Ford Owner's Guide Fuse Misinformation

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Tom and Jennifer Pierpan

Ford Owner's Guide Fuse Misinformation

Post by Tom and Jennifer Pierpan »

This past weekend we had the BF in western MA, visiting my brother. Out to dinner Friday night, back to my brother's home in his car, picked up the BF and headed out to the campground where we were staying.

The car behind me started honking at me. I looked at the dash and noticed I did not have any dash lights. Adjusted the headlight on/off switch without any success in bringing on the dash lights. We pulled over into a parking lot. I got out and noticed the BF did not have any tail lights or lights across the top of the back of the BF.

Next morning(Saturday) we called the two local Ford places, but the service shops were closed. Finally, we got an appointment that afternoon at a Monroe Muffler shop. Fortunately, the manager on duty was a former long-term Ford mechanic who said he worked on Ford trucks. I had looked in the owner's manual and found that fuse 14 is allegedly for the instrument cluster. The manager pulled that fuse and it was fine. Nothing in the owner's manual in the fuses section states the location of the fuse for the tail lights.

So, the manager got the fuse testing wires, attached them to the chassis battery, and started testing. The testing said that fuse 10 was bad. He pulled fuse 10, and it was bad. He replaced the fuse, and LO and BEHOLD, the dash lights and the tail lights, and the lights across the top came on.

Now, the misinformative Ford owner's manual states the following for fuse 10: "Main light switch. Park lamps, License lamp(external lamps), Multi-function switch (flash-to-pass)". So, my lesson learned in all this is not to trust the owner's manual to determine which fuse covers what lights or other electrical function. Just get the wires and start testing.

Tom Pierpan
bill crommett

Post by bill crommett »

Good to know, Tom.
I had a similar problem with the left tail light and some others. I had the BF checked by three mechanics before I found a Ford truck dealer in Green Bay Wisconsin that found that the problem was a defective module that sit on top of the engine. It was replaced about 500 miles before the warranty expired. Nothing wrong with the fuses at all.
Dude
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Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2012 9:21 pm

Post by Dude »

That must have been scary driving while you knew you had no tail lights. Sam Ryan talked about putting reflective stickers on the back of his BF. This story makes me want to look harder in my garage for some that I know I have but haven't found yet. I hope dinner was at least good


I am not a Ford mechanic, just a guy with some basic shade tree mechanic knowledge.

You say that you had no tail lights and parking lights and that fuse 10 is incorrectly listed as "Main light switch. Park lamps, License lamp(external lamps), Multi-function switch (flash-to-pass)". You just said your tail lights and parking lights were out so that makes sense that that was the fuse that was bad. I bet you had no hazards or turn signals either.

You say that it should be fuse 14, which is listed as the "instrument cluster". That fuse should run your actual gauges. If that was blown, all needles would be pointing to 0 and not move.

The fact that your instrument lights were not working (I assume the instruments themselves were still monitoring whatever) was a way to notify you that something is wrong with your lights. My daily driver, a Toyota Tacoma, had something similar happen recently. When I put my brakes on, the right turn signal indicator would come on and stay on. It turned out that my front right turn signal burned out.

If you want to test any fuses or anything electrical, you can get a test light for under $10. There is a clip that you clip to anything metal that will work as a ground. Then you take the pointy end and touch something that you know is "hot" to test that you have a good ground. If so, the light in the handle will light up. Blade fuses have a little metal dot (for lack of a better word) that is exposed on both ends of what is sticking out of the fuse block. If you touch the tester to both ends and they light up, it is a good fuse. If only one end lights up then it is a bad fuse. Keep in mind, some things will only work when the key is in the full on position ie: radio. Others like your headlights will work at anytime. Still others depend on the manufacturer...like a 12v outlet. Some are hot all the time, others are hot only when the key is in the on position.

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Matt
1989 26 foot Rear Side Bed
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ewagman
Posts: 174
Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2009 2:32 pm

Post by ewagman »

The 4 way emergency flashers would provide illuminated warning to the drivers behind you if something like this ever happens again. It's not legal to drive with them on, but the better choice until you can get off the road. A coach interior light shining out a back window would also provide some presence to traffic behind.
Ed & Beth
2003 Born Free 26' RSB: SOLD March 2016
replace by a house near the beach
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Steve
Posts: 204
Joined: Sat Aug 20, 2005 11:46 am

Post by Steve »

You can also install a 12vdc circuit breaker available at most auto parts stores.
http://www.snapaction.net/

Steve
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oliverpsmile
Posts: 271
Joined: Thu Dec 18, 2008 2:46 pm

Post by oliverpsmile »

The question remains why fuse number 10 is blown. Something somewhere down the electrical wires is wrong. You'd better check this out.
Oliver P Smile
2005 26ft RSB
Dude
Posts: 368
Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2012 9:21 pm

Post by Dude »

I would just carry a spare fuse somewhere. If it blows again, change it and research why it blew. If it doesn't blow again, then call it a fluke and you have a spare fuse just in case something else blows.
Matt
1989 26 foot Rear Side Bed
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Dallas Baillio
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Joined: Sun Jul 02, 2006 10:52 pm

Post by Dallas Baillio »

Observation and a question. Are we blaming Ford for the tail light and lights across the top problem? Would that not have been Born Free since they provided and wired these lights?

Now the question. Just what fuse provides for illumination of the instrument panel? My instrument panel lights are not working either, but I do have tail lights and lights across the top. My Ford Owner's Manual states that both fuse 2 and fuse 14 are "instrument cluster." And fuse 36 is identified as "(Cluster. A/C, Illumination, Radio) Steering Column Assembly." So if "instrument cluster" are the actual gauges then which one is instrument panel lights? In my manual not a one is identified as instrument panel lights.

I am having back problems at the moment and cannot squeeze myself into the contorted position between the driver's seat and the dash to experiment.
Dallas Baillio
2001 26RSB
Born Free Leap'n Lions RV Club Member
bill crommett

Post by bill crommett »

It looks like the tech writers are writing manuals for the techies again.
A shaky prediction: Some day the tech writers will accidentally write a manual for the consumer that the consumer will be able to intuitively understand.
Tom and Jennifer Pierpan

Ford Owners Guide Fuse Misinformation

Post by Tom and Jennifer Pierpan »

I wanted to thank everyone for their thoughtful replies. I've been out of the country for a few weeks, so am catching up with this.

There seems to me to be a lot of merit to the suggestion that Ford supplies the chassis to RV manufacturers like Born Free without any idea what the RV manufacturer is going to do with the electrical wiring in order to provide what the coach needs to operate. For example, how does Ford know that Born Free puts a row of red lights across the top of the rear end? So the RV manufacturer adapts what Ford provides in the way of electrical wiring for its own uses. In this way, I understand why the Ford owners manual does not necessarily reflect what fuse handles which wiring application.

If this is the case, then isn't it up to the RV manufacturer, such as Born Free, to provide the consumer with some kind of supplemental information about the fuses?
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