Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting overhead light and footwell lights

Sure, Randy:

On the dome light first make sure it's set for 12 sec delay position, rather than off, turning it to on should of course do just that. Presumably the delay-off is working on the foot well lights proving that part of timer is working ok.

On the wipers; there is an interval wiper relay (r15 green)plus the timer involved in the intermittent/wash operation. I've had to replace the former, due to dirty contact, although another member simply took apart and cleaned it (using matchbook striking surface). Easy test on relay is to substitute the rear defrost relay (r13 green) and see if that solves your problem. Position of relays shown in owner's manual but they are numbered 13/14/15/16, top to bottom, after you have flipped the interior fuse panel down.

Post again with outcome.

Thanks, will do. Randy.

I had the same problems with both Contours. I was equally puzzeled becuase of how the lights operated. I thought there were major problems with some logic module some where.

It turned out to be bad contacts in the door switches in the doors. They are really cheap and rely on chassis ground of the car. Remove the switches and with knife or file clean up the contact area around the hole. There is a good chance that this is the problem. Good luck.

Originally posted by jborge:

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I had the same problems with both Contours. I was equally puzzeled becuase of how the lights operated. I thought there were major problems with some logic module some where.

It turned out to be bad contacts in the door switches in the doors. They are really cheap and rely on chassis ground of the car. Remove the switches and with knife or file clean up the contact area around the hole. There is a good chance that this is the problem. Good luck.

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exactly! I had this problem a few weeks back with the driver's door, now the passenger side is acting up. Just take the switch off, lean it up (and the door as well) and reinstall. problem should disappear.

(here's a better question - why are these switches grounded to a PAINTED surface? )

The philips head screw is what contacts the ground plate, and the screw hole on the body, which gives it the ground, my screw hole isn't painted. Ive never had any problems

Turns out it's the wiper motor relay (R15). Tested it with the rear defrost relay (R13) and it worked fine. Unfortunetaly, none of the Ford dealerships have this relay in stock and it'll cost $28 CND to replace. Anybody know of any auto parts stores in the Ottawa area that would carry something like this or is it a dealership part only?

Thanks for all your help, Randy.

Dont know if you have fixed the problem with your lights yet but, I know how I fixed mine. If you take your door panel off an move the foam baffle back near the latch in the door you can take out your locking assembly by removing two bolts in the upper part of the door in the door handle, and removing the three bolts on the latch side. Then if you pull the whole locking assembly out you can see there is little white plug that is plugged in right next to the latch, pull that out and reinstall everything as you took it out. This seems like it may take awhile but it should only take 20 minutes at the most if you have no problems. It worked for me and I was just adding a suggestion to help out a felow ceg member in need.