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Headligh tcoming on by itself, car is off

Started by Cobra93, November 20, 2022, 05:40:34 PM

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Cobra93

I have a 2017 Taurus sho that has had minimal problems the past 2 years.I took the car to have tires put on yesterday, it was fine all day.
This afternoon I tried to remote start the car before I ran to the store. It didn't start, the car is dead. The keypad barely lit up.
I got it jumped and went to the auto parts store I got the battery from just over a year ago, it checked out good.
When I pulled into the auto part store parking lot I noticed the drivers side headlight was on and nothing I tried would make it turn off.I went back in to purchase a battery charger, just in case. When I went back out to the car (I left it running) the light was off. I got home put in on a 2 amp charge. After 2 or so hours I went out to check it and the drivers side headlight is back on again and I can't turn it off.
I did a search for which fuse is on that circuit, pulled the fuse and the light is off.
I thought this might have been something glitched from the dead battery, but I assume the light came on last night and drained the battery down to 6.5 volts.
It's only the driver side headlight.I replaced both bulbs this past summer with the stock osram bulbs and they have been okay since.
Does anyone have any ideas, a search didn't bring up anything and I hate to try to get into the dealer especially this time of year.
Thanks for your time, Joe.
2017 SHO PP stock for now.

Macgyver

It is that time of year for rodents to chew on wires. It is possible that is the case here.

Keep it on the trickle charger so you dont ruin/drain the battery anymore and when lets say at work. Pull the fuse.

It does this whether the lights are on or off or in auto mode ?

Cobra93

Correct. Doesn't matter where the headlight switch is turned to or if the car is on, acc mode or off.
What I'm not sure of is if the module is commanding it on, there is something back feeding the circuit or it has a short to power.
I pulled the fuse.
I'm afraid it will have to go to a dealer.
Coincidence that something happened at bell tire to cause this, no nidea.
I will try to look underneath the car and pull the airbox to see if I can find anything that looks odd.
Thanks for the response.
2017 SHO PP stock for now.

Cobra93

Due to some unforeseen problems I got out of work early today and was able to look at the car.
When I pulled the airbox out I saw some yellow electrical tape holding the split wire loom on a small harness.
That's not right. I put the fuse back in and started moving some wires around, the hid came on.
Moved them some more and it went off.
About this time I remember the carfax report. It was involved in a collision with a deer, driver side.
There is a spliced connection, that looked pretty well done, under some black electrical tape. I found 4 wires spliced.
I separated them and and wrapped them. I will make sure this problem is solved, if so I'll have to solder and heat shrink them for a "permanent" fix.
The first image is the wrapped bundle that seems to be the problem.
The second image is with the electrical tape removed and the 4 spliced wires/connections.
2017 SHO PP stock for now.

SHOdded

if wiring is not the issue, sometimes a failing battery can cause this to happen.
2007 Ford Edge SEL, Powerstop F/R Brake Kit, TXT LED 6000K Lo & Hi Beams, W16W LED Reverse Bulbs, 3BSpec 2.5w Map Lights, 5W Cree rear dome lights, 5W Cree cargo light, DTBL LED Taillights

If tuned:  Take note of the strategy code as you return to stock (including 3 bar MAP to 2 bar MAP) -> take car in & get it serviced -> check strategy code when you get car back -> have tuner update your tune if the strategy code has changed -> reload tune -> ENJOY!

Cobra93

The battery checked out to ne good and is only 1-1/2 years old. I can't get the BMS to reset, I wish I could.
The thing that has me confused is a module would have to command only one headlight to be on.
Since I separated the wires (that were repaired) I haven't had any reoccurance of the problem.
I assume one of the wires was hot and shorting to cause the headlight to power on and this is why the car didn't see the draw and kill power to save the battery.
2017 SHO PP stock for now.

SHOdded

how did you try to reset the bms? there are three methods i know of
1) 8+ hours of letting the vehicle sit undisturbed after shutoff
2) disonnecting the battery neg terminal and putting it on a charger
3) programmatically resetting the bms via forscan for windows w extended license, or dealer scan tool
2007 Ford Edge SEL, Powerstop F/R Brake Kit, TXT LED 6000K Lo & Hi Beams, W16W LED Reverse Bulbs, 3BSpec 2.5w Map Lights, 5W Cree rear dome lights, 5W Cree cargo light, DTBL LED Taillights

If tuned:  Take note of the strategy code as you return to stock (including 3 bar MAP to 2 bar MAP) -> take car in & get it serviced -> check strategy code when you get car back -> have tuner update your tune if the strategy code has changed -> reload tune -> ENJOY!

Cobra93

#7
The one I found videos for was to tap start button 2 times, foot off the brake. Flash high beams 5 times, the hit brake pedal 3 times. The battery "light" should flash on the dash within 10-15 seconds.
This is what I've seen for multiple models about this year, 2017.
All my dash lights go out before I can finish the process.



Something I noticed when the last battery went bad, with no warning like slow crank, was that the radio source would reset to am when the car was started. The preset were still there, but I was greeted by loud static when everything came on.


So far the headlight hasn't come on again, so I'll try to redo the wiring. Solder and heat shrink.
2017 SHO PP stock for now.

Ta2dResqr

Quote from: Cobra93 on November 24, 2022, 07:48:10 PM
The battery checked out to ne good and is only 1-1/2 years old. I can't get the BMS to reset, I wish I could.
The thing that has me confused is a module would have to command only one headlight to be on.
Since I separated the wires (that were repaired) I haven't had any reoccurance of the problem.
I assume one of the wires was hot and shorting to cause the headlight to power on and this is why the car didn't see the draw and kill power to save the battery.

The headlights have a hot all of the time wire straight to them from the fuse. They are grounded through the BCM to command them. There is also a wire for the ground for the shutter in that same bundle of 4 wires. The shutter gets power from the BCM. If the ground wire for the headlight (going to the BCM) shorted against the ground for the shutter, it would complete the circuit and turn the light on. This wiring is excellent for preventing voltage drop and getting maximum brightness for the bulb. However, it presents an issue if the wiring is damaged like this.
Lucy Ford 2015 Ruby Red Tinted Clearcoat Metallic, GearHead AO Performance Tuned - SCT X4, GearHead Intercooler, 3-Bar MAP, EPP Hot Pipes (Plum Crazy), EPP Dual Intake (Plum Crazy), AD Mounts, MSD Coils, JLT Oil Separator, 160 Thermostat, Ortiz Performance Battery Hold Down (Plum Crazy), Hellcat LPFP, 255/45R20 DSW06 Plus, Sync3 Conversion, CYANLabs Syn3, FMods, Jail Broke APIM, Infinity Kappa Speakers, Speaker Baffles, Whelen POV Response Package - (Inner Edge FST, Inner Edge RST, Sidekick, Tracer, LINV2, IONV3, HHS 200W, Howler 200W), Z-Flash, Full LED Swap, Drive Bright DRL Kit, Drive Bright Puddle Light Kit, Ford Sunroof Visor, Window Chrome Delete, OSRAM XENARC Night Breaker Laser, FORScan, OBDLink, Ford Cargo Organizer