2003 fog lights on

[Fran]

Hello all I have a 2003 thunderbird with 2 issues, the first one is when I turn on either parking lights or head lights the fog lights come on , I have checked all fuses and replaced the headlight dash switch no change , the other issue is the ac worked fine then one day quit I have not lost any ac charge , I hear these cars have a bunch of electrical issues and help would be great

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[BluByeU]

The lights are doing what they are suppose to do Coming on with the lights is the design. They are only supplement lights for effect, not fog lights. They are built into the bumper at a height that is to high to be used as fog lamps as well as they are not aimed correctly to assist in fog.
About the AC, could you explain more of what is occurring when you select the AC

 

[Fran]

Sir the fog lights should only be on when the light switch is pulled out, which turns them on . They should not be on all the time with the switch pushed in , I believe there is a short somewhere and have been told there are issues with the instrument cluster which controls many things ,

 

[Tiger650]

THEY ARE NOT FOG LIGHTS. The pull out switch, although installed in tbirds has No functionality at all.

 

[kbrighton]

Sir the fog lights should only be on when the light switch is pulled out, which turns them on .

Working as designed. Check your owner's manual.

 

[stevedaphotoman]

Working as designed. Check your owner's manual.

When I first got my T-Bird, I thought the same thing but after reading the owners manual and this forum, about the lights, your’s and mine are working the same as all the others that roll off the Ford assembly line.. As BluByeU stated they are not really fog light, they are mounted way to high to be effective in fog.. I like to call them running light.. They always come on when you turn on auto, parking or headlights.. The pull out detente on the switch is not hooked up to anything.. That headlight switch is used by a number of Ford products.. I had that same switch my Ford Focus and two Mercury’s I had, a Sable and a Monterey van. Yes all three had or have real fog light mounted way low in the front fascia almost to the road that only come on when pulled out.. That’s where true fog lights should be mounted. What I think would of been cool is to hook up led ground effect light lights, the ones you see under the car that can shine different colors to the pullout detente..

Yupper enjoy your faux fog lights / running lights, although all running lights nowadays come on when you turn on the ignition.. Don’t loose any sleep over the switch, there are other thing about that gorgeous T-Bird that will drive you crazy..

 

[Fran]

Well how stupid is that idea from Ford; lol

 

[Fran]

And thanks for the reply’s on this I guess if the car came with a owners manual I would have known, now on to finding a convertible top boot in black and fixing the AC

 

[BluByeU]

The ownry manual is in PDF format here on the site.
Also can be found with Google.

 

[cdbintexas]

Hello all I have a 2003 thunderbird with 2 issues, the first one is when I turn on either parking lights or head lights the fog lights come on , I have checked all fuses and replaced the headlight dash switch no change , the other issue is the ac worked fine then one day quit I have not lost any ac charge , I hear these cars have a bunch of electrical issues and help would be great

 

[cdbintexas]

1 Running lights? There was a time when all cars had to drive with the running lights on because of congressional (engineering). If it was me, I would just let them come on when they want to. It should not affect anything.
2 A/C quit ?? mine did the same thing just before the famous Roaring Fan started. $125.00 later it was discovered the last guy to change a thermostat put the gasket on incorrectly. Fixed that, refilled with coolant, removed air bubble and now it all works correctly again. I suspect there are many built in fault detectors to protect systems.

 

[usmcdad]

My 2006 Mustang GT "Fog Lights/Driving Lights" came on when you pulled out the headlight switch. 2002 T-bird fog lights are on any time the headlights or parking lights are on.