S-MAX Front & Rear Driver Side Light Randomly Turning On When Ignition is Off

[jostler]

Evening, everyone.

I own a 2007 Ford S-MAX 1.8L TDCI, which is experiencing an intermittent issue. Now and again, the front side light appears to come on (on the driver's side only), when the car is not in use i.e. locked and parked with the ignition off and the light switch set to the "off" position. On some occasions, both the front and rear side light (also, only on the driver's side) may both turn themselves on.

When this happens, if I unlock the car and turn the ignition on, the right indicator is also on, despite the fact the indicator stalk is in the "neutral" position. To turn the right indicator signal off, I have to push the indicator stalk to the position that switches the left indicator on, then back into its neutral position to cancel it out. In turn, the front and rear side lights switch themselves off.

It happens once or twice a week. There's no consistency in when the issue plays out, such as after driving during a sustained period of heavy rain, or perhaps a long hot or cold spell. It's seemingly random in that sense.

I've checked other forums, but there is nothing of note to suggest what could be the root cause or how to address it, other than that it is a seemingly common fault among SMAX and Galaxy owners, with this particular model.

I know nothing about the car electrics or mechanics, so any help or pointers would be gratefully received, especially as I'm expecting my third child in just a few weeks. I've already had to spend a small fortune recently, getting the brakes and disc pads replaced, all four tyres changed, as well as both the power steering pump and steering rack replaced, so I can't afford to spend any more money, unnecessarily, you see.

Would it be worth disconnecting the battery for 10 minutes and then reconnecting it, as the first port of call? Is a diagnostics test likely to help at all? Would my local garage be able to help or does this sound more like a job for an auto-electrician?

In one forum post I stumbled across, someone else with a near-identical issue seemed to find joy in changing the "Indicator Switch". Is this another term for the "Steering Column Switch"? If so, what is the likelihood of this being the cause of my troubles?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Joe

[jostler]

Some additional information, in case it helps...

If I lock the car by pressing the lock button on the key fob just once, upon unlocking the car, my front driver side light and rear driver side parking light come on, even though the interior switch that controls my sidelights and headlights is in the "off" position. It's worth adding that I always leave the indicator stalk in the "neutral" position before turning off the engine and locking the car.

Also, if I instead lock the car by pressing the lock button on the key fob twice (to double lock it), my front driver side light and rear driver side parking light come on, about 5 minutes after locking it and stay on.

In both scenarios, when I unlock the car and turn the ignition on, the right-hand indicator is flashing, even though the indicator stalk is in the "neutral" position. I then have to push the indicator up and back down again to cancel the signal.

When driving once this has happened, after using the indicator stalk and returning it to the "neutral" position, the signal will occasionally continue to flash, meaning I have to repeat the process to cancel it.

[JacquesT]

Hi Joe,

This problem is exactly the same as i have.  

I found a solution here: talk ford - indicator-turns-itself-on

In short: easy/cheap solution is to clean the contacts of the indicator switch (this worked for me, for about a year).  If the contacts are worn, then replace the indicator switch.

the link above has instructions on how to do this.

Hope this helps.

[sirthanksalot]

On 10/7/2020 at 7:46 PM, jostler said:

Evening, everyone.

I own a 2007 Ford S-MAX 1.8L TDCI, which is experiencing an intermittent issue. Now and again, the front side light appears to come on (on the driver's side only), when the car is not in use i.e. locked and parked with the ignition off and the light switch set to the "off" position. On some occasions, both the front and rear side light (also, only on the driver's side) may both turn themselves on.

When this happens, if I unlock the car and turn the ignition on, the right indicator is also on, despite the fact the indicator stalk is in the "neutral" position. To turn the right indicator signal off, I have to push the indicator stalk to the position that switches the left indicator on, then back into its neutral position to cancel it out. In turn, the front and rear side lights switch themselves off.

It happens once or twice a week. There's no consistency in when the issue plays out, such as after driving during a sustained period of heavy rain, or perhaps a long hot or cold spell. It's seemingly random in that sense.

I've checked other forums, but there is nothing of note to suggest what could be the root cause or how to address it, other than that it is a seemingly common fault among SMAX and Galaxy owners, with this particular model.

I know nothing about the car electrics or mechanics, so any help or pointers would be gratefully received, especially as I'm expecting my third child in just a few weeks. I've already had to spend a small fortune recently, getting the brakes and disc pads replaced, all four tyres changed, as well as both the power steering pump and steering rack replaced, so I can't afford to spend any more money, unnecessarily, you see.

Would it be worth disconnecting the battery for 10 minutes and then reconnecting it, as the first port of call? Is a diagnostics test likely to help at all? Would my local garage be able to help or does this sound more like a job for an auto-electrician?

In one forum post I stumbled across, someone else with a near-identical issue seemed to find joy in changing the "Indicator Switch". Is this another term for the "Steering Column Switch"? If so, what is the likelihood of this being the cause of my troubles?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Joe

Thanks for describing this well enough that Google took me here and straight to the solution, saved me lots of hassle and expense and given me satisfaction repairing it.

[jostler]

When I originally posted this, I took it to my local garage. From memory - as it was around October 2020, I took it in - they stripped everything down and cleaned the contacts in the indicator switch, as recommended. In turn, this appeared to fix the issue.

However, more recently, my front windscreen wipers stopped working. The garage rectified that yesterday by replacing the windscreen wiper motor on the passenger side. My S-Max has two, you see - a passenger side motor and one on the driver side. Having spoken with Ford's Parts Team in Derby before taking it to my local garage, Ford said it is nearly always the passenger side windscreen motor that ceases up first.

That alone didn't resolve the problem, so it required some work from the Autoelectrician to reprogram something or other, which did the trick.

Oddly, since then, my air conditioning has suddenly started working again, which I haven't ever been able to get working since owning the car. Great stuff.

Unfortunately, I am now, however, again facing the same indicator issue as outlined when first posting the thread. I turn the ignition on, and the right indicator is on despite the stalk being in the neutral position. Unlike before, the parking lights aren't coming on as well this time around - not yet, anyway!

It seems odd that the indicator switch would suddenly cease up and need replacing, especially in light of my air con now working. Again, I've telephoned Ford Part's Team, who agree that this is more likely to be an electrical issue.

Has anyone else faced any similar oddities of this nature?

Thanks in advance.

[jostler]

As an update to my last post, I have now realised that the indicator signal on the driver side wing mirror is on, along with the driver side parking light. I'm taking the car to the garage tomorrow, so I'll share the recommended fix from the forums with them, as per the link to another forum post kindly shared by JacquesT. Annoyingly, the issue is intermittent again, as it was when I first created this thread in October 2020.

[unofix]

Having read through your very comprehensive description (must admit I had a tea break in the middle 🤣) it would seem the most probable cause is water/corrosion of the Body Control Module (BCM) or on your model it maybe known as a GEM.

It is a common problem for water to find it's way in to the connectors and even on to the circuit board leading to corrosion and intermittent faults as you describe.

The BCM (or GEM) is part of the fusebox in the passenger compartment. Disconnect the negative terminal of the battery before investigating and removing the plugs form the module.

Just for your information the BCM controls all of the circuits you are experiencing problems with: Parking Lights, Indicators, Wipers, and some aspects of the AC.