The worst part of the problem was that you never knew when the lights would go out. The first time it happened, it was at night and I was on the freeway in the downtown area with no place to pull off the road. I took the car to the shop and they couldn't find anything so I thought it was a fluke, then it happened again. Again, more extensive electrical testing revealed nothing because it was an intermittent problem. I avoided driving at night for a while, however since it got dark out earlier at time of the year, that wasn't possible.

After researching, I discovered what the problem was and had the lighting control module replaced. I was quite upset that this problem had not been put on a recall list considering how dangerous it is to have your lights go out at any given moment. Also the cost of having this problem repaired should not be on the consumer since it is a manufacturer's defect, it makes me ponder changing to another brand of vehicle when I'm ready to purchase again.

My Wife was returning from KROGER about 10:00 PM on a road with no Street Lights. She was lucky a car behind her followed her until she got to a road with Street lights to get home. The road was narrow and very curvy. She could have run off the road and had a bad accident. Ford Motor Co. should recall all the LCM before somebody gets killed. May be that is what they are waiting on. If they don't fix it, I will never buy another Ford product, I have two Ford cars in my drive way now.

I have other serious problems also.

I received notice of the Extended Warranty on the Light Control Module on my 2004 Grand Marquis. Took it in to local dealer and told me "yup, it's bad, we'll order the part and call you when it comes in" A week later I had to call them only to be told "it's on back order w/ NO ETA" Not happy w/ that answer I called Ford Motor Co. and was told there is a backlog on the part and could not give me any guess as to when it may become available. AND he added that the NHTSA has determined "this is NOT a safety issue" Seriously? Intermittently working headlights are NOT a safety issue? I may be able to get around town w/ this as inconvenient as that is...but I'm supposed to travel downstate 700-800 miles rd trip and it's not a safety issue?

I did go to the NHTSA site and filed a complaint there, but also read they did an investigation on this in 2008-09 and CLOSED the investigation determining no safety issues.

Does anybody have any information on how to track down the part or when Ford is going to make the part available? I feel like I'm being held hostage.

One night, my headlights would not come on. I leave the switch on the automatic setting. I fiddled with the switch and eventually they came on. This began to happen more frequently. After doing some research, I found out it's not unusual for relays in the light control module to fail. I also learned that a dealer will probably charge $700 or more to replace it. The module is a black plastic and metal box mounted under the dash to the right of the steering column. As the problem became more frequent, I'd simply whack the underside of the dash where the module is located and that would get the headlights to come on. Eventually though, the headlights starting shutting off randomly, so it was getting dangerous. Ford supposedly updated the module to make these failures less likely. Rather than pay an arm and a leg to have someone else fix it, I found a brand new updated Ford module (not an aftermarket unit) for $300 online, bought it and installed it myself. Not too difficult to do, it's just in a really awkward location to get to. About 25 minutes and a few 4 letter words later, it was fixed and I was good to go. No problems with the lights since. Ford really should have issued a recall for this. If they did, I'm not aware of it. It's common enough that I actually had trouble finding the new module-on many websites, they were sold out, even on rebuilt ones.

Update from Apr 19, 2015: A while ago, I got a letter notifying me that the warranty was extended on the light control module. Unfortunately, I can't get reimbursed for the one I bought, since I can't find my receipt, I didn't buy it from Ford and I installed it myself. Oh well. I had to do something at the time, couldn't put it off any longer. The car just turned over 164,000 miles as of this writing, and I've not had one single problem with the headlights since I replaced the module.

Imagine driving home at night in rural Mississippi, on a two lane highway, and all of a sudden your

headlights go out. I couldn't believe my eyes, too scared to continue, couldn't see where to pull over (there are no street lights). When another vehicle came up from behind, I was able to maneuver it to the side of the road..I have always kept the light setting on automatic, so i tried to turn them on manually, but nothing happened. Then just as they went out, the lights popped back on. I can't believe there wasn't a recall on this problem, this is not safe. Why is it not worthy of a recall until someone dies. If the Ford Company knew of this issue, regardless of the number of complaints, they should have voluntarily fixed the problem. Don't get me wrong I still like my car, but I'm a bit disappointed that Ford will not stand behind or stand up for their products.