Windstar 1999 Interior Lights Stay On-- Fixed

[smata67]

My dome light would not turn off after pulling out of the driveway. Obviously, this is a serious safety hazard, particularly at night when you can't see out the windows because of the reflection, there ought to be a recall on this, given the fact that there are literally thousands of complaints about this issue all over the internet.

After scouring a number of posts, the ones that offered a reasonable solution pointed at the door locks that in some manner failed to notify the car that the door was closed. Unfortunately lubing the locks failed to correct the problem. Many hundreds of posts of people claiming they did the same to no avail.

I may have found a solution. There is a black plastic ring that surrounds the keyhole. On my van, this is a little loose. By jiggling it back and forth with the key inserted I am able to control the dome lights. There may very well be a sensor in that vicinity that has a loose contact. This has worked every time since I discovered it, thought others might want to know.

[garync1]

I have a 2001 and funny thing is.. I was getting rid of an old matress today, squeezed it in the back, but I could not close the tailgate of course. I started out and my inside lights were on, again like they should be. I Notice the doors did not lock autmatic. So I locked them.. After a few sec.the inside lights went off.. with the tailgate half opened..My door adjar light was on the whole trip but the inside lights were off... Just wanted share that after reading your post.. Thanks for your info... Funny what that rear door and others can control...

[smata67]

One thing to be careful with is not jiggling the key insert while driving, it could result in accidently turning your car off while on the road and you will lose power steering! It just happened to me! Use this approach only to turn off the light at night when pulling out of your driveway. Now that the problem has been pinpointed, someone oughta figure out how to get in there an fix the problem once and for all.

[ryanjenna]

My 96 windstar was doing the same thing. I spayed wd-40 on the door latches starting with the drivers door the shutting it and worked my way to the back hatch after I shut the back hatch the lights went off!
Been working ever since.