Adding a headlight reminder buzzer in a 1997 E350?

[cfrank2]

I am constantly leaving the lights on in my 1997 E350 van and want to add a buzzer to remind me to turn them off. What all would i need to do this and how would it be wired up? I just want it to buzz when the ignition is off and the headlights are on. I guess ford skimps on those things as my crown victoria is the same way

Thanks, any help is appreciated

[Selectron]

Adding a reminder buzzer is easy enough to do. I was just looking at the wiring diagrams for the '97 E350 on the Autozone website to find the appropriate points in the circuit to tell you to tap into, and to explain how to do the job, but I see that there is a warning buzzer module on the wiring diagrams list. According to the wiring diagram, it should beep when the driver's door is opened with the key still in the ignition, or when the driver's door is opened whilst the headlamps are still switched on (the module also controls seatbelt warning beeps).

The warnings for key-still-in-ignition and headlamps-still-on are triggered by the driver's door courtesy lamp switch in conjunction with the warning module, so before you proceed with adding your own buzzer, are you sure that the driver's door switch is working? Usually, an interior courtesy lamp has three settings - always on, always off, or switched on when a door is opened. If your courtesy lamp has that third setting but if it doesn't work via the door then you likely have a faulty door switch.

If on the other hand the door switch does indeed switch on the courtesy lamps then it's possible that the fuse which feeds the warning module could be blown, thus causing it to fail to respond to the trigger from the door switch, so you might want to check the fuse.

If you're sure you don't have such a feature on the van though then let me know and I'll explain how to add your own warning buzzer.