Anyone had an issue with their interior roof lights not working?

They stopped coming on when the doors opened so I held the "on/off" switch above the drivers door and after about 10secs they all came on and would not turn off whatever I did.  I then held the "on/off" button for a long time - like 20+secs and then they all turned off and nothing I can do will turn them on again.
The lights in the footwell and luggage compartment still come on.  I have the wiring diagram (attached below) but the only fuse that could be the culprit is "F3" but that is an 80A fuse for the "Power Steering Or Cooling system" so that cannot be right, or I must be reading it incorrectly.  I can't believe every bulb in the roof popped simultaneously, or maybe they did?  Maybe the master switch above the driver's seat is faulty?

Has anyone seen this before and/or know how to troubleshoot it?

Love the car - there's still nothing as good on the market!
SMax 2021, 2.2 TCDi Titanium

the roof lights should be led, so cant "pop"

possible faulty roof switch, check the fuse in the interior fuse box to be sure seeing as they wont come back on. 

Thanks - good call.  Which fuse is it in the passenger compartment?  Diagram attached - I couldn't work out which one it would be...

https://www.fordservicecontent.com/Ford_Content/vdirsnet/OwnerManual/Home/Content?variantid=3005&languageCode=en&countryCode=USA&moidRef=G539642&Uid=G1496162&ProcUid=G833628&userMarket=irl&div=f&vFilteringEnabled=False&buildtype=web

 

according to this its fuse f3 10 amp

Yeah, that's what I was thinking per my first post, but that says F3 is a "70A     Engine cooling fan - twin fan"  Given that the engine cooling fans are still working, would that seriously also run the interior roof lights?

It's kinda confusing because the diagram for the passenger fuse box says something different!

Are you in the right fuse box? anything over 20 amp is usually in the engine compartment fuse box. 

 

Ok, that drawing is totally different from the drawing I have!  The drawing I attached above is from the Haynes manual and it says fuse F3 is in the fuse box in the Engine Compartment (and hence the 70A).  In the link you sent I see there are two F3 fuses - one in each box, and for sure the one in the passenger compartment says "Interior lights" which definitely looks promising:). Thanks

theres 2 pics because one is for the left hand drive model, and one for right hand drive, and how dare you consult the "book of lies" before us 😂

3 hours ago, MurrayC said:

SMax 2021, 2.2 TCDi Titanium

Perhaps you could correct your profile to avoid confusion ?

? I've got a 2012 Max - that's what my profile says doesn't it?

@Vauxfan2k - the good news is you were right about that fuse.  The less good news is that it didn't solve my problem as when I pulled it, the footwell light went out and I had to put the fuse back in the dark🤣  So I think maybe the switches are the prime suspect. 

2 minutes ago, MurrayC said:

I've got a 2012 Max - that's what my profile says doesn't it?

That's fine 👍

Only problem is that you made a point of saying you had a 2021 model.

4 hours ago, MurrayC said:

Love the car - there's still nothing as good on the market!
SMax 2021, 2.2 TCDi Titanium

 

Ah,yes, bit dyslexic there, sorry!  Looks like it's too late to correct the post now.

It could be an earthing issue ? I believe the switch operated and door operated lights have same supply but are earthed when button is used or door opened.

Ideally check for voltage at the lamp before going further.

Ok, good shout.  If any of the cables go through flexible boots then I could well have a broken cable.  I'm pretty sure that is the cause of one of the tailgate lights being out as well (as I have tested the light itself and its fine).
Do you know how to remove the interior lights from the roof lining??

On 4/27/2025 at 10:47 PM, Danorak said:

So, a realisation after my last few posts. Turns out, what I thought was a wiring loom feeding the lights on the right side of the hatch, was actually the rubber hose, wrapped in cloth tape, that feeds the rear washer jet. I thought the wires were inside the rubber shroud, which is what was putting me off the repair as it made it feel much more involved…

With this new realisation, I popped the grommet off the left hand side as I now realised that all of those wires probably wouldn’t be wrapped in a rubber shroud. Lo-and-behold, there was a mass of ripped cloth tape, badly applied black electrical tape, and a series of previous bodged repairs. I don’t have any before pictures, but after I’d removed all the old electrical tape and cleaned up to see what I was up against, it looked like this…

Some one has been there before and ‘repaired’ it badly. I know some will be from movement, but it looks like someone had previously cut into, I presume the cloth tape, and cut about 9 of the other wires in the process.  One wire was completely severed. Stripped the ends, couple of spade connectors, and voila…

All the other wires have now had the exposed parts insulated, the spade connector has been taped up, and all lights are working. Now I know what I’m up against, I can prep lengths of wire this week ready for the weekend. I think I remember counting 19 wires there-and they are all very taught, so I think I’m going to prepare 19 strips of wire, all about 5” in length, pre-solder the ends and cut each cable where the cuts are and solder the extra lengths in. Will give it a little more freedom of movement in the future, and peace of mind knowing that they’ve all been done. Bit more time consuming but worth it in the long run I think. 

What struck me was that we got this car when it was 4 years old, so that wiring fail happened in that first 4 years-which I think is pretty poor. Either way, I now get the chance to put it right!

 

Similar issue, posted elsewhere, with my Mondeo tailgate loom. Though that was old age rather than botched repair.

2 hours ago, MurrayC said:

Ok, good shout.  If any of the cables go through flexible boots then I could well have a broken cable.  I'm pretty sure that is the cause of one of the tailgate lights being out as well (as I have tested the light itself and its fine).
Do you know how to remove the interior lights from the roof lining??

I would confirm with your Haynes, but pretty sure you just need a wide flat trim tool. Push up between light and headliner, prise down, repeat other side.

The small lights above visor, if fitted have clips on one side, similar removal method.

50 minutes ago, Theshed said:

Similar issue, posted elsewhere, with my Mondeo tailgate loom. Though that was old age rather than botched repair.

Thanks, I'll look that one up.  I've owned mine since it was 3 yrs old so it will be old age.  There are a few annoying niggles now - all electrical.  The engine is sound as a pound!

*moving discussion here from thread on Replacing the Body Control Module*
So, the question is, could the BCM be responsible for all the lights not working or could it be a switch?  Attached is the wiring diagram for the interior lights.  It appears that each lamp, including the roof lamps, is fed by a direct +ve feed from the battery via fuse F3 in passenger footwell and this is always live.  If the switch is set to bring the lights on when door open, then the negative path is completed by the BCM via position 1/B1/D1 and the lights come on.
This means that the local switching of the lamps is independent of the BCM and should still work if the BCM was faulty, but it doesn't for me.  So it does imply the BCM is not to blame, and a single faulty switch should only affect one lamp.  The vanity mirror lamp also does not work.  The only point that all the roof lights and the vanity mirror have in common is connector C22-AB.  A problem with the positive supply here would prevent the lights from coming on in any circumstance.  However, the led indicator in door-button in the switch does still light up when pressed, implying there is still power at the switch.  Where can I find connector C22-AB??

Gaaa!  I'm going to check the live readings from the BCM with ForScan to confirm it is correctly reading the door positions and what it things the lamp statuses are, but if they are all correct, maybe I have a freak case of a power surge that fried all the lamps/switches at once??

 

Yes, the BCM, could be the issue, but there is lot's to check before you get to that point. If C22 is under the headliner, it could be damp in the connector, so worth checking that.

Is there a door open warning on the dash ? If this is showing as open that may be a clue. If it shows open, chances are the issue is with the light circuit rather than the switch side.

For the £15 or so for a cheap meter I would be checking feeds and grounds before changing BCM.

Looking at that wiring diagram, if your footwell lamps are working then the live supply is ok. The earth covers a few other components so assuming they work that looks ok also.

As you say it is looking like C22. Best trying to find where it actually is, but my guess would be either A pillar or under headliner near front corner.

***SOLVED!!!***

Module reboot of the BCM using ForScan fixed it.  I cannot explain why that is the case other than perhaps there is more going on that is apparent in the wiring diagram.  I checked the values and the module correctly saw the doors as closed (or open if I opened them) but thought the Interior Light Relay was on, when it wasn't (see attached photo - car is in pitch black).  I rebooted it and hey presto, the lights are back!!

Thanks for your help everyone.  

Now on to the rear camera, rear tailgate light, rear passenger door lock....

Well done, TBH, I don't think I would have gone to BCM for a while yet !

Mind you on most modern cars a battery reset fixes many random things.

Yeah, it's weird. I think there is more going on in the light switches than is apparent on the wiring diagram.  They are drawn as simple switches but I feel like there is some communication between them and the BCM that is not shown, or at least not obvious.