It was approx. 2:30am [night time] and I was driving on a rural state highway @ 65mph with the cruise control set. The headlights on my 2005 mercury grand marquis suddely went out. The switch was set to automatic on / off. Visibility instantly became zero in the pitch black.. As I was 20 miles outside of town on a state highway in an unpopulated area with no lighting.. Not even moon light. I slammed on my breaks running off the roadway into the drainage ditch.. Taking over 100 feet to stop. After gaining my composure, I noticed that my dashlights were still working along with my yellow warning lights. I tried the headlights switch by changing it from off, to full on- to auto... With no success at first. But after 3-4 minutes the lights suddenly came back on and worked in both the auto & in the switched 'on' positions for 20-30 seconds and then shut off. So I knew the problem wasn't with a blown fuse. This continued to be the cycle.. The headlights would come on for 20-30 seconds and then shut off for several minutes before working again. By pulling the turn control / high beam lever toward me, I was able to get the passing light setting of my headlights to work and was able to drive back home... But this created a danger to vehicles I met.. As it blinded them. I couldn't turn off the bright passing beam without going dark on the roadway. Next morning I checked the internet about this problem and discovered that 1000's of other mercury grand marquis owners have had this same problem.. That mercury has known about this problem for years... With similar problems prior to 2005. Not only has mercury knowingly endangered my and the other owners [and their faimlies] lives.. Mercury has created a very profitable income charging its customers close to $700 for a repair that they know is the result of a faulty factory installed headlight control module. This rates a recall!
2005 Mercury Grand Marquis lights complaints
Page 9 of 11: complaints 221 to 250 of 293, newest first, as owners wrote them.
The lights went out while driving in the city at night. I pulled over and played with the light switch until they came back on. I had trouble with the lights several times, before I replaced the light switch on 01/04/12. On a trip to the store tonight, the lights went out again. After checking on the internet, it seems it must be the lcm module, at a cost of $700, to $900. Dollars. It seems this is a very dangerous problem with ford motor co, vehicles.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 mercury grand marquis. The contact was driving 65 MPH when the headlights illuminated unexpectedly and failed to work properly. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 40,000 and the current mileage was 61,000. Updated 02/15/12*bf the consumer stated he has since replaced the lighting control module and there have been no further problems. Updated 03/08/12
2005 mercury grand marquis. Consumer requests the federal safety agency investigate head lights control module *tgw the consumer stated the headlights stopped working after 10 minutes. The lights went out several times while driving early in the morning hours and at night. The control module was replaced at a cost of $ 684.54.
Lighting control module relay intermittent: after reading other peoples incident reports I thank god for getting my family through our involvement with this head light failure situation. We were out of town and got into our car and no headlights! This is a problem that needs to be considered a high priority risk but unfortunately not until a major death related situation will get this resolved. But with the head lights being in the front of the car and a crash will destroy the evidence. I write this so my family and lawyers will be in the loop about this situation. Thank you ford for taking this seriously. Knowing this I sure hope when I sell my ford mercury that I am not held liable with the manufacturer. We are still coping with the issue. We try to get off the roads by dark.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 mercury grand marquis. The contact stated that while driving at any speed and attempting to brake, the vehicle suddenly accelerated. The failure was experienced numerous times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer several times for the failure where the dealer test drove the vehicle, but was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was then taken to a local mechanic for further inspection. The contact also experienced failures with the headlights. The headlights were replaced but the abnormal acceleration failure was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 150 and the current mileage was 15,600.
The headlights do not turn on automatically or manually, day or dark at night, unless you use the bright lights. He lights will not turn on by the control lever. The lights will only work by pulling and holding the light control lever towards the driver thereby turning the bright lights on. The bright lights will not stay on unless you hold the lever with your hand. The headlights still do not turn on even if you turn the control inside the car. I looked at all the fuses in the fusebox . I di not see any split wires in the fuse indicating a blown fuse.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 mercury grand marquis. The contact stated that the headlights and high beam headlights failed without warning. The contact went to try the lights two hours after the failure and the lights did illuminate, but failed shortly thereafter. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the contact was told that there was short in the lever used for the turn signal and the lights. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileages were 96,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 mercury grand marquis. While driving approximately 30 MPH the driver and passenger side headlights shut off. The contact stated the high beam light switch had to be sustained in order to illuminate the road. The failure occurred twice. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 49,000. Updated 11/08/11*lj updated 11/30/11
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 mercury grand marquis. The contact stated that the headlights failed and the contact would have to play with the on/off switch to get the lights to illuminate. In addition, the headlights would fail when the turn signals were activated. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer where the dealer advised that the light control switch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact did not call the manufacturer. The failure mileage was 79,086 updated 11/16/11*lj updated 11/30/11
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 mercury grand marquis. The contact stated that the headlights would intermittently shut off. The contact also stated that three weeks prior to the failure, the headlights began to dim. The failure also occurred when the high beams were engaged. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer and the contact was informed that this was a known failure and the repairs were not covered by warranty. The contact was also informed that a failure of the headlight module caused the failure. The failure mileage was 45,000 and the current mileage was 46,000.
Lighting monugal failure.
I was driving down the raod at 70 MPH and the headlights blinked off, all the lites went off, headlites, tailites, all. I turned the headlite switch on and off and nothing. I slowed and down and began to pull of the interstate and the lites blinked back on again. This occurred 3 more times on the way into work. I notified ford, no assistance and the dealer replaced the lighting control module, stated they had seen a few of them. I saw a chrysler had a problem and thought I should report mine. I notified ford this was a safety item and they should issue a recall.
Headlights go out or sometimes will not come on. Lighting control module relay intermitten. Lights go out with no warning while driving. High beams and cornering lights also inop when acting up.getting worse with time. This is a serious safty issue as it happens on freways, highways etc. We have to tap the lcm in order to get the lights back on but they go out again. This is a very expensive fix ($800) so I cant afford to have replaced. Please this should be a recall.
While driving my car at in the very early morning both headlights failed on a curvy downhill road. I switched the headlight switch from the automatic position to the manual "on" position, but the headlights did not come back on. I pushed the high beam switch forward to the high beam position but this failed to turn on the high beams. I pulled the high beam switch back to the high beam "flash" position which did illuminate the high beams. I held the switch back in this position (to the displeasure of approaching drivers) until I found a safe place to pull over. I cycled the headlight switch numerous times with no effect. The light did finally come back on their own for a short time, but them went off again. This happened several times unit they finally did some back on for a lengthy period of time. The next day the same situation occurred. At all times the other lights (dash, parking, etc) continued to operate. Very dangerous.
While driving at night, my wife put on the left turn signal and the headlights immediately failed, creating a dangerous situation. She frantically fiddled with various light controls until finally discovering that by manually holding the "flash to pass" high beam lever, it brought the headlights on allowing her to make it home. The headlights were checked by the ford dealer on august 5, 2011. Tests revealed no cause but the mechanic suspected the light control module. He advised further driving, which I did that same evening only to experience repeated headlight failure when using either turn signal or activating the high beams. Then I discovered a number of internet postings in which drivers experienced the same problem with grand marquis' or ford crown victorias made in the 2000's. Then I found a website which stated that the original light control module had a major problem involving a bad circuit that is the definitive cause of the problem. The local ford dealer acknowledged awareness of the problem (even citing several crown victoria police interceptors that required lcm replacement), but because ford has not issued a recall, they wanted over $1,000 for diagnosis, part, and labor. A website also noted that ford recently completely revised the lcm with an internal redesign by ford engineers so that the new lcms will never fail. The website also noted that some dealers continue to sell the old defective lcm which will only fail again. My opinion: besides not wanting to pay an exhorbitant amount to replace one component of a vehicle's light system, it appears ford is fully aware of a potentially deadly defect affecting many thousands of grand marquis' and crown victorias currently in use, but has not issued a recall. This potentially deadly defect must be addressed! It is entirely possible fatal accidents have already occurred but were misattributed.
Both headlights failed, in both dim and high-beam positions. They will not come on in either the automatic or manual dashboard switch positions. (the bulbs are still good.) the parking lights, turn signals, tail lights, and brake lights continued to function. This happened at night. It should be obvious that this failure will *always* occur at night, or during stormy weather, threatening safety, because headlights are not normally used during the daytime. Later testing revealed the problem to be intermittent. At one point, the automatic dashboard switch position worked for both dim and high-beams, but the manual switch position did not work. The next morning, both the automatic and manual positions worked. When the problem first occurred, neither position would work. This intermittent problem is consistent with a large number of complaints and reports for the 2003-2005 model years, and the problem is the lighting control module. This module is so unreliable that it has been named the "lights out module" on the internet. A sampling of complaints can be found at these web sites: http://www.arfc.org/complaints/2003/ford/crown_victoria/exterior_lighting/problem.aspx http://www.arfc.org/complaints/2004/ford/crown_victoria/exterior_lighting/problem.aspx http://www.arfc.org/complaints/2005/ford/crown_victoria/exterior_lighting/problem.aspx. This is a *safety* issue. Lives are at stake. Please force a recall to correct this problem before innocent people are killed. Although the parking lights and tail lights continued to work, so other drivers can see the car with the failed headlights, the driver of the car with the failed headlights *cannot* see where he is going!! He could run into a parked car, hit a pedestrian, hit a bicyclist, hit a tree or other obstruction, etc. This is a very dangerous situation!
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 mercury grand marquis. The contact stated that while driving approximately 60 MPH, with the headlights illuminating, the lights unexpectedly shut off. The vehicle was cautiously manuevered to the side of the road where the contact turned on the high beam headlights. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the contact was informed that the headlight control module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 48,000. Updated 8/29/11 *cn the consumer stated once the lights go off, they do not come back on; not even the high beams. Updated 09/28/11
Tl*the contact owns a 2005 mercury grand marquis. The contact stated that on an intermittent basis the headlights would fail for approximately 15 to 20 minutes while driving various speeds. The dealer advised him that he needed to bring the vehicle in for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was notified and offered no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 53,000. Updated 08/01/11*lj updated 08/02/11
2005 mercury grand marquis. Consumer writes to request reimbursement *tgw the consumer's claim for reimbursement was denied because the vehicle did not have roadside assistance coverage and parts/labor were not covered by roadside assistance. The serpentine belt and lighting control module had to be replaced.
My wife and I were pulling into a four lane highway at 9:30 pm in the evening, after finishing dinner. Once we had approached highway speed of about 45 to 50 MPH, our front head lights went out. Immediately my wife pulled off the highway with our lights out, I got out of the auto to insure the lights had indeed gone out...yes, they were out black as midnight. I asked my wife to see if they would come back just for the heck of trying something. Yes the lights did come back on and remained on for the remainder of our 25 minute drive. As my wife and I were driving home, she indicated to me this was not the first time, only one of several times as she was driving, it might be in the rain day or night, she never knew when it would happen, however at this time, the lights seem to go out on a regular basic. I'm going to see if the dealer can repair, what I have been lead to believe is the lcm, and to expect a charge up to $800.00+, this is a horrible accident waiting to occur, and a expense that I think merc. Show absorb, with all of the problems with the same problem for several years now, I would hope a nation wide recall should take place, before the is loss of life. I thank you for your time, and I do appreciate any help you may be able to offer. Kind regards, owner of the above auto, 2005 merc. Grand marq. Light control module, problem.
Lighting control module failed. Fortunately, I was not driving in traffic or on the freeway as many of the complaints I found on the internet. This is a serious defect and a recall should be issued as this issue occurs normally between 50,000 and 100,000 miles. The problem is so large that junk yard operators told me that all the wrecked 2005 models have been stripped of this item. This is the first complaint I have ever registered because it is such a serious safety issue and must be addressed before traffic deaths occur or have occurred. Thank you for your prompt assistance in the crucial matter. P.s. A ford dealer told me they sell many of these items and are aware of the problem.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 mercury grand marquis. While driving an unknown speed, the headlights failed. The vehicle was parked and after cooling off, the headlights began operating as normal. The failure recurred whenever the vehicle was operated. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the contact was told that the lighting control module failed. The vehicle was repaired. The failure mileage was 50,000 and the current mileage was 53,000. Updated 06/14/11
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 mercury grand marquis. While driving approximately 55-60 MPH, the low beam headlights failed and the contact had to utilize the high beam headlights. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the contact was advised that the low beam modular failed and would need to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 52,000 and the current mileage was 52,500.
I own a 2005 mercury grand marquis, while driving, the headlights will go out without warning. All other outside lights stay on and passing lights work. I have researched this and found all sources say it is a failed lcm, light control module. I have not found a safety recall for this problem, but have found several complaints. Of all the complaints on this particular vehicle, failed headlights is number one. This should be a safety recall. Owners should not be required to pay to have a safety issue like this repaired. I have contacted ford and mercury dealers concerning this, and have been told there are no recalls on this vehicle. This problem keeps happening more often and makes it nearly impossible to drive the car at night. You can use the passing lights, but that is very dangerous, because it blinds other drivers.
Tl*the contact owns a 2005 mercury grand marquis ls. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds the headlights would suddenly shut off and on an intermittently. In order to keep the lights on he had to hold continue holding the high beam switch, until he drove onto the emergency lane and restarted the vehicle. The vehicle was inspected by an independent mechanic who advised him that the failure may be caused by the light control module. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified and advised him that they would confirm whether or not there were any bulletins regarding the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 75,000. Updated 04/15/11*lj the consumers has since sold the vehicle. Updated 05/02/11
While traveling in heavy traffic at night with my 2005 mercury grand marquis suddenly and without warning my headlights turn off and I was scarred to death,I"m a 65 year old lady and I have never been so scared!I pulled to the side of the road and after 5 mins they come back on I make it home but in a 15 mile time they turned off every couple of minutes.
Automatic headlights on vehicle shut off while driving and cannot be turned on or reset manually. Lights eventually turn back on when vehicle is not in motion, but durations are random. High beams work when level is held down. Has happened 3 times to us in a week, 31 jan 2011 being most recent event. Vehicle has 52000 miles on it and is good running order.
Tl- the contact owns a 2005 mercury grand marquis. The contact noticed that after traveling 25 miles or more, the headlamps would fail, causing reduced visibility forcing the use of high beams. The dealer was notified who was unaware of the issue. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who replaced the light switch; however she continued to experience the same problem. The contact did not inform the manufacturer nor had the vehicle been repaired. The current mileage was 100,000 and the failure mileage was 99,000.
2005 merc., head lights go off or don't come on for a mile or two. Switch on manual or auto. Dealer had car for two days, said all checked ok.
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