I'm In The Dark With Lighting.

[Johnsonsyard]

Hi , My motoring life , always Fiesta's , has been used to Side lights , Headlights and fog lights . I now find with my new Ford Fiesta ecoboost Zetec the choice is :-

A Off

B Parking lamps ,instrument panel lamps , license plate lamps and tall lamps.

or

C Headlamps

Could someone please indulge my ignorance and tell me what " B " is all about ? Also where have the side lights gone or is " B " the side lights under another name ?

Many Thanks

Nick

[MartynS]

B is the sidelights, where are you seeing the words 'parking lamps'? As far as I know parking lamps (on other cars, not present on the Fiesta) are when you can have just one sidelight left on when the car is parked at night.

The only difference in B and C is that in C you get the full headlights in addition to the sidelights. No difference to older cars at all. Unless you also have DRLs that is - the lights at the front which are always on and can't be turned off. Not sure if these come on the Zetec or not? If they do, the bulbs/leds for these are the sidelights. In other words it's exactly the same as above except your sidelight bulbs at the front will always be turned on.

[Johnsonsyard]

B is the sidelights, where are you seeing the words 'parking lamps'? As far as I know parking lamps (on other cars, not present on the Fiesta) are when you can have just one sidelight left on when the car is parked at night.

The only difference in B and C is that in C you get the full headlights in addition to the sidelights. No difference to older cars at all. Unless you also have DRLs that is - the lights at the front which are always on and can't be turned off. Not sure if these come on the Zetec or not? If they do, the bulbs/leds for these are the sidelights. In other words it's exactly the same as above except your sidelight bulbs at the front will always be turned on.

Hi The discription I give is from the manual which is confusing as they tend to cover all fiesta's . It shows a picture of the lighting control with the above three discriptions. Also it does have lights on all the time at the front due to the dealer tells me to EU legislation.

Thanks

Nick

[Johnsonsyard]

I have a Zetec and the day light running are the sides. I wasn't aware that the Fiesta's didn't have the parking lamps so just guessed that the setting was the same for side lights anyway.

At the current time of year, I have only ever found myself turning the normal headlights on when it's after 6:30pm or darker for any other reason. The day running lights are fine for the early evening so far.

Still, there are plenty of other drivers who are quite happy to have no lights on when it's getting very dark :)

Hi Thanks for reply . I think I am slowly getting to grips with this. It's a pity manuals are not more specific to individual models. This is what confuses me.

Regards

Nick

[MartynS]

So just to clarify for your car then:

A: DRL only - one light in each unit at the front, nothing else (this comes from either an LED strip running along the bottom of each unit, or a bulb inside it).

B: Sidelights - same as the DRL above (if it's the LED strip running along the bottom of each unit then it will be dimmer in this position than in A, if it's a bulb then I'm not sure as mine is the LED strip) plus the tail lights, license plate lights and all the interior ones.

C: Headlights - exactly the same as B with the addition of the dipped bulbs, one in each unit at the front.

Then there's the full beam which is another bulb in each front unit, and the front and rear fog lights too.

Hope this clarifies things!

[Johnsonsyard]

So just to clarify for your car then:

A: DRL only - one light in each unit at the front, nothing else (this comes from either an LED strip running along the bottom of each unit, or a bulb inside it).

B: Sidelights - same as the DRL above (if it's the LED strip running along the bottom of each unit then it will be dimmer in this position than in A, if it's a bulb then I'm not sure as mine is the LED strip) plus the tail lights, license plate lights and all the interior ones.

C: Headlights - exactly the same as B with the addition of the dipped bulbs, one in each unit at the front.

Then there's the full beam which is another bulb in each front unit, and the front and rear fog lights too.

Hope this clarifies things!

Thanks Martin , You've cleared things up . Much appreciated ,

Regards

Nick