I just bought a 1996 Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor and when I open the doors, the dome light/courtesy lights don’t come on. These lights will work if I turn them on by the switch that is located in the fixture (itself), but not by the headlight switch or opening any of the doors.
This is called “dark car mode” (by Ford) so that the police officer isn’t seen (as easily) in the car. The factory shop manual isn’t clear as to to defeat this.
Any ideas?
Thank you.
Mark B Handler
I own a '98 P71 and I don’t think you can defeat this…You might try www.crownvic.net and see if those guys know some magic…
The Dark Car Mode can be defeated. You need to disconnect the blue connector (under the glove compartment on the 1996 and most likely in the same place on your car), then disconnect the battery for a couple minutes. After that, reconnect the battery and dark car mode should be disabled (as the lighting control module will reset itself). It is possible for it to not react right away (depentdant upon how the LCM was programmed) and it might take a few door opening & closings for the lights to magically turn on.