1996 Ford Contour Exterior lighting Problems

“The headlight switch malfunctioned and caused the tail lights and instrument panel light to go out without warning. The vehicle was recall once for this problem and repaired but the problem has reocurred. Manufacturer stated since the recall was repaired once, they will not repair it again free of charge.”

“Car stalls when parallel parking, especially in reverse, or when parking slopes. Car stalled when starting up from red light in center city philadelphia intersections. Headlamps out of alignment (don't shine down onto road, beams not centered). Air bag light on control panels blinks sporadically, frequently; anxiety that air bag will deploy while driving. Dealer comment on stalling: probably something stupid and wasn't able to fix problem, mentioned something about a vacuum tube. …”

“The front head lamps to my Contour have clouded over (on the inside) and do not allow the lamps to put out much light. This is a pretty bad safety hazard in the evening. It has been getting worse over the past year or two - to where I need to replace them. The dealer noted that this was a common problem caused by a head lamp seal failure, but it was not a warranty or recall issue. Cost is $250 for parts plus labor. If this is a known safety issue for Ford service staff, why is it ignored by Ford? Your database shows other complaints of this issue. Dt”

“The plastic lens in the headlight assembly degraded to the point that light coming from the headlight was hardly distinguishable from the light coming from the amber parking lights. Vehicles behind my car, while driving would cast a shadow in front of my car. I replaced the light bulbs on the front of my car to no avail. The problem remained the same. I just recently purchased new headlight housings and installed them to replace this serious problem. Ford used a very inexpensive or untested plastic which failed/degraded quickly.”

“When the light switch is turned to park lights, none of the park lights work--front or back, left or right. Additionally, the dash lights do not work. When the light switch is turned to head lights, only the headlights and bright lights work--there are not tail lights or dash lights. All other lights work, such as the brake lights and turn signals. This occured during the thanksgiving holiday at night while driving through kansas city. We could not see our speedometer, and cars approaching from the rear could not see us until they approached and their lights shown on our car--very dangerous.”