Weird electrical problem

[zoom zoom]

It got down into the teens the other day and stayed that way. Yesterday I got to work, turned the lights off and went about my day... An hour later 3 people were calling and texting me that my running lights were on! They had each tried to turn them off but couldn't figure it out. When I got back I went and jumped the car, and could not figure out how to get the running lights to go off! They just stay on! Switch is off, dimmer seems to be working, and I'm at a loss... I've just been pulling the fuse to turn them off when I get out of the car. It's too cold to mess with it right now but I'm open to ideas and suggestions where to look for the problem. Stock 97 ford aspire.

[dalebwilson]

Zoom....your headlight switch contacts are probably closed (bad switch).

[WmWatt]

Try spraying WD-40 into the switch and turning the switch off an on. It will clean contacts and remove moisture. Might work.

On the Festiva there's a connector behind the bulb. You could just disonnect the running lights there and drive without them until you have time to diagnose the problem.

[rickbz28]

Zoom check your taillight relay located behind the airbox on the passenger side.My 95 Aspire did the same thing last week.Turns out the relay had moisture in it.Wasn't able to save it though,had to use a different one.

[zoom zoom]

Cool stuff bros, I'll definitely check into your suggestions and update when I find the culprit. I had assumed the switch and relay were a default to off when they went bad, hadn't even considered a broken contact inside it the switch.. Could be I suppose, will let you know, thanks!

[william]

+1 rick same thing happened to me. Froze up keeping it on

[dacusville5]

My after market cd player was wired up wrong and was feeding 12v to my park light circuit,

[zoom zoom]

^ yea I had a similar problem with my first aspire/cd player install, definitely not a problem here lol..

[zoom zoom]

Well the problem seems to have resolved itself. After it warmed up a little, above freezing, the lights started going off when I turn the switch off. I haven't touched it aside from pulling the fuse. Everything seems to be in order for now . my best guess... The relay switch froze in closed loop... But who knows.....