95 ford taurus tail/brake/dash lights not working

[pjshubne]

i have a 95 ford taurus. the tail lights and brake lights are not working. the dash lights do not work either. the warning/service lights work on the dash when i turn the car on, just at night the back lights don't work. i have check all fuses, relays, and bulbs. any ideas where to go from here. I have heard it could be a bad ground, any ideas on where to look for that? thanks to anyone providing help!

[talonlover]

I'm not very versed on a Taurus, but are there any fuseable links under the hood? If so, try looking for a blown fuse link or a relay under the hood if you haven't already tried.

[pjshubne]

i recently got a chance to look at this 95 ford taurus again and found that the tail lights and the parking lights were the only lights not working. I spent a half day pulling fuses, testing wires for power, tearing the steering column apart( like someone suggested). nothing worked. finally i pulled the dash apart and pulled out the headlight switch. i found the connector that plugged into it was melted in the middle and the connectors on the switch didn't look so hot either. i messed around with it for a minute and got the lights to work. once i knew that was the problem i went to a junkyard and got the switch and the connector for $7. (if you go to the dealer the switch is around $40 and you have to buy the whole wiring harness to get the connector, so that means a lot more money and a lot more work to install.) everything works fine now. the bell for the lights being left on even works now. Thanks to all who gave suggestions.

[mwt]

Be prepared to do it again as it was a defect in the switch.

I had to replace the male and female half on my 94. I even saw an announcment about it on the news but Ford never did issue a recall.

The new parts have corrected the problem.

Mike