ccato

Many thanks to Drew103! I copied the photos of the IDS steps he posted here into a Word document, printed it out and took them to my local Ford dealer where I purchased the used 2018 TC (and a new battery two weeks later due to this problem). I showed it to the service rep, explained what I wanted, he took the pages back to the shop and came out a few minutes later and said ok, make an appointment. Should be no problem. Went to my service appointment this morning and they programed to keep approach lights off. Job on the service ticket is described as "Disable approach lighting using IDS." Success! They charged me a flat $49.50.

I recently bought a low mileage (18k) 2018 Connect XLT-LWB to use as an eco-camper. So far, DYI up fit has gone well. But I have had the same problem as many others with the "approach" lights staying on for 10 minutes whenever a door opens. Well when camping (or working on the up fit), that's all the time. After replacing the battery thinking it was 4 years old, I still had the problem of draining it. Ten (10) different lamps come on whenever you open a door. 2 at each corner plus the tag lights. I've replaced all of them with LED lamps o lower the load and this has made a big difference. Plus the turn signal trick (thanks Willygee). I'd like to get the programming change mentioned in this and some other threads but not ready to tackle that yet. Oh, and on the first two trips (and 2,000 miles), I am getting the advertised 28 MPG.