Thank you! I checked the dimmer switch and that was indeed the issue. Didn't even know it had this "feature". Thank you for saving me literally hours of diagnosis and repair time.

 

Experiencing the same thing on the wife's 2002 explorer. With the vehicle off, after opening a door, the dome lights along with outside mirror lights will stay on for an extended amount of time. Also, with the vehicle shut off, doors shut, and the key left in the ignition, the dinger sounds as it should when a door is open with the key left in the ignition. I checked the dimmer switch, and it is in the center dimmer section. The switch in the up detent turns on the dome light like it should, and in the down position turns the lights off so as not to come on when the doors are open. First thought was one of the door switches, but there are no "door ajar" alerts when the vehicle is in operation, and it works correctly if a door is not shut properly. The only other thing that I know is wrong, is there must be a break in the drivers side mirror light wire as it doesn't work some time and you can move the wires between the door and body and make it come on or go out when the door is open, but I wouldn't think that would affect the delay on the lights going out.


Myself, I am not too worried about it, but the wife is driving me crazy complaining about it all the time. All I hear is, "the lights aren't out yet". She just knows that it is going to run the battery down. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thank you.

 

Since you know there is a wiring issue in the accordion boot, I'd start there if it were me. Maybe fixing the broken wire(s) will take care of the interior light issue.

If the rear liftgate / glass gets a lot of use, that might be a place to check as well for a broken wire or bad switch. My recall is that an open liftgate will turn on the interior lights but will not trigger the "door ajar" indicator.

-Rod