Horn & Instrumental Panel Gear Light Not Working

5493 Views 9 Replies 4 Participants Last post by Caperj, Oct 13, 2014

luis84

Discussion Starter · Oct 28, 2010

Good Evening,

I love the Ford Escape I purchased but it has a few things that are bothering me. I got it at a great price and it's mechanically excellent which makes it worth the little effort I will need to put in.

Right now, the horn and the cruise control switches don't work. I am assuming maybe it's just the fuse. Has anybody else had this happen? Do they share a fuse?

Also, on my intstrument panel, there is a digital box where the miles are displayed and it also displays the "gear". Well it says if its in Drive, Park, etc. I have seen many Ford Escapes where it has a green glowing backlight so you can read it at night.

Mine works fine in the day but at night it has no green backlight. It is nearly impossible to see. I tried turning the dimmer all the way up and the rest of the dash panels lights get brighter, but no effect on that. Is there something else I need to do? Does anybody know what could be the culperate or what my potential solutions are?

Thanks very much! Btw it's a 2001 XLS V6.

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hurk

· #2 · Oct 28, 2010

Howdy. A bulb on the instrument panel probably needs to be replaced.
There might be a cluster removal topic in the How-to: Articles section on the Problems & Solutions page.

There's a horn fuse in the Power Distribution box located in the engine compartment. The PDBox is located on the driver's side next to the fender near the battery & airbox.
FYI: the Owner's Manual has fuse & Power-distribution-box information.

Not sure what to do about the cruise control. A pdf search of the owner's manual for cruise didn't show any results related to the fuse box or pwr-distr-box. It could be that the cruise control cable has become disconnected - on my 2002 2.0L it's a short cable that connects the cruise control motor/module to the throttle pulley/bracket. The cruise control module is on the passenger side of the engine compartment - you can follow the cable to the throttle body or vice versa.

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hurk

· #6 · Oct 28, 2010

Maybe the XLS model doesn't have the horn fuse in the PDBox.
The Owner's Manual also shows that there's a fuse in the passenger compartment fuse panel (#23 - 15A - Left/Rt Horn)
I like the steering wheel clockspring suggestion.

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