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 **** 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!

 

I must be crazy