1997 Ford Taurus 1997 Ford Taurus Highbeams Won't Turn Off

Ok this is a cheap place to start on the electrical system of your taurus.

Get a can of WD-40 and a box with a towel in it, put the towel in the box and sit under your steering wheel to catch the excess drips and start soaking your blinker assy. Of your steering column, also spray a moderate amount into the key way to in reality wash out
your blinker assy and key way with WD-40 this also works for Taurus that the blinkers have stopped working you are washing the dirt off the contacts, I tried Contact cleaner but the WD-40 seems to work better (Fish Oil to the Rescue). This is not a guaranteed fix but it is a lot cheaper place to start than 50 to 80 dollar an hour shop time looking for the problem, I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Chilller

I know this is an old post but it helped me when I was looking to fix a similair problem with my 97 Ford Taurus / Mercury Sable. I woke up one morning and my head lights were on. Ater investigating I found that it was the H/B's (high beams) that were on which was obviously draining the battery. The light switch was off, the H/B switch wasn't on so I wasn't sure what it might be. After combing the web and running test after test I opted to try replacing the turn signal switch in the steering column and as it turned out that was it ($60 new / junk yard $15-25). I had problems with the washer pump only coming on when the wipers were on full speed months earlier and didn't notice until the problem with the H/B's coming on by themselves but the hazards weren't working either. One switch controls them all so it only made sense to give it a try and as previously mentioned it worked.

Hope this helps. God Bless!