Interior Lights Stay On Following Windscreen Replacement

[toptoe]

Hi Guys,

Today I went to AutoGlass with my Mk2.5 2008 Ford Focus Zetec and had a replacement windscreen fitted under my insurance. After they fitted the new windscreen I noticed the interior lights were no longer working as they should be. At first I was glad to hear they'd be fitting a "like-for-like" windscreen and I would still have my heated clear screen option on the front. I waited almost three hours for the result and at first glance I thought they did a good job. As soon as I got in the car however, my judgement of their workmanship changed, I noticed the interior light was in the center position, only switching on when the doors (or bonnet?) are open.. what was odd about this, was with all the doors closed and the hood latched into place properly, the light would stay on. Before the windscreen replacement, this feature worked perfectly fine. So before I left I wanted the guy to look at it, he dismounted the interior light fitting, which he admitted he needed to do as part of the replacing of the windscreen procedure. His professionalism suddenly broke down at this point and he just gazed at the light, baffled. Having spent some time reading forums via google i've found that the bonnet can trigger the interior lights to come on, if the car thinks the bonnet is open? The interior light, looks perfectly fine and when he dismounted it, it looked fine. So now I only have two settings - ON, or OFF..
Any ideas guys?

If I turn the engine on, the dash doesn't tell me any doors are open. I've lifted the bonnet and dropped it shut again securely and that doesn't resolve it either.

Thanks,

toptoe

[vince_13]

i cant belive im reading this, i thought i was the only 1 and an isolated case

i was too a victim to there "workmanship" however in my case they had somehow blown the fuse when removing the light unit

in your case have you had a look at the black button slider on the reverse of the unit, it should pivot on 2 white pins, it may have come off center and not be moving correctly

[Stoney871]

Sounds like he broke the light when getting it out.

Why exactly did he remove the light in the first place? There's nothing there that has anything to do with the windscreen.

The bonnet being opened does not switch on the light or give a dash notigication, the bonnet switch only affects the alarm system.

As said above, it sounds like he damaged the switch.

[jeebowhite]

Call the beggers and tell them how your car has changed since their workmanship, request that they have one of their recommended mechanics review the car and have the issues resolved at their expense.

The only thing they need is bonnet access, not under light access.

It might be worth removing the light unit and making sure that there are no bridged contacts that are closing the circuit and preventing the auto on off working...

[vince_13]

Thry removed the light to acces the earth strip that is bolted near the aerial base, I presume this is for the heating elements,

They left the old earthing strip in my car and fitted a new 1 hence why removing the light

Sent from my C6903 using Ford OC mobile app

[toptoe]

Thry removed the light to acces the earth strip that is bolted near the aerial base, I presume this is for the heating elements,

They left the old earthing strip in my car and fitted a new 1 hence why removing the light

Sent from my C6903 using Ford OC mobile app

Thanks a lot guys for all your contributions, I really do appreciate it. I took the car to a dealer and they've ran it through some diagnostics and found that they did indeed need to get behind the interior light fitting, beneath the aerial because the earth strip which completes the return path for the heated front windscreen circuit, is accessed there. They said that sometimes the technician hasn't wired up the earth to the interior light but in this case the technician wired up the new heated windscreen fine, but resulted in damaging the interior light. I've had a new interior light fitted and it works fine.

Cheers guys! :D

[jeebowhite]

I would send the bill for the garage visit to the windscreen company!

[Keith in Lincoln]

Interesting...  Same fault, after having front windscreen repaired, only heated screen stopped working before internal lighting issues.  Just taken light out and found the problem with the screen.  The earth point is heavily corroded, and the interior light has melted around the earth point.  Wires are charcoaled mess.  Any issues with cleaning it all up and re-making the connection?  Light almost works, just stays on randomly, new light...   Slightly concerned that the car could have gone up in flames.  about 6 moths since screen was replaced so I think they'll deny everything.

[jeebowhite]

Should be easy enough to do, wire brush maybe even replacement bolt may be necessary. The wiring will need to be replaced. You could just cut the wires off and replace the ends which are burned, but you need to clean it up to within an inch of its life. Check resistance across all points before reinstalling and make sure it's all well insulated

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk

[Gizza11]

Strange this as I had my screen done by Autoglass and had no problems at all. Found out something I did not know and that was the earthling strip under the light unit.

[jeebowhite]

Yeah it normally secures to the aerial base and allows the chassis around the light unit to be the earth contact point.

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