I have a 2007 Ford Five Hundred SEL. The mileage is just shy of 100K.

About a month ago, while driving the interior lights (front light above console and rear dome light) came on while driving. I heard a click before they came on, and they turned off automatically within about a minute or so. I didn't think much of it.

It's the same clicking sound I hear when it starts to get dark and the "eye" on the dash senses darkness and turns the lights on behind the dash.

Yesterday, the lights went on again. I pulled over, turned off the car, and started the car again. The lights were off, but went on a few minutes later (which only lasted for a minute or so). Basically in my 15-20 minute drive, the lights were on for about a minute while driving. I reached out to a friend of mine who is a Ford Mechanic. He mentioned I should check the battery terminals as corrosion on a battery will often cause strange things with the electrical system. He had never heard of this issue though.

Has anyone encountered this issue? If so, what is the "fix"? I thought it might be fuse related, but if the fuse is bad, I would expect the lights to not go on at all.

Thanks!

 

Nope. I can't reliably back-yard mechanic diagnose electrical issues, especially if they're sensor related.

That said, 15 yrs ago I had a Dodge Grand Caravan that if I drove straight from my house to the freeway, after an hour at 70 mph the horn would come on solid. Scared me and the close-by drivers considerably. Dealer, under warranty, couldn't ID the problem and threw a couple parts at it to no avail.

Solution: vacationed in Escalantee, Utah for a week and drove a very washboarded 50 miles long dead end gravel road round trip 3 times, vibrating all the way at 45 mph. So 300 miles at speed over washboards. After that week the automatic horn never surfaced again. The road vibration resulted in a solution.

You could always use your electrical issue as an excuse to vacation in that same Utah town ...

 

Always appreciate a good sense of humor !
It makes one wonder if the problem was a poor connection or a malfunctioning module in the system.

 

 

Thanks Brian. I think you hit the nail on the head.

It was fine for about a month, and then the lights went on the other day while driving. I touched the key, and the lights went off. There must be something loose in the switch/cylinder. Have you sealed the gap with silicone, and is it still working as a decent fix for you? I spoke to someone at the dealer (just to get a ballpark as to pricing at a dealership), and they're ballparking $450+ to replace the "sensor" within the ignition. Seems outrageous.

 

The silicon has lasted for a couple months but sometimes it’s still a problem but if I took the time to do a better job I’m sure it’ll solve the problem permanently.

 

Surprising mileage for a 2007 car! I don't think battery terminal corrosion could be related to your issue. I suppose it's a universal-argument when the mechanic doesn't really have an idea of what's going on. I wonder if you thought about switching to alternative interior enlightening? I've had once a similar problem, except it was a Suzuki. No one could give me any plausible answer, so I bought smart strip lights https://www.vont.com/product/smart-s...-strip-lights/ and reached out to an electrician to have them installed. Yeah, it's not the same to have it mended to its original appearance, but It's an alternative solution.

 

My interior lights come on while I'm driving if I hit a bump or something it seemed like that was the cause at first . Well it's gotten much worse they come on whenever randomly I found adjusting the key a little bit would shut them off, however over the last few months the little adjustment has turned into turning the key forward backwards in out constantly getting worse taking longer to get them to turn off. but they always did until tonight I ended up pulling the bulbs out both in the front and the back seat. Then as I was walking into the house I realized the lights shining down form my side mirrors we're still on. It's cold and dark so I pulled the fuse.
I think definitely has something to do with the ignition but I don't know. Any ideas what my next course of action should be. If it had something to do with a door sensor wouldn't the door ajar come on as well? And since I first encountered this I made sure to only use a single key I don't have anything hanging waiting down the ignition.

 

What Gap are you sealing with silicone my lights are on now all the time unless I pull that fuse. Do I replace the cylinder or the switch and where's the Gap in the switch?