You would think a malfunctioning park light would be an easy fix, but not if someone else got there first and installed the wrong part. SureTrack community member LCAR had a Lincoln MKZ where the left park light didn’t work. They posed the question to the community, and with their help were able to resolve the issue. And the fix reinforces the importance of installing the correct electronic parts on today’s vehicles.
The following Community Fix summarizes the interaction between members of the community that led to the solution.
Vehicle
2013 Lincoln MKZ 3.7L
Title
No left park light operation, installed correct headlight assembly.
Complaint
No left front park light operation. All other lights on vehicle are working, no trouble codes in any module.
Diagnostic Steps Performed/Parts Replaced
Extensive continuity testing. Ballasts from headlights eventually swapped side to side causing symptom to follow. Headlight with ballast replaced, have also tried a used ballast, symptoms remain-part numbers on old and new ballasts are the same. Have reprogrammed Headlight Control Module, Gateway 1 Module, Body Control Module and all modules required with BCM programming.
Cause
The problem is variants of the light assemblies. There is w/signature, w/o signature and decontented lighting. Whether decontented always means without signature I do not know. Decontented has yellow park lamps and have six terminals in the park lamp housing. Non-decontented lights have white led park lamps with twelve terminals in the park lamp housing. There is no information for decontented lights in the service manual or from Ford. I can say that they use the same circuit as the turn signal (terminal 1 and 2 in C1023) to operate the park lamp. I had the decontented lights. If you replace a headlight on a car with decontented lighting you have to buy a second updated ballast. Simply saying “without signature lighting,” or giving the VIN number isn’t enough on a vehicle that also has the yellow park lamps – that goes for multiple parts departments (note in their computer informing them will be overlooked). I also verified there is no park lamp data PID for either system. Thanks again for looking into it with me. Body shop down the street had installed the incorrect headlight assembly.
Correction
Installed correct headlight assembly, parking lights function correctly.
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