Overhead light...

I read a post on here that talked about the overhead light staying on after the doors were closed and locked. I have a 98 SE DOHC and I had the same problem. I was lazy and just decided to take the light out. It solved the problem but a couple of months ago my battery just died. I bought a new one and things were fine until two days ago. My battery died again. In the post I read, someone talked about a clicking noise coming from the the dash. I hear the same thing. It sounds like it is coming from below the steering wheel. It also clicks when the alarm light is going on and off. The floor lights below my steering wheel also stay on. Is it something related to the clicking or is it my alternator?

Is the Door Ajar light on your dash cluster lit up? This appears to be a problem with the door sensor that I have seen on other forums and have experienced myself. A proposed solution that is offered is to spray some WD-40 in the door locks to ensure the switch opens and closes properly. In my case the car was still under warranty so I do not know exactly how my problem was solved, but I think they replaced the switch. The Taurus does not have a separate plunger-type switch on the frame that the door pushes in when it is closed as many cars do.

I have the same problem with my 98 DOHC. My lights will go off eventually but that could be hours later. At times the dome ligth will stay on while driving and when this happens the auto door locks will remain unlocked. If the car is driven long enough the doors will lock and the dome light will go off. There is no indiacation that any doors are ajar. So far no problems with my battery and I haven't noticed any clicking noise from the dash.

I just had the same problem with my 98 SE. The door ajar light was on and the dome light stayed on. I tracked it down to the door ajar switch on the passenger door. I unplugged it for now and it works properly. I plan to track down another door latch for the passenger door and swap it out to hopefully fix the problem.

WD-40 worked for me. only cost 1.69 =D

DVK

Same problem with 98 SE. Overhead light and door ajar indicator staying on. Just used WD-40 in each door latch and completely fixed the problem. I spray latches on a normal basis just in case. Haven't had a problem since. Never experienced the clicking sound, though. Is it coming from left side under dash (near emergency brake)? If so, check headlamp relay or other relays in the fuse box. I know that when I was having the initial problem with my overhead lamp, it would not go out until the battery saver kicked in (after 15 minutes) and the overhead lamp would turn off. The relay seemed to get pretty hot.

Windstars have the same exact problem as the Taurus as it's basically a Taurus with a Van body! I went to the local Ford dealership and guess what they used >> WD 40 in the latchs and continually opened and cloed the doors between soaking of the latch mechanism, while watching the lights inside the cabin. and sure enough out they went!Hey doesn't hurt it in there either.. Rust Check up here in Canada uses basically wd40 with inhibitors for rust inhibiting into all panels ..so soak it till it runs out the bottom of the door and kill two birds with one stone!

Check for a rotary switch on the lower left side of the dash. There should be a switch on most Fords and Mercurys that controls the brightness of the instrument panel. If you rotate this switch all the way in one direction, you will come to a on/off for the dome light. This may be your problem that this switch has the the dome light turned on and as long as it is on, it will keep draining your battery.

Good luck