Indicator light problem

I was driving my Ford Escape 2012 when suddenly the right indicator light turned on and stayed on. It wasn’t flashing, it was just on. The arrow on the dash that tells me that I was indicating was also on. Once it was on, I couldn’t indicate. When I tried to indicate left, nothing happened. Pressing the hazzards also did nothing. I was close to home luckily. When I got home and turned off the engine and pulled out the key, the light stayed on. Any ideas?

Can you take out the bulb so your battery doesn’t drain empty?

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I take it your headlights are on? What happens if you turn them off?

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The light bulb seems to be working, but you might need to replace the car.

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It works in surprisingly majority of the cases.

Sounds like the “smart junction box” you’ll likely need to replace it.

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I disconnected the battery

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The light stays on.

First thing I tried. I’ll try kicking it today.

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After googling, I saw this mentioned. Got lucky that it happened close to my house. I was supposed to go down south today. Would have been a nightmare. Although I will note that some people drive their whole lives without indicating. Now, if only those lazy mechanics would open their doors. Day five apparently.

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When I see one on, down here, i get worried and keep a close eye on the vehicle before getting away from it asap. They’re just as likely to swerve in the opposite direction as not!

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if they are used as running lights as well as indicators it could just be a dodgy connection, but it could be as @Alex98098 said the Smart Junction Box.

I would have a quick check of any connections I could get to easily, then if that fails I would take it to get it looked at. I personally wouldn’t want to mess with the Junction Box, it can open a can of worms.

https://toolsbible.com/ford-smart-junction-box-problems/

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Somewhere, a MOSFET has failed short-circuit. So yeah, the “smart junction box” thing sounds plausible. Bit weird that it stays on with the ignition off, but maybe that’s a just a bit of bad design.

This shit was a whole lot easier back in the days of electromechanical flasher units.

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Driving home last night I was ready to put my arm out the window to indicate. My first thought was that people wouldn’t know what I was doing and take it as a challenge to race to the next red light. In the end, I got lucky and never had anyone behind me when I needed to turn. Pretty late and CNY.

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It will be hard to find a mechanic this time of the year

Yep. Been in contact with one. Will take it in on the sixth day of CNY. Tomorrow.

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