Lighting control module question

[Vinny93]

Soo my Mark doesn't always like to start right away. It seems like its caused by the Lighting control Module. I think that it's locking up on me.


I was putting it off because I haven't had the time to read up and inspect my electrical systems. But than the unthinkable happened...........
Filled her up at the gas station up the street from and she wouldn't turn on

My question's as to how and why this happens has been vague. Is anyone able to provide a good solid answer ?

Does anyone have advice about this issue ?

And I am hoping that someone is holding onto extra's.....


Thanks

 

[97 Octane]

It sounds like your Crank Position Sensor needs R&R.

 

[micahs97m8]

There are a lot of reasons for a no crank issue. We just have to figure out which one this is.

The CPS is a good place to start.

 

[chris2523]

does it crank and not start?

or not crank at all?

two totally different issues.

 

[Vinny93]

It doesn't crank, nor does it start. Some of the interior lighting comes on, but not all of it. No power to the windows, seats, steering wheel etc. I don't usually like to do this because I can sometimes screw the system up. But maybe I should try and diconnect the negative battery terminal. Let it sit for 15 minutes, than put it back on and see what happenes.

 

[chris2523]

ok. that's NOT cps then.

you have power problems. charging the battery is a good start. make sure you have enough power. the battery or alternator may be on their way out.

but only part of the interior lighting comes on? and no power to the windows and stuff? have you blown some fuses?

 

[ScottyLogger60]

ok. that's NOT cps then.

you have power problems. charging the battery is a good start. make sure you have enough power. the battery or alternator may be on their way out.

but only part of the interior lighting comes on? and no power to the windows and stuff? have you blown some fuses?

Totally agree. Amazing how often people forget to start at "the beginning". Yeah it seems like a pain in the arse, but being here on the "far left" coast, I don't know how many times electrical issues are caused by corroded terminal connections, batteries, & alternators. It does rain here once in a while, but hey at least we don't get a foot of snow in April!!!

 

[Vinny93]

Swapped out that module that needed to be replaced. It went bad


But than i wasnt sure if it needed to be reprogrammed. Called 4 dealerships and asked them there opinions. 3 service advisors said it needed it.

1 tried assuring me it was plug and play....

So I put it in and what do you know it would not crank start. !!!

So I had to reprogram the module and my keys. Took about an hour.
I went through all the wiring in the front end of my car and rechecked my fuses. It turned out to be a bad connection in my wires that caused a short. So i put in a new fuse after having to go through every single one. Put everything back together and reset my battery.


Now the car starts up fine and all the lighting works correctly.

Thanks for the advice though guys.

 

[Schaefft]

Well, I might as well use this thread, I think I have a similar problem and no idea what it could be. For some reason the car is draining the battery in just a couple of hours (was fully charged yesterday at 8pm, its now (10am) drained again). While I could crank it once and stuff like the interior lights and window lifters were working, most of the time before there wasn't even enough juice for that left.

So we put a meter at the battery yesterday with the ignition off and removed a couple of fuses to see if one of the interior things is draining it, we got a charge of about 0.46A before removing any when the doors are closed and interior lights off, it was down to 0.01 after removing all of them.(we thought it might be fuse #16 for the radio, CD changer and other stuff, it made quite a big difference so we removed it).

Like I said its completely flat again, so I just wanted to ask if there could be a common problem that others had experienced before, or if there is an easier way to find out whats going on. Also what is the normal charge when the car is shut off, doors are closed but not locked, and all lights and radio are off?

Also, I wanna mention that the rear bags (only) got replaced with normal springs by the previous owner, could that mess up the airride system and drain the battery because the system is constantly trying to level the vehicle?

EDIT: Sry I mean fuse #16. I will charge the battery again, see if it holds over the weekend and put it in the car on monday to see on tuesday if its drained. I also removed fuse #6 now in case the courtesy lamps are the issue, for whatever reason.

 

[Schaefft]

Alright, its definitely not the battery, charged it over the weekend, meter said 12.99V, was still charged this morning, car started up without any problem after a night, something that didnt happen last thursday.

So I removed the fuses for the radio, CD changer, courtesy lights, mirrors and so on, but I noticed something surprisingly obvious that might cause the whole trouble. I do not have the original keys for the car, both (metal and plastic one) probably got replaced before the car was imported to the UK.

Now the problem with those keys is, I can remove them from the ignition in every position, not just the "locked off" one. Now, could the problem be that the car doesn't notice that the key is removed from the ignition because the lock is too worn/broken/the key doesn't fit right? And how many systems are supposed to stay on after I remove the key? (I was able to operate the power windows, wipers, radio and other stuff, I guess that shouldn't be the case in this car?) I know some stuff can stay on for up to 10 mins if I dont open/close the door but not all of it?

If thats the case, how hard is it to replace all the locks with ones from my 94 base?

 

[Vinny93]

Alright, its definitely not the battery, charged it over the weekend, meter said 12.99V, was still charged this morning, car started up without any problem after a night, something that didnt happen last thursday.

So I removed the fuses for the radio, CD changer, courtesy lights, mirrors and so on, but I noticed something surprisingly obvious that might cause the whole trouble. I do not have the original keys for the car, both (metal and plastic one) probably got replaced before the car was imported to the UK.

Now the problem with those keys is, I can remove them from the ignition in every position, not just the "locked off" one. Now, could the problem be that the car doesn't notice that the key is removed from the ignition because the lock is too worn/broken/the key doesn't fit right? And how many systems are supposed to stay on after I remove the key? (I was able to operate the power windows, wipers, radio and other stuff, I guess that shouldn't be the case in this car?) I know some stuff can stay on for up to 10 mins if I dont open/close the door but not all of it?

If thats the case, how hard is it to replace all the locks with ones from my 94 base?

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The best way to approach this issue is to Purchase a New battery & 130amp + Alternator! These are the common causes of car starting and lighting issues in every car.

Next I'd swap out all of the old fuses in the lower voltage dude box, with new ones. Sometimes even if a fuse Isant blown it may not make a solid connection. I would also use a can of Dust Off or Air in a Can to clean out the plug locations.

Than if all that doesn't seem to make a difference I would look into swapping in a SCIL module. This is located under the glove box on the right hand inner fender wall. It's held up by 2x 8MM bolts. And 4 wire harnesses that plug into the rear of the module. I know that for me this module was NOT plug and go. I needed to reprogram my key in conjunction with the module. Because the modules built in security system is specific to Mark 8s only. You will need to reprogram the key I'm order to start the car.

This can be done in a little under an hour. Plug in the new module. Place your old key in the ignition. Turn the key to pos 2 or ACC. You should have an anti theft light begin rapidly blinking in the message center. This is good ! Wait for the light to go out. It should take about or around 15 min. Do not take the key out of the ignition during this. Simply turn the key to the. Off position when the anti theft light goes out. You will have 35 seconds to repeat this!
So as soon as possibly,repeat this step for anther 15 min. Than for another 15 minutes totaling about or around 45 minutes. This allow your key to be scanned, erased, reprogrammed. It is time consuming. But it will save you 159$ plus whatever your local shop charges an hour. I was looking at close to 500$ and I did I myself.

Finally with the Air Ride lol

I do not believe that the height sensors are still calibration when the car is off for am extended period of time. I swapped my entire system out with the strut masters awhile ago. Now I only did the front end grist because I didn't think it was needed in both front and back. I was wrong, because the system is designed to work I'm conjunction with each other. If you take out the fronts and leave the backs eventually the backs will end up sitting 2 inches off ! So even if your cars trying to adjust when you first turn off it should be causing a drain on your battery.

Hope my advice helped...

 

[chris2523]

gen 1 does not have a scil module.

replacing the lock cylinder is not hard, but is time consuming. especially for the door locks.

the key coming out when the car is not off is a VERY common Ford problem. you will need to be sure the key is all the way off, as leaving it on can kill the battery. i have dealt with that issue in trucks, mark viii's and taurus' over the years.

 

[Schaefft]

Yeah, thought so.

The ignition was always set to off, but no matter what I did, after removing the key most of the electrical stuff was still working. Which is probably why the battery died.

Depending on how hard it is to replace the door locks, I will only replace the ignition cylinder for now. I will reprogram the remote of my other Mark to open the doors with it.