Park Light won't turn off

Full quiver

2004 140" Passenger van
My dear wife noticed the passanger side parking lights were on this morning. I fiddled with it a bit and found that it turned on brighter when I turned it on. When I turned it off it dimmed but stayed on and flickered a little. It did not seem to drain the battery for however long it was on as it started fine. Any ideas where to start? (2004 140" in Vermont)
 

sikwan

06 Tin Can
I know you said the passenger side, but can you be a little more specific as to which light bulbs are on? This way I know which lines to trace back and how and if they are connected.

One thing would be the switch on your column, the one that you're turning on and it gets brighter. Another would be the wire bundle coming off the switch where the bulb supply wire is rubbing against another wire that is at 12V.

It's probably rubbing against 12V because if it was rubbing against GND, you would blow a fuse every time you turn it on because the switch provides 12V.
 

Full quiver

2004 140" Passenger van
I got it solved. My wife called saying that dash lights were staying on, reverse lights were staying on and the reverse beeper was going, in addition to the passenger side park lights. I called the dealer and they said check the trailer wireing harness. Sure enough - there was a wire shorting in the trailer harness plug. I don't have a trailer plug but there is a hitch so the previous owner probebly did and removed it because it was causing issues. I pulled the wire out that had the most smoke coming out of it and everything was back to normal.

:rad:
 

Full quiver

2004 140" Passenger van
I thought the story was over but later in the afternoon my wife called again say that among other things the engine would not turn off with the key. It would, however shut down with the key off and out and the light switched off. Also various lights on the dash were staying on after shutting down the engine. I cut the trailer harness plug off and dried it off and then I taped it up real well. and again everything seems to be back to normal.
 
Like other European vehicles the Sprinter has left or right parking lights . On my 06 you rotate the light switch downwards and turn the directional stalk left or right. This only works with the engine off.

Bob
 

Marshall

New member
I recently had a similar problem. When I parked my van (2006 2500), the passenger parking light (both front and back) would flicker on and off, eventually staying on. This happened after backing into a dirt bank and pushing the trailer harness plug up into underside of the van.
I pulled out several fuses (park light, headlight, hazard) to no avail. Then I found the trailer harness fuse (25amp, under the driver seat). I pulled that out and the lights went off. Everything else seems normal.
So there you have it. If you are having strange parking light issues, just pull out the trailer fuse. Of course, if I want to tow, I'll have fix the wiring harness but that is for later.
Marshall
 

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