ADP Posted July 23, 2023 Share Posted July 23, 2023 Someone please tell me I’m not crazy here! I’ve got a 2017 Ford Explorer Limited and within the past month, I noticed that my exterior lights were no longer working according to which setting I had the control knob on. I will explain in as much detail as possible below. Before I go into that though, I wanted to mention that I took my vehicle to a local Ford dealership, and they told me there was no issue and that the lights were working as intended. I swear it’s not right and am hoping to get other opinions to either tell me I am, in fact, crazy, or that there really is an issue here (and what a fix might be if anyone knows). Here's what’s happening. There are four settings on the exterior light control. A. Off (Daytime Running Lights on – DRLs) B. Parking Lamps C. Headlamps D. Auto Lamps From the owner’s manual: Note: I have the Conventional (Non-Configurable) DRLs When I have the vehicle in Park (P), all 4 settings work as intended. However, once I put the vehicle into any gear (Reverse, Neutral, Drive), both the Daytime Running Lamps and Headlamps are always on regardless of the control setting. This is the part that I don’t believe is correct, as the Headlamps specifically should only come on if I have the control set to either “C” – Headlamps, or “D” – Auto lamps (AND it is dark enough for the lamps to turn on). Otherwise, only the Daytime Running Lights should be on. And I know they used to work this way, up until about a month ago. Here are pictures of what I just described: 1. Vehicle is in Park (P) and the setting is on either “A”, “B”, or “D” (and it is light enough for no Headlamps): 2. Vehicle is in any gear (Reverse, Neutral, Drive) and the exterior light control is on any setting (including “A” - Off). Both DRLs and Headlamps are always on: Hopefully that all makes sense. If there are questions or clarification needed, please let me know. I’m planning to try and take it to a different Ford dealership for a second opinion, but I wanted to also see if anyone else has experienced this or knew of what the issue might be. I know it’s a minor issue, but I like my vehicles to work correctly. But if I am really going crazy, please let me know, ha! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted July 23, 2023 Share Posted July 23, 2023 DRL are the headlights, not the accent lights. They just use a lower intensity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADP Posted July 23, 2023 Author Share Posted July 23, 2023 7 minutes ago, akirby said: DRL are the headlights, not the accent lights. They just use a lower intensity. Thank you. That does make sense. My follow-up question would be, why do they stay on though when I switch the exterior light control to off? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted July 23, 2023 Share Posted July 23, 2023 8 minutes ago, ADP said: Thank you. That does make sense. My follow-up question would be, why do they stay on though when I switch the exterior light control to off? Some are just designed to be on all the time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADP Posted July 23, 2023 Author Share Posted July 23, 2023 3 hours ago, akirby said: Some are just designed to be on all the time. Appreciate the information. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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