Sorry for the double post; I also posted this in General Discussion thread but realized it might be better here.

Hi everyone,

I've got a 2016 F150 Lariat with OEM LED headlamps. Yesterday while driving, I noticed my right headlamp was flickering and numerous other cars seemed annoyed and flashed their lights at me. I pulled over to see what was going on and it turns out that both low beams seemed to be working fine but the high beam on the passenger side was flickering on and off (sometimes just staying solid on).

This morning, the same thing happened. Like yesterday, the flickering didn't start immediately but began after driving for about 15 minutes. I've cycled the high beams on and off multiple times (and the passenger high beam is definitely coming ON even though the high beams are turned OFF), cycled through the various settings on the lighting control switch, set the Automatic High Beam Control on and off (I typically have this off) but nothing seems to help.

On a possibly related note: About 6 weeks ago while driving on the highway, the car in front of me ran over something (not sure what it was but my best guess is a large chunk of ice) that flew up and whacked my truck in the area of the passenger side headlamp. The plastic body piece surrounding the headlamp got cracked a little bit and under the hood I found a chunk of black plastic broken off that appears to have come from the rear of the headlamp housing. Other than that, the lights have worked fine...until yesterday.

On another possibly related note: I've not had a single problem with this truck (50,000 miles) until about 3 weeks ago when it just flat out died while waiting to turn out of a parking lot. I had it towed to the dealer and after 5 days there, they replaced the fuel pump and fuel pump driver module. Everything seemed fine but about a week later, it died again with the seemingly same symptoms (this second time I happened to be idling in a parking spot. I must say that I am somewhat lucky that both times it died, it did so in a relatively convenient spot and not while driving on the highway). Another tow to the dealer where they found the fuel pump fuse had blown. After another 5 days there, they eventually found a bad wire going to the fuel pump driver module. The day after I got the truck back, the flickering started. Not sure if there's any correlation here, but I am really in no mood to have my truck at the dealer for another 5 days.

I realize that I should bite the bullet and replace the headlamp assembly but I'm not sure that would solve the problem. If the lights weren't turning on (or flickering on and off) when I wanted them on, the headlamp assembly would seem to be a prime suspect. My problem is that the high beam is coming ON even though it should be OFF.

So, after that long-winded explanation, I have a couple simple questions:

1. What could be causing the high beam on the passenger side to turn on (or flicker on and off) even though it's supposed to be off?
2. Is there something I could easily do to simply disable the high beams for now. With "old-school" headlights, it seems that simply unplugging the connector from the lamp, or pulling a fuse or relay might do the trick. It's 20 degrees outside and I'd rather wait to tear things apart until it got a bit warmer (and I would like to avoid another trip to the dealer for now if at all possible).

Any ideas or suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

Could water have gotten into the electronics from a crack after the ice impact?

 

El Barbon, it is quite possible and I realize I should replace the headlamp. For now, I'm hoping for a quick and simple fix so that I don't have to drive home tonight with my truck inadvertantly blasting other drivers with my high beams.

 

You'll need to replace the whole assembly. There is no "bulb" in the headlight it is all integrated LEDs.

Is your truck still under warranty? Have Ford take a look.

 

Thanks for the reply! As you said, I pretty much assume I will ultimately have to have the whole assembly replaced but am in no mood right now to take it back to the dealer; it's been at the dealer with fuel pump issues for 12 of the past 18 days...NOT FUN! A quick google and it looks like a new headlight assembly is $500 or more. And, unfortunately, I'm out of the bumper to bumper warranty period.

As I said before, my most pressing need right now is to figure out a way to drive it home tonight without blasting other drivers with the passenger side high beam. As of now, my best idea is taping some cardboard over the passenger side high beam. Hopefully there's a more elegant solution out there.

 

I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but, have you checked for DTCs. Most codes do not turn on the CEL but can tell you what the problem likely is. I'd hate to see you replace the headlamp assembly just to find out the problem was the Multi-function Switch in the steering column.

 

that’s a great call..

 

That is a great idea that I haven't thought of. The CEL is not lit but I do have a code reader so I'll give it a shot. And like you said, I don't want to spend $$$ replacing a headlamp assembly if that's not even the problem. My gut feeling tells me that if there was something wrong with the headlamp assembly, the problem would be that lights don't come on when I want them to. My problem is the opposite; lights are coming on when I DON'T want them to which at least "feels" more like a problem with the Multi-function Switch. But, I realize that given the computer controlled complexity of vehicles nowadays means my gut feelings are pretty much meaningless. Thanks again for the idea!

 

The Steering Column Control Module (SCCM) could also be the problem. There have been some documented cases of failure on this forum. DTCs will help. I just looked at the Pinpoint Test listing and there are a lot of DTCs that could be set.

 

Just checked for codes with my cheap "PocketScan" reader. Nothing showed up. I'll do some digging around and try to learn about SCCMs. Thanks!