Tail lights staying on. . . .

[so2315]

Wife just called me from work, she has had several people tell her that her tail lights are on. She has moved the switch back and forth, and the headlights are off. This is on a 2000 SEL. Any ideas???? Should I disconnect the battery for a bit and see if it resets?

[lewisnc100]

Sounds like the brake lights are stuck on, pretty common. Have her tap the brake pedal a few times or reach behind the pedal and manipulate the switch a little to get it working. You can try to replace it or clean it out later. Try a search too, there was a recent thread on this.

[chasealley]

Ya, I just posted a bit on this one cause I did mine around Christmas.

First differentiate if it is brake lights or tail lights.

Then, try pulling the brake pedal toward you, not pushing away, and see if it goes off.

Also note if it is worse when the van is cold.

Make sure there isn't a broken wire too.

You can get a switch from Ford and change it pretty easy if that is what you determine is the problem.

Some have suggested cleaning the switch but with a safety item, and one that is behind you that you can't see, replacing it might be the safest bet. Particularly when others tell you the thing is stuck on. If I hadn't been enloading the van by myself in cold weather I prob would never have known it was broken...

[so2315]

Wife got home, and she originally told me that it was the tail light. Ended up being the brake light. I tapped the pedal with my foot and it went off. I guess I will keep an eye on it and replace the switch if needed. Would some WD-40 work to lube the switch?

[chasealley]

I just disassembled my old switch to look at the failure and it appears that it *may* be the plastic button that slides through the plastic case. They looked quite scored. So yes, some wd-40 might lube that for a while but the correct thing if you wanted to R&R the switch is to disassemble and file and sandpaper the button without losing too much tolerance (causing it to wobble in the case and fail anyway).

If you are inside there are three or 4 total contact points that would benefit from some grease. I would prob use some dielectric grease where the plastic case contacts the electrical contact. Otherwise, smooth out that plastic a bit.

Be warned though that while it isn't hard to disassemble it is easy to break

[windbag]

Becareful. It sounds like the LCM ( lighting control module) it happened to my 1999. It locaked on the pass rear panel.