How do I get interior lights to turn off with the hatch open?

680

Asked by mayvis May 02, 2014 at 10:44 AM about the 2013 Ford Edge

Question type: Car Customization

I went to the drive inn with my kids and the lights would not turn off inside. I had to jimmy a fake shade with blankets to not disturb the movie. I want to take the kids again, but I don't want to deal with the same problem.

35 Answers

1,155

Shut the hatch. There's a sensor in the lift gate for it, and whenever it's opened, the interior lights should turn on. Same thing with doors, I believe as well. Hope this helps somewhat.

56 people found this helpful.
680

thanks for the reply but if we're at the Drive Inn Theatre we want to view the movie from the back of the car with the hatch open. I had a Tahoe that had a button i could push to turn off interior lights when doors were open. I cant find that function with the Ford Edge and I've gone through the manual book too

68 people found this helpful.
1,155

I definitely know where your coming from. I have a 98 Jeep Cherokee sport and my dad and I did that when I was little. There used to be a light that came on after you opened the lift gate, and we just unscrewed the lightbulb, and then when we were done, just put it right back in.

50 people found this helpful.
1,580

I had the exact same problem lastnight. I was at the drive in with my kids and the light wouldn't go off, but I figured it out!! I had to make the hatch think it was latched with it being open. To do this, I rotated the latching mechanism on the hatch. Basically you have to mimic what the hatch would do if it were actually closed and latched. Just remember to hit the unlatch button to get the latching mechanism in the correct position and then close the latch.

158 people found this helpful.
470

In my 2010 Edge I had the same issue. However as long as my headlights were off, key out of ignition and the hatch was up, the lights will turn off after 10-15 minutes. They will turn back on if you open doors. To go to the drive in and hear the sound we just brought a radio along.

47 people found this helpful.
450

Ok I did this and now I can't close my back hatch!! Help

45 people found this helpful.
810

we go to the drive in frequently in our Edge. we have it down pat now. we go to the fusebox on the driver side near the floor. we pull out fuse number 9 (we have a 2010 so you would need to check your owners manual for the specific fuse for your model). we still have the radio for the sound without the lights. takes less than 2 minutes to pull off cover and pull fuse. then while we are cleaning up and repacking the car we take another two minutes and put the fuse and cover back. easy peasy.

81 people found this helpful.
470

My Ford Explorer rear interior lights would not turn off when the car was on to play music at the drive in with the hatch open. Push the hatch down so the like hook taps the part in the car so it thinks the hatch is closed then pull it up. You're trying to trick the car to think it's closed when it's not. The lights should be off now!

47 people found this helpful.
210

The latch trick worked on our 2007 Freestyle as well drive In success

21 people found this helpful.
320

I have a 2008 Ford Edge . All you need to do is remove fuse #9 works like magic the lights go off !!

32 people found this helpful.
330

When me and my friends go in her 2011 escape we make sure the lighta are set to auto. then get all set up with blankets and the bunch. and there a dial on the left side of the steering wheel. Spin that baby as far down as it will go and the lights should turn off in a matter of seconds!! hope that helps

33 people found this helpful.
130

So I'm having the exact opposite issue, my lights won't turn on without pressing the buttons & I haven't the slightest idea as to why! The switch is set to auto. I have a 08 ford escape

13 people found this helpful.
400

It's infuriating because it's something so simple I've never heard of a car that does not have this "feature". My '13 has an issue where regardless of how hard you close it, the driver door shows as its not closed and my "door ajar" sensor won't shut off. Since this new "tech savy" vehicle doesn't have the option to shut off the interior light I've had the battery die on me 4x already. Funny because my '83 Honda didn't have power steering, power windows, but I could shut the interior light. That's why hate buying American. Biggest patriot there is, but this country cannot make a car for its life. Never had problem with Honda Toyota Acura infinity etc that I've had, but first Ford and it's a trainwreck. Blue tooth doesn't work, USB port doesn't work and they only provide one (can get bare bottom Kia and they have 4), can't get door ajar light off, and can't shut interior light. That's just off top of my head and it's much worse.

26 people found this helpful.
100

Aw man thank you . I thought I was crazy. I like the car but I'll never buy a car again without seeing if I can shut off the interior lights. And I can't get my Bluetooth to pick up my iPhone or note 5... this is a 13 Fiesta

10 people found this helpful.
400

Yep, unfortunately the engineers at Ford are clueless. This is the newest vehicle Ive ever owned and I've never had so many simplistic problems in my life. And try calling Ford or bringing it to a dealer......good luck because they're no help either and quite often say "well that's strange" and "that shouldn't be happening" but then ask you to pay a fortune to get it fixed. First, and last, Ford vehicle. I can guarantee that.

14 people found this helpful.
210

For my 2013 Edge, its Fuse #12 (the first 15 amp down the left side of the panel) however I dropped it twice trying to get it back into place. The first time, I was able to get it back but its lost after the second time..now I have to buy more fuses just so I can keep the hatch open while camping. Seriously, WHO designed this vehicle?

17 people found this helpful.
130

Just walk further away from the vehicle with your key nob in your pocket, wait a couple of minutes and then come back and all the interior lights will be off. Duh!

13 people found this helpful.
60

All lights off with the lift gate open on a Kia Sorento 2012. I opened the lift gate. Then pressed the locking latch mechanism in the center up , two times until it was all the way locked. The lights went out in about 1 minute. To close the lift gate I went to the drivers door and pressed the lock, then unlock bottoms. Then closed the lift gate. All worked fine.

6 people found this helpful.
40

Anyone know how to do this (get interior lights to go off with hatch open) in a Kia Sorento? I've tried everything suggest except pulling the fuse and nothing has worked. Guess it may be time to figure out which fuse, but the owner's manual says that "overhead console lamp" is in an "instrument cluster" that also includes AC controls and several other things I'd rather not mess with. Better to just remove the light bulbs, I'm thinking. Suggestions??

4 people found this helpful.
70

I have a 2012 Edge that the interior, parking and headlights will randomly come one while parked. Something is draining the battery resulting in a dead car 3 times now. Sometimes you hear the noise that it is being unlocked and everything comes on even when nobody is unlocking the car. Anybody have any ideas? Because the dealer doesn't

7 people found this helpful.
210

Donna, Without knowing more about the issue, my money would be the faulty "Door Ajar" sensor in one of the doors (most likely the driver's side but it can affect any door). This is an issue that has plagued many 2010-2013 Edge owners (a quick Google search will reveal a few other forums) and the symptoms include drained batteries, random alarms and interior lights staying on. Another symptom is that the self locking feature when moving will not function. Ford refuses to deal with the issue and in April of this year (in the USA), a class action lawsuit was filed against Ford (see here: https://mccunewright.com/ford-edge-lock-failure/). If in Canada, I have filed this issue with Transport Canada but they are too busy posting selfies to assist with this issue (and Ford has very blatantly told me that I should deal with it myself (cost $450 USD to fix).

4 people found this helpful.
60

It's unfortunate that there are no recalls on the interior light issues, door ajar issues, accuator problems, et. al. I'm disgusted and just want to drive the damn thing in the river and drown it. I love everything about my 2013 Ford Edge and now all of a sudden all hell is breaking loose on it.. literally. I had to remove the 12 fuse as well under the steering column to get my lights to go out at all. I took my car to an air conditioner professional an they wanted to charge me nearly a 1000.00 to fix the condenser as he said, 'something hit your car underneath and damaged the radiator and condenser.' He failed to put the grill back on the car properly and there's no damage to anything but a small dent in my radiator that WAS NOT there before. Makes one wonder just how honest people truly are. I will NEVER own another FORD anything. And PS.. Guru9NGLJ .. no just no... .Your answer is asinine. DUH! :/

6 people found this helpful.
70

Sooo....Jeanie.....You have a Ford Edge that you love....BUT you had to take it to an air conditioner professional? They told you that something hit your condenser and radiator? WHO decided that nothing hit the radiator or condenser???? Because of this "professional" you wont buy another Ford?????

7 people found this helpful.
140

To get my interior lights off with the hatch open all I did was lock the car with my remote. It moved the hatch to the closed position and all you do is unlock the car to close it once you're done. I have a 2007 ford edge

14 people found this helpful.
30

On my 2015 explorer we flip the latch in the the hatch door closed the same as it would if you closed the hatch. Just remember to flip it back by using any of the various buttons to open it before trying to close it again!

3 people found this helpful.

I have a 2006 Chrysler T&C and yes there is a sensor in every door, especially if your doors are all automatic. There should be a dimmer switch at your head console by the steering wheel by your turn signal. Turn it all the way off. If it's on even at bare minimum the cab lights stay on, I just figured this out and saw you had the same problem. I suffocate in my van when I'm waiting at a staging area and like to open my doors for air but don't want to run my battery dead, so the dimmer is your answer, every vehicle should have one. Even my old 1995 Ford Mustang had one.

250

1. Open the hatch 2. push a Carabiner or large key ring into the hatch latch on the lift gate to push the mechanism into the locking position (push upwards) to make the car think the lift gate is closed. **The latch may click once, keep pushing upwards for a second latch until completely latched. The lights will fade out after 30 seconds just like they do when they time out. After your done to get the Carabiner or key ring out, I pushed the open/closed button on my key fob or inside the car and they hatch latch released. Also another tip*** I have a 2016 Ford Explorer and while at the drive in the radio turns off after it timed out. To turn it back on without turning the interior lights on, just press the circle radio volume button (in the middle) and the radio will come back on.

25 people found this helpful.
120

Here is the drive-in theater cheat sheet, 3 tips. I just dealt with this last night on my 2015 Ford Escape. (1)HATCH OPEN, LIGHTS OFF: With hatch open, I used to the pointy end of a can opener to flip up the rocker latch on the bottom of the hatch door ( The thing that clasps the ring mounted on the hatch bed) . Push until it clicks twice, it was not hard to push. Car thinks door is closed, press “lock door“ on key-fob to shut off all lights & have radio running. Remember to press “open Hatch” button on key- fob before actually closing hatch to automatically flip hatch latch back to the open position. (2)RADIO AUTO-OFF EVERY 15 MIN: one way to turn it back on without opening doors and having lights go on again: leave side windows down and simply reach in the window to press the little physical radio/screen power button on the dash turn it back on. (3) SET HATCH DOOR HEIGHT: our drive-in theater demands that hatches be lower than Max. You don’t need to use rope/wine to hold it. When Hatch is fully open, either simply grab it manually and pull it to desired height or press the auto close button once to start closing and the second time to stop at that desired height. Door will hold at this height automatically. Enjoy the great family memories!!

12 people found this helpful.
30

My Ford Freestyle is an 06. It's not doing any of those things y'all are talking about. I can be driving down the street, my interior lights will just pop on, and stay on sometimes for about a min. Especially when I turn my low beams to high, my lights will just pop back on, or if I hit a bump. Please....can someone help me out with this one?

3 people found this helpful.
40

Just had this problem last night at the drive in with the Ford Edge 2013 limited. Ended up listening to the movie on the speaker outside (not on our car radio) and turned the car completely off with the back hatch open. The interior lights wouldn’t turn off until I locked the car!!

4 people found this helpful.
20

Hi, Folks: I'm writing a story about this topic for the Wall Street Journal. Would love to talk to a couple of you about your experience not getting lights to go off at the drive-in. If you're up for chatting, would you mind reaching out: ck1394@gmail.com https://twitter.com/chriskornelis (can see some of my work on my Twitter) Thanks! Chris Kornelis

2 people found this helpful.
40

To turn off interior lamp lights while hatch is open you must take a knife or screwdriver and push the hitch up in the latching mechanism. Begin to push the hatch down as though your closing, when it gets to about 80%-90% closed, interior lamps will turn off. Bring hatch back up and viola.... enjoy the drive in!!

4 people found this helpful.
20

Check your interior dash light controls. If you have them all the way to the brightest level, your interior lights will come on and stay on. Turn them down one notch and the lights will go out. Ford has a non standard way of turning in interior lights and the flashlight controllers are it. Worked for me.

2 people found this helpful.
10

I have an '08 Ford Taurus X (Looks like a Freestyle). With the hatch open, physically move the latch to its closed position. This will trick the car into thinking the gate is closed. To open the latch again, click the gate open button on the key (I could not physically open the latch after I closed it, so if you don't have an automatic gate opener on your key, BE CAREFUL - I have no idea how you would open the latch after physically closing it - maybe try the door locks. I tried everything short of a hammer until I thought to try the automatic hatch opener on the key.) Anyway, using the key to open the hatch reverses the latch back to its open position and attempts to open the already open hatch. You can then shut the gate manually to close it. After that everything goes back to normal.

1 people found this helpful.

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