courtesy Light Failure '02 Windstar

[LordDarkStar]

Howdy all!

When I acquired my '02 Windstar this summer, it had an ugly little habit of burning ALL of the courtesy lights ALL of the time. Took it to my friendly neighborhood wrench to get the transaxle flushed and filled and when I got her back, the courtesy light issue was fixed! The mechanic that worked on her said he did nothing special, so I accepted this gift and went about my business. Since that event, I have replaced the motor for the power window on the driver's side and I replaced the passenger side rear view mirror with one I had scavenged from my '01 Windstar when it shelled its engine. For that, I had to do a little electrical cobbling with the switch since the plug for the '01 and '02 are different (of course!), but again, following these repairs, everything was working fine.

Then of a sudden, about a month and a half ago, I lost ALL of my courtesy lights with the exception of the footwell lights. I had my friendly neighborhood wrench see what his diagnostic computer told him and he revealed it was throwing a code B2499 - Courtesy Lamp Output Failure. Since then, I have been scouring the 'net in search of a way to proceed. From what I have been able to find out, I am preparing to pull the REM and hose it down with electrical cleaner, thinking that maybe a contact in there is stuck. And yes, I HAVE checked the relevant fuses and they are not blown, so we can scratch THAT as the source of the problem!

I AM wondering about this SPP s**t that Ford dreamed up to confound diagnosticians everywhere....Just where in the H*ll is THAT POS to be found and what do I do to it/with it once I track it down? It appears to be integrally involved with the mini-van's courtesy lights, so it is suspect until I can prove differently.

In short ladies and gentlemen, HELP!! Where should I go from here? And PLEASE don't say to a professional electrical mechanic 'cause I'm so poor I can barely afford to pay attention! Oh, and she doesn't have any other symptoms AT ALL, except for the absence of courtesy lights.

Thanks in advance!

[LordDarkStar]

A brief update: I successfully removed the rear electronic module from my van. Prior to removal, the REM was examined as was the surrounding area. No evidence of physical or water damage was noted. The screws that secure the front and back of the case turned out to be Torx-15 (or 'star' for those of you that prefer). Holding the case carefully by its edges, one side of the cover was removed and the top of the circuit board was examined. No evidence of component failure was observed. The top of the circuit board was thoroughly sprayed down with CRC's QD Electronic Cleaner. The case was then inverted and the other side cover was removed and the bottom of the circuit board was examined. Again, no evidence of malfunction of the board was noted. The bottom side of the circuit board was thoroughly sprayed with the same electronic cleaner, the bottom cover replaced and the assembly set aside until the cleaner completely evaporated. At this time, each of the 5 plugs going to the REM were also liberally sprayed with electronic cleaner.

My plan is to reassemble then reinstall the REM either later this afternoon or tomorrow morning.

More information as it becomes available.