1996 Ford Ranger

Well DC,

Help us narrow this down... Do your turn signals work? Do you have anti theft on your truck?

To be honest with you. I am looking at the schematics and I dont see a way the frts could be on without the rears working too. So unless where the fronts are tied in with the rear wires is completely seperated, and power supplied through another means, there is no explanation for your problem. According to the diagram the lights run on a parellel circuit, so they have to be getting power near the switch, but without effecting the rear lights as well.

If you have anti-theft, then check the wires going to the relay in relay box #1. The wires will be a 14ga brown wire. If you dont have anti-theft, then they will still be a 14ga brown wire, but they will go straight to the light switch.

Thats all I got buddy....

Ford Tech

Yes the turn signals work, and no it does not have an anti-theft system. All the lights work and they turn on and off with the switch front and rear. The parking lights up front are the only thing the switch will not work. They stay on all the time. I've pulled both the fuse inside of the truck and the one under the hood. They still stay on. Just the parking lights not anything else, and the turn signals work just fine. I will say that when I turn the switch on to the parking lights first, they will illuminate as if I turned them on alittle and the headlights will work fine. It's like I have straight power to the parking lights somewhere. And I think your right it has to be somewhere by the switch(I'm thinking.) I really appreiciate your help and any other advice you can think of that are creating this.

Danny C.

Did anyone maybe install fog lights on this truck? Maybe they tied the parking lights to a separate switch somewhere to power the fogs and the parking lights. Just a guess.

SC Tom

I had thought about too , because of the weirdness , it's almost has to be man made . DC bpo , have you looked at the parking light wiring close to the lights to see if there are ' enhancements'?

No enhancements have been made. Everything is the way the factory made it. Yesterday, I went talk to the previous owner and he had told when it happen. He hooked it up to a battery charger, and after that the lights came on. So my conclusion is that the wires somewhere had to have been fused with another wire that is hot. My question now is were should I start first. Should I start looking around the switch? I'll admit I'm not too skilled at tracing wires.

I would disconnect the battery. Then disconnect the light switch. I would then connect a hotwire from the battery to the wire in the light switch connector for your front park lights. You will also need to run a wire for the ground, so the lights will light up and power will flow.

Then you need to take a DVOM and find what else has power running to it. Since its probably a short to power, its going to be a wire in the same loom as the lights thats rubbed into contact with it. Just trace your wiring loom down.

Ford Tech

Hey Guys, First of all I would like to thank you for all your help. I did find out that the front parking lights and the rear ligths all stay on even when I turn off the ignition. I know I said previous that it was just the front lights. My mistake, I'm sorry. I'm thinking that the problem has to be near the switch. I'm thinking that there may be a hot wire that fused with the lights.

Check the fuse panel. Some genius may have something jumped there. Also, check the trailer plug. Not likely on a ranger, but if there's an always hot wire there, it may be crossing over to the tail/running circuit.

I agree with the hitch lights hook-up , man made problem , and the charger didn't cause the problem, using it was only a result of the the constant drain on the batt. because the lights stayed on. If you don't see a trailer plug look for rear taillight wiring " enhancements".

OK, I went ahead and did that. The truck does not have a trailer plug, and the fuse panel is OK. Both the front and rear parking lights still stay on. Do you know what "hot" would be close to the parking lights wiring so that I can check that? I'm running out of options. Thanks.

Hey, Would you happen to know what hot wire would run close to the parking lights. I'm thinking that it may have fused with a hot wire to keep both front and rear parking lights on. And, if so, where should I start tracing.

DC

Sorry dc_b , I don't have a schematic for your truck . Because you already replace the headlight switch and looked for other than factory additions to wiring to the front and rear running lights and looked to see if a trailer plug was never wired ( even a temporary one , like to power lights on a u-haul trailer ) I'm out of likely causes. Shorts from wires inside wiring looms are rare but not impossible. Connectors , where one loom connects to the next or to devices such as the light switch is a more likely spot where a short might occur. I've seen terminals inside of connectors melt into each other. It must be a real pain to have to open the hood and dis / connect the battery every time, I wouldn't want to do that either. Not likely your truck will be stolen though. ( a bit of humor ) good luck

Well seeins how the wiring for those lights has to go through the bulkhead connector, there are all kinds of powers running right next to the wires you are chasing..

Best bet is to get a tube of clear silicone and start pokin wires in that loom right next to your wiring for the park lamps. Then seal them up with the silicone. Its a 14ga brown wire.

Like I said before I would disconnect the positive on the battery, and run a hot wire (5amp max) to the connector at the light switch, then start probing to see what else has power besides your park lamps.. That is the easiest way to do this..

Ford Tech

I did find out that the dashboard lights also stay on too. I just couldn't see them very well during the day. I don't know if this helps out. I was wondering, there was a car stereo put in the vehicle that is not the factory. Would any of the wiring from that cause this problem. I was told that the car stereo was not grounded right and was draining the battery. I just haven't had time to pull it out and check it. Is any of this good additional info.

Danny

BINGO we have a winner !!!

Radio / palyers have ( usually 3 {sometimes four} 12v feeds plus the ground and speaker leads. One 12v is to keep the clock correct and keep your preset stations and this is hooked to a always hot 12v wire. The second 12 volt feed is for the power up/on and is hooked to a hot lead when the ignition switch is in the on/acc positions. The third is to a background lighting so you can see the display at night when the lights are on and is hooked up to a (12v hot when the light are on only). PLUS the good ground ..!!! An incorrect hook up could very much indeed cause your symptoms. I feel positive you 've located your problem. Please let us know how is goes.

third is to

THIS IS GREAT!! I'M GOING TO CHECK THIS OUT TO SEE IF THIS IS CAUSE OF THE LIGHTS TO STAY ON. If could bother you for another question. Do you know what I should look out for. Meaning what kind of wiring should I look at? I just want to make sure I know what to look for that could be keeping the lights on.

Danny

and speaker

and this is

The third is to

are on and is

"OR SHOULD I GO AHEAD AND PULL THE STEREO OUT COMPLETELY AND REPLACE IT WITH A NEW ONE."

Danny

Usually there is some wiring drawing or discriptions on the radio / players as to what colors wires from the radio to go what power source. Again i don't have a wiring diagram for your truck ( maybe Ford Tech does or has access ) so I can't off hand tell you where which wire from the radio goes on your trucks wiring.

Probably a good idea to dis-connect the battery first. Then unplug the radios connections or if the wires were spliced into your trucks wiring- remove them all and taping the exposed truck wiring as you go. Then after you have removed the wiring from the radio to truck wiring , re-connect the battery and see if your running lights / dash lights work with the switch. Using a volt / ohm meter you could then determine which truck wires are the ones 12v sources - 1. always hot 2. hot when the key is on 3. hot when the lights are on. And the ohm function on the meter to find the ground wire. Hope this helps.