RnDSchmidt Posted May 18, 2019 Share Posted May 18, 2019 I have a '19 Expedition that I'm going to setup for towing behind a motorhome and I need to access the back side of the rear lights to add in a diode kit so that the motorhome and Expedition electrical systems don't mix. My problem is that I haven't figured out how to remove the light assembly. When I lift up the hatchback / tailgate there aren't any fasteners visible holding onto the lights. I also do not see any easy to remove interior panels to provide access from the rear. Anyone do any work on the rear lights on their '18 or '19 Expedition and have an idea where to start? Thanks - Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbf2530 Posted May 18, 2019 Share Posted May 18, 2019 Hi Richard. Instructions for changing the taillight bulbs are on pages 346-347 of your Owners Manual. In the "Maintenance" section. Good luck. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RnDSchmidt Posted May 18, 2019 Author Share Posted May 18, 2019 Thanks. Figures that it would be somewhere obvious like that! I do see that it talks about the LED tail lights as being non serviceable and high voltage. I'll have to see what the harness and voltage is next. Thanks so much for pointing me in the right direction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RnDSchmidt Posted June 14, 2019 Author Share Posted June 14, 2019 The LED lights are just like the normal bulbs - regular 12V. The colors Ford chose aren't the common ones I'd expect but all in all wasn't too much of an issue. Now Just need to isolate the brake light wire so it doesn't override the motorhome driven turn signals. When the supplemental brake system pushes the brake pedal to match the motorhome - which turns on the tail lights solid and bright; the motorhome is trying to flash the turn signals because you are turning but the flashing doesn't come through due to the brake light being solid on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasonj80 Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 On 6/14/2019 at 3:25 PM, RnDSchmidt said: The LED lights are just like the normal bulbs - regular 12V. The colors Ford chose aren't the common ones I'd expect but all in all wasn't too much of an issue. Now Just need to isolate the brake light wire so it doesn't override the motorhome driven turn signals. When the supplemental brake system pushes the brake pedal to match the motorhome - which turns on the tail lights solid and bright; the motorhome is trying to flash the turn signals because you are turning but the flashing doesn't come through due to the brake light being solid on. Part of that is that Ford cheeped out and didn't use separate turn signals / Brake sections. So the Expedition bulb/LED going to function Brake/Turn out of the same section of the assembly, they saved $1 doing it on your $70,000 vehicle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorid Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 Thank you for the info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RnDSchmidt Posted October 13, 2019 Author Share Posted October 13, 2019 Quick update. We managed to tow the Expedition 2500 miles without any issues in our travels this summer, all in all a successful DIY and the Expedition tows great 4-down. There were a few times that we had to run through the Neutral Tow enable/disable 2x to get things to the right state - but it was almost always because we didn't follow the check-list exactly (sometimes hard to get the timing right w/ the push-button start to turn off the engine but keep the car "on"). One thing I did have to add that I didn't realize when I first posted was a Brake Relay Kit - so that the brake function wouldn't mask the RV turn signals flashing the rear lights (since there are no dedicated turn signals on the Expedition). Basically the brakes being applied by my Air Force 1 system keeps the brake lights lit - so that when the RV is flashing the turn signals you instead get a constant "on" light at the rear - not what you want when you are slowing down to turn. So this Roadmaster 88400 bake relay system : https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B003VASGIO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 will help you fix that - it makes it so that the brake lights only work when not being towed. The relay gets 12V from the motorhome to indicate you are in tow mode. The kit tells you to take power from the light pin on your wiring harness - but I instead used the charge line I'd run to keep the Expedition battery charged while being towed. I also added a 3" of strip LED lights (under 1amp) under the dash that glows when there is 12v power from the charge line so i can tell that everything is connected properly and I'm going to get the brake / turn signal functions desired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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