Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer '01 cabin lights, service engine light

My niece’s '01 Ford Mustang, 52K miles with all the bells and whistles. The car cabin lights blink intermittently when you star the car and again after the car is started; the air bag warning light is permanently on and so is the service engine light. any suggestions on diagnosis and repairs would be welcomed. Any chance the multifunction switch may be involved?

The SEL may be giving a code. Have it read at an auto supply store (Autozone?) and post the code(s) here.

I don’t think the air bag light is related to the other faults, but they won’t be operational when the warning light is on either.

It is possible the SEL is related to the air bag fault.

It’s possible there is a poor electrical connection in the wiring connectors. Some vehicles have these under the passenger or drivers seats.

If you wiggle the connectors and the warning light goes off, disconnect the connectors and spray a little electrical contact cleaner on the pins and re-connect.
Whenever I do this type of repair, I apply a little dielectric grease to the connectors before plugging them together.

As far as the cabin lights are concerned there may be a bad electrical connection where the door light switch plunger is located.
You know the one I mean? It’s the little plunger switch that turns the cabin lights on and off when you open and close the doors.

Spray some electrical contact cleaner in alongside the plunger and work it a few times to get the cleaner to the contacts.

Thank you Roadrunner,

I will give your suggestions a try and will report back.