I've got a Ford Fiesta 2013 Zetec. It just failed its MOT because of "Position lamp not working Front with ignition off" [4.2.1 (a)(ii)]

 

They explained that this is what SHOULD be happening:

When the switch is set to the position shown below and the ignition is off (key out), the side parking lights should be ON as shown below.

As well as the front parking lights being on, the rear parking lights and number plate lights should also be on.

 

So now what actually is happening:

When the switch is set to the position above the front side lights do not come on.

The rear parking lights and the number plate lights DO come on though.

 

What's changed since last MOT:

Since the last MOT I had a problem where one of the headlights would turn off after a couple seconds of being on.

To fix this I replaced the Body Control Module with one which had the exact same model numbers and everything.

This fixed the issue I was having with the headlights.

However, this isn't part of the problem as I just put the original BCM back in and it has the same problem with the side lights not staying on.

 

If anyone knows what could be causing it, what to try, who to go to, then anything would be appreciated.

I have booked it in with a car electric specialist who had a quick look but couldn't think of anything obvious.

None of your pictures are working for me.  I assume the sidelights work with the engine running?  

If you have Forscan, see if there are any tickboxes in the BCM that could refer to this.

39 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

None of your pictures are working for me.  I assume the sidelights work with the engine running?  

If you have Forscan, see if there are any tickboxes in the BCM that could refer to this.

Here is a link to see the post with pictures, no idea why they aren't appearing for you. https://freeimage.host/i/HZ8CNtt

I'm just looking at videos and I'll order an adapter so I can see if it can just be changed that easily as it £20 for an adapter is better than £150 for Ford to just 'find' the problem.

Pictures not showing for me too.

 

4 minutes ago, Bobr said:

Pictures not showing for me too.

 

Please use this link to view the full post with images, again, no idea why it's not working.

https://freeimage.host/i/HZ8CNtt

 

54 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

None of your pictures are working for me.  I assume the sidelights work with the engine running?  

If you have Forscan, see if there are any tickboxes in the BCM that could refer to this.

I'm just looking at ordering a FORScan adapter, are there any alternatives to the one recommended which still fully works with the software? I've seen some which have reviews saying they don't fully work with the software.

4 minutes ago, Henry W said:

I'm just looking at ordering a FORScan adapter, are there any alternatives to the one recommended which still fully works with the software? I've seen some which have reviews saying they don't fully work with the software.

I used the Tunnelrat version for many years (approx £20) but haven't used it recently so can't confirm whether that still works with the latest software.

Can you confirm that the DRL's work correctly with the engine running and light switch off?  (Not sure if that's actually your car in the pics).

The only thing I can think of is that there are another type of headlight for these, that uses a side light bulb instead of the LED strip.  It's possible that the BCM is programmed for the bulb type, so not providing the correct voltage for the LED DRL's.  The LED's take two different voltages as they dim when the headlights are on, and I reckon they dim for parking lights as well but not 100% unless someone else can confirm.

7 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

I used the Tunnelrat version for many years (approx £20) but haven't used it recently so can't confirm whether that still works with the latest software.

Can you confirm that the DRL's work correctly with the engine running and light switch off?

Yes, I believe so. I've attached photos showing the switch and what the lights look like when the ignition is on.

They work normally when the ignition is on, however, when you have the switch in the middle option and the ignition off they are meant to stay on.

 

 

1 minute ago, Henry W said:

Yes, I believe so. I've attached photos showing the switch and what the lights look like when the ignition is on.

I've added a bit more to the post above. 

When the engine is running and the light switch is off, the DRLs should be illuminated at full brightness.  

I'm not sure what they should do with just ignition on/engine off.  The strip does look very dull, as if it's only at half power, but that may be the lighting in the photo.

36 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

I've added a bit more to the post above. 

When the engine is running and the light switch is off, the DRLs should be illuminated at full brightness.  

I'm not sure what they should do with just ignition on/engine off.  The strip does look very dull, as if it's only at half power, but that may be the lighting in the photo.

It may also be the lighting as it is very bright outside. I tried photographing the rear lights but they wouldn't show up at all because of how bright it is.

I've done some more photos. I obviously don't know if they should be brighter or not as this is how they've always been.

I have just found this forum here which I believe expains the setting I need to change: https://www.forscan.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12578

25 minutes ago, Henry W said:

It may also be the lighting as it is very bright outside. I tried photographing the rear lights but they wouldn't show up at all because of how bright it is.

I've done some more photos. I obviously don't know if they should be brighter or not as this is how they've always been.

I have just found this forum here which I believe expains the setting I need to change: https://www.forscan.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12578

Yeah, they're not working as DRLs.

I think you're right about the Forscan thread.  If you look at the pics about half way down that page you can see the DRLs should be really bright white with the headlights off, then dim and creamy with the lights on.

6 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Yeah, they're not working as DRLs.

I think you're right about the Forscan thread.  If you look at the pics about half way down that page you can see the DRLs should be really bright white with the headlights off, then dim and creamy with the lights on.

I'll have a look tomorrow with FORScan and let you know if that sorts it.

Thank you for your help, I wouldn't have even known about FORScan so every little helps.

If anyone comes looking in the future, this is the adapter I ordered as it's listed on the FORScan website as fully compatible and is a lot cheaper than the other one they recommend.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0952P4MLP

On 8/1/2023 at 3:56 PM, Henry W said:

I'll have a look tomorrow with FORScan and let you know if that sorts it.

Thank you for your help, I wouldn't have even known about FORScan so every little helps.

If anyone comes looking in the future, this is the adapter I ordered as it's listed on the FORScan website as fully compatible and is a lot cheaper than the other one they recommend.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0952P4MLP

Thank you very much for your help, I managed to get it working using the adapter I bought with FORScan and its passed its MOT now. Very much worth the couple hours of working it out and spending £30 rather than waiting a week and spending £130 for Ford to just tell me what the problem is and not fix it.

For anyone else with the same problem, this is the forum thread to look at: https://www.forscan.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12578

For me, it turns out that the "Headlights Type" in the BCMii config was already set to "Halogen projector headlamps" but this setting is also within the Central Configuration which was set to something different. So all I had to do was change that to the Halogen setting so it matched what was on the BCM.

I don't know if it has any impact but because it was a 2nd hand BCM that I replaced the original with a couple months ago it thought it was a different engine with lots of incorrect settings so obviously its a good idea to get a backup of the original BCM before replacing it.