2004 4.0. Took in for airbag recall now this. When cold I push the windshield washer and dash lights come in. If headlights are on and I push it the windshield washer pump will not stop running. If I turn headlights off it stops. Any ideas. Sounds like I can hear slight arcing by passenger fuse block. How do you remove the big wire connectors with the what looks like locking lever. I figure out some dielectric grease on them to start with.

 

Welcome to the forum

2004 will have a Smart Junction Box(SJB), in/behind the passenger kick panel
This is the Body Control Module(BCM) it replaced the GEM module.

If it is shorting out then dielectric grease won't help.

Google: ford smart junction box repair

To get an idea of what is there and what is needed to pull it out, it's alot more than a fuse box

Here are the 2 Power Distribution wiring diagrams for 2004 Ranger
I will see if I can find the 2004 SJB diagrams

 

Found 2005 SJB diagrams, will be the same as 2004

It a Control Module, when you turn on the lights your are not turning on the lights directly, the Light switch sends the "on" command to the SJB and then it activates the Light relay
Same for wipers or washer, no direct control, all the dash switches do is to send "commands" to SJB and it does the actual activation of the device

This is a better way to do things, unless there is a problem....................if there is a problem then it is usually a replace the whole SJB as the only solution
But they don't fail often and usually there is a reason for it, water can leak in from a windshield leak
And after 13 years of working fine I doubt your SJB had a defect, so probably an underlying cause for the failure if it turns out to be an SJB problem

 

Thx for info. Do you think that something could have happened when they did the air bag recall?

 

No idea what the airbag recall would entail?

You can always just ask

Although that's one reason I don't work on "friends of friends" vehicles anymore.

You help someone out by changing a fan belt, FREE of charge, and you get a call a TWO weeks later that the Radio just quit working and it MUST BE something you did, because it has been working fine until YOU TOUCHED THE CAR.
You can try to explain that one has nothing do with the other but obviously if they didn't understand how to change a fan belt they won't understand that.

I don't blame them, just sounds like an excuse from a "wanna be mechanic".

So now it's family and friends only.