2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Blinking headlights?

[Texis]

The other night, in the middle of nowhere, 2 hours from the house and the headlights blinked. It happened 6 or 8 more times on the way home and I was really nervous that they were going to go off altogether. It can only be descibed as milli-seconds, very quick little blinks... like there was a short somewhere in the circut. It was not related to bumps, road condition, etc. very random.



Anyone have any idea what part of the headlight circut would cause this?



thanks in advance.

 

[WestTN]

The headlight switches were weak in the early trucks. You will likely need to replace it. And, if there are any extra lights wired to the headlight switch they will need to be fed by a relay, not the main light circuit.

 

[Texis]

The main on-off pull switch on the dash?

 

[Skydiver]

Good posts guys.
The headlights are located very close to the acid vapors from the batteries. Check your connections.

 

[Bob4x4]

The easy route is to get the kit from Dodge,Comes with new switch,Connector with pig tail,relay and instructions. Soldering required Try to find this Part # CAJM8190

 

[firefighter_2000]

Do the conversion

Go ahead and get yourself a new switch... And then do the sport headlight conversion.

It can be found here:

https://www.turbodieselregister.com...6-sport-headlight-conversion-lots-photos.html



Hope that helps.

Craig

 

[Bob4x4]

It should be mentioned all years of the 12 valves(and early 24 valve) will have to do some sheet metal trimming to fit sport lights.

 

[Texis]

OK so I finally changed out the "push-pull" headlight switch on the dash. The new unit from Autozone ($70) come with a new pig tail / connector in the event you need that piece as well. Install was pretty straight forward, non-event. The wires on the new pig tail / connector are 1 gauge size heavier wire than the OEM.



The OEM wiring harness connector was melted at one of the flat pin connector locations. After I spliced in the new pig tail / connector and installed the new switch... I hit the road. This is where the concerns come in. After an hour of lights on driving, I had an "electrical-plastic-melting" type smell??? I also noticed the dash was warm above the switch. It was day time driving so I turned the lights off... . smell goes away and the dash gets a bit cooler.



I originally assumed a relay had failed and was routing to many amps through the switch, but I cannot find any relay in the headlight circuit in the diagrams, or looking in the truck? Does the switch carry the full load?



Any ideas guys? I really don't want to swap switches every other week! What could be causing the amp overload at the switch?

 

[Road Dog]

The switch carries the full load so a high current draw would indicate a short. The most likely location would be the new mod -- two fresh solder joints are touching or the switch is miswired or is defective. One thing to try is unplugging the headlights and seeing if there's still a high draw.

 

[snappy]

The switch carries the full load. There was a recall #819 for a fix. The part number is CAJM8190, as mentioned by Bob4x4. A search for recall 819 will give a lot of reading. Recall 819

 

[Texis]

The recall appears to only cover a specific "date of manufacture" on 3500 series trucks? Mine is a 97 2500 and built exactly as the recall diagrams indicate... . so what to do?



Currently I don't care to drive the truck after dark. Considering it is my primary means of motive... . I need to take some type of action. Especially when I read the words "cause fire"!!

 

[SSolderitch]

if you have an amp meter, pull the left & right headlamp fuse in the PDC. turn lamps on. jump each fuse with the VOM meter to see which side is bad. One low beam should be under 10A so the meter should work. Remember the headlights are switched on the ground side, with fuse pulled and connector off the bulbs - none should connect to ground.

 

[Texis]

So, you are indicating that the switch over heat situation is caused by a bad headlamp wire/connection/etc? One of the headlamps is shorting out... leaking amps, etc?



I hate kiliwiggles, stuff you can't see ain't right.

 

[WilsonF]

Good Read:

Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply



Catalog



I added relays to my truck years ago, My switch doesn't even get worm.



Floyd

 

[Texis]

New switch over heat solved.



So I finally dug into the problem and tested and inspected all light sockets, fuses, connectors, etc, etc. Then I pulled the new switch out and let it hang by the wiring. Turned the lights on and found the new switch was heating up big time. The heat was coming from the exposed reostat ring. Getting so hot I could not hold my finger on it.



My electrical savy buddy noticed a fair amount of OEM grease on the reostat contact area and wiped the grease off... bingo! No more heat.



Apparently the grease was either dielectric and pulling too many amps over the entire reostat contact area, or not dielectric and causing resistance at the contact area... . either way, no more heat and i'm done! New headlight switch is now working well and no heat (or burning smell) is present, stays completely cool.



If you have to replace your head light switch, wipe the exposed, excess grease of the new assembly.



In the process I also learned there is a recall #820 on certain 1500-2500 with the OEM trailering harness. The replacement harness has a relay build into it. I believe it is safe to say that the headlight switchs on these trucks are carrying too many amps, the factory tried various recalls to add the needed relays (which should have been there in the first place)



Post over... I hope

 

[GAmes]

I'm sure you had plenty of practice removing the dash facia, so one more time won't hurt. Drill some holes on the top of the vent tube directly below the switch. There is about zero air circulation in that area. Also, be aware that the more you dim you dashlights, the more heat is generated. Besides wiring relays into both the high and low beams (and fixed them so that low beams stay on when the high beams are on) I replaced all the lights except the front clearance/turn signals with LEDs.