I had posted this under the diesel section but this seems more of the right place to find some help.

The parking lights on my 2001 F250 7.3 stay on if I turn the light switch off just as I turn off the truck and will not go out. If I turn the lights off 30 seconds or more before I turn the truck off they will go off. I noticed this weekend when I was pulling my boat that when I turned the lights off while continuing to drive that the running lights would stay on for a few minutes after I turned the switch off and then eventually turn off. If I turn the lights on and off again without the truck running the parking lights will stay on indefinitely. I can then get in my truck, start it, drive around for a minute or so and then they will turn off. If I just start the truck and leave it idling the lights will stay on.

I assume that with higher RPM's more voltage is going through the system which allows for the lights to eventually go out but without the additional voltage they stay on. Any suggestions as this one has me scratching my head?

The lights also stay on when I disconnect the light switch and I do not have keyless entry/remote start or an alarm system on it.

 

Anything else weird happening? The reason I ask, these trucks have a bad habit of having minor windshield leaks. The water runs down the inside of the firewall and gets into the GEM module and makes it do crazy things. The GEM controls most everything on the truck like timing functions and stuff like that.

 

GEM is fine and has no water damage. Plus there is nothing else going on electrical.

 

I was able to find out that the parking lamp relay is under the center of the dash in the I/P Relay Block. Does anyone have a detail for this to know which relay is for the parking lamps? I understand that the fuel pump and door lock relays are also in this block. It's also probably going to be a pain to get to so has anyone found a good way to access it?

 

If you keep looking in Autozone's site you might find it. Here's a picture but you already know this much correct?
http://repairguide.autozone.com/znet...3f8023cba0.gif

 

Here's a diagram showing the GEM tied into the park lights. That's why I was asking about it.
http://repairguide.autozone.com/znet...3f8023cc84.gif

 

Yes. That's the same diagram I found searching around. I called the parts department at Ford and they said the parking lamp relay is just the standard relay so once I find it I will just swap it with another one and see if that solves the problem. I'm going to take off the trash bag hook panel and see if I can reach it through there. Otherwise I may need to pull the radio if it's any higher.

Since it's just the parking lights, I'm holding out hope that it's a relay or ground and not the GEM but that may be the culprit. My mechanic said it will cost $615 for him to install a new GEM.

 

Well I dug into the dash and couldn't quite reach what I thought was the relay block. It looks like it's just behind and above the small storage slot on the lower dash. My arms couldn't fit in there but I looked at all the grounds and they seemed to be tight. Of course now my truck is not having the issue so who knows what happened. Will let you know if it pops up again. Anyone know how to remove the lower dash panels? I tried to remove the cup holder by removing the screws but it is still held in place by something else.