Ford Galaxy 2002 auto, interior lights not turning off

[YelloM0nkey]

Hi all, i have a problem that got me climbing walls. I buy and sell these Galaxy/Alhambra/Sharan, and this is a new encounter. So, the lights on the centre console, cluster, interior, rear plate lights stay on. Headlights knob should turn on and off these lights, but doesnt. Get out, lock the car, these lights stay on. Like i said, i have plenty of experience with these, so i fixed and checked all wiring humanly possible, all door shuts, tailgate, under seats, along the sills, under roof lining, engine bay and under dash, cant find anything out of order. All fuses are ok. The only thing that sorts out this problem, is fuse 53, which controls abs, esp, central locking and some others but most importantly interior usage cut-off. But then central locking is off, so its not a solution. I've narrowed it down to this, the interior cut-off, but dont know which relay/module it is. Any one have any idea if there is such a relay? Must say that i've tried disconnecting all plugs, relays, fuses that i could to see if any switch the lights off, with no succes so far. Anyone any ideas i can try?

[johnnyroper]

Sounds like the timer unit is at fault to me, it is basically the internal fuse box assembly.

[YelloM0nkey]

Thanks for the input. Took that apart, visually inspection seems all ok. I do have one for breaking, so my next step was to try and swap that. Will come back with the result. Cheers.

[YelloM0nkey]

No luck swapping that circuit board. Any water ingress prone areas i can check? I'm sure i've got a fake live somewhere, bit can't find it. Anybody any ideas?

[brianh]

Theres a services splice (splice 53 i think) that is prone to problems in the passenger footwell. Its a bunch of red wires twisted together. Close to where the rear washer splits apart and floods the footwell (which is why its prone to water damage).

Can't remember if there is a plug where you can unplug the tailgate wiring completely, but I know when I've had problems with that, that it will cause the backlight to come on behind the dash when you press the brakes. The tailgate is usually the worst bit of the wiring for damage, is it possible that any of the wires there have been connected back together incorrectly?

[Chrispb]

Had this with door wiring through gaiter on a rear passenger door, several wires had broken. culprit being electric window switch illumination shorted to central locking supply which is permanently live.

[brianh]

If its in a door, then the doors can be unplugged to try and find the problem as they will unplug from the pillar (sometimes the connector will drop inside the pillar, but thats a fixable issue if it happens)

[YelloM0nkey]

Problem solved. My car being a taxi in the past, some genius electrician guru installed all kind of systems on the car, and pluged into many lives for various reasons. Finding this, i knew someone messed up with the wiring, bit was not expecting this. So, after taking the dashboard facia off, expecting to find a mess in there, the issue was the right hand side speaker on the dash. Someone drove one of its retaining bolts through a small bunch of wires, causing them to contact with eachother. All this work because of a small mistake like that.

[johnnyroper]

Glad itââ,¬â,,¢s all fixed now and like you say a simple but stupid mistake. Reminds me of a train I once had where someone fixed a toilet door but in doing so used a 3ââ,¬Â screw through floor straight in to a main loom. Ended up crippling it miles from home with 2 transmissions going forward and the 3rd in reverse.