!996 Windstar, Interior light not shutting off

[pimpberetta]

Have a 1996 as stated. 3.8 v-6.

It was in a rear end collision, (was rear ended) about 4 years ago.

Thats when the problems arose. The interior light seems to not always want to shut off.

Sometimes it will, sometimes it wont.

Is there some kind of relay or, switch somewhere.

The light goes off usually after about 1 min of driving, sometimes 40 though.

Very annoying, help anyone?

[confused1096]

Check the switch in the back liftgate that turns the light on or off depending if it is open or not. It may be damaged or simply not shutting securely. My Aerostar had a side impact towards the back with a deer and has this problem, my solution is to slam the gate really, really hard. Was the gate itself mangled? Does it look square with the back of the van when closed?

[hatemywindstar]

Had same problem. Removed and cleaned liftgate switches. Still had problem. Turned out that the latch on one side was not pulling the liftgate tight enough. Adjusted it, and the lights went out. Now I'm having problems with interior lights flashing intermittently. Someone told me it is the ignition switch. I was cynical, until I jiggled the ignition switch when the lights were flashing - problem went away. Seems to correct it every time (temporarily, anyways).

[mark v]

Seems like I read this same post about 4 or 5 times today.

Originally Posted by hatemywindstar

Had same problem. Removed and cleaned liftgate switches. Still had problem. Turned out that the latch on one side was not pulling the liftgate tight enough. Adjusted it, and the lights went out. Now I'm having problems with interior lights flashing intermittently. Someone told me it is the ignition switch. I was cynical, until I jiggled the ignition switch when the lights were flashing - problem went away. Seems to correct it every time (temporarily, anyways).