Whatever you want to call it.Has anyone bought a new one of these that sits in the middle of the dash and tells the auto lights to come on and off with light and darkness.
The part number on mine is 14A597-AC.....I cannot find an aftermarket sensor.Ford wants $87 for this.
Anybody bought one?......Many Thanks

 

Nobody has a clue??I have not been able to find anything aftermarket either.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2004-Ford-S...-/162972684569

 

I went thru the same wild goose chase a year or two ago, finally found and bought the correct sensor. But tonight I could not find it on my bench! It's a mess these days.

I'll take another look tomorrow when I have sunlight.

 

Many Thanks....I would appreciate any numbers that will come up with a good part.My numbers don't show anything.

 

Sorry for the delay, it was buried 3 beers deep.

It's called a sunload sensor or a photocell and Ford part number is 2C3Z-13A018-AB. I found them at Tasca. Not exactly cheap but whatchagonnadoo.

Here's a some pics. A couple places listed it as obsolete. It has 3 pins so maybe another Ford sensor with 3 pins will work, even if the part is shaped differently.

On edit: below I attached a couple docs showing pinout and wiring of sensor to VSM and EATC in case ya need to get creative.

 

Many Thanks.....I hope the beer cans were empty
Got it on order.

 

Zombie thread addition:
The Electronic Automatic Temperature Control (EATC) module has several pitfalls, so here is a little bit of a help from the 2002 Workshop Manual Wiring Diagrams on the topic + some from 2004. I inclued Rear Window Defrost for Excursion owners.

In the PDF that you have to download, you will see several diagrams and charts that show you where to look for A/C Clutch, diode, the sunload sensor, the compressor cycling switch, high pressure switch, the blend doors, blowers, fuses, and everything I could think to add to. I really wanted to know where Auxiliary Relay Box 4 was... so here's a picture from 2004. And the sunload sensor is in the pic below. For people with the diesel engine from 2003.5, you probably have to find Auxiliary Relay Box 5, whose layout is unlike #4 because it has the FICM relay for the 6.0L in it. I am unsure about the 7.3L, but I think you will find Relay Box 4.

This PDF also covers the steering wheel (clockspring) controls for the EATC found on Limited and Eddie Bauer editions.




Sunload Sensor location

 

Excellent! Appreciate the further detail.

FWIW that sunload sensor is still in the top drawer of my tool box.

 

Nearly 18 months later and you still know where that little bugger is at... You are more organized than a lot of us... Or, is the top drawer the catch all (read junk drawer in kitchen)...

 

I searched numerous sites for the sunload sensor for my 06 F-250. Haven't found it available anywhere. Has anyone found a replacement that will work? Different part from similar trucks?

 

Lucky you! Looks like Tasca still has them for sale.

 

Yeah. I have chatted with them twice. It's actually out of stock. They haven't updated the website.

 

I hated that behavior enough on my Silverado to modifiy the circuit enough to disable it forever.

 

Could go redneck and try wiring a generic sensor like this EFL162.