My fiance has a 2002 Screw FX4 F-150 pickup. The other day she called and said it wouldnt start, so i went and checked it out. I opened the door, and something under the dash was just clicking, then i opened the hood and the light under there was flashing while whatever under the dash was clicking. It turned out the battery was bad, so I replaced it.

Now, it started OK, all the needles went over the the right and then back. However, the next day, when she started it, the lights in the radio and on the climate control (clock, temp, illumination) were not working, BUT the radio did work, you could hear music and the AC came on. After 30 seconds or so, something near the passenger side underneath would click and the lights would come on. This has happened twice now, and sometimes the radio lights come on before the climate control lights.

What in the world is wrong with it and did it have to do with the battery change???

Any help would be appreciate cause its still under warranty. I want oppinions first though.

 

is it just the lcd part of the displays not working? or is it the button lights too?

i've seen lcd's crack and leak out causing the display not to work in the winter. heat might do the same thing.

there was an issue on some taurus models were the reostat in the headlight switch dimmer control would cause a concern like this. next time the lights act up try playing with the dimmer control from full to low back and forth to see if it trips the lights on.

hope thats some help to you.

 

Cool, ill give that a try next time. As for the lights it seems that it is the whole panel that quits working, even the lights in the buttons, and of course the green LCD display. There is a definate relay that clicks on though when they do come on finally. I asked her if anything seemed to not work at the same time and she wasnt sure, she hadnt noticed.