2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Broken Power Feed (Red Wire) at Ign. Switch

[magaliasram]

A few weeks ago I pulled into a RV Park in Quincy, Ca. No sooner did I get into the space assigned to me and the truck just died. No power in the dash it appeared. I played with the Ign Switch a little and the truck started but then immediately died. Well, I looked at all the relays and fueses but could not find any problem with them. I went to bed with the Fifth Wheel hooked up still and figured I would tackle it in the morning. The next morning I called my Son-in-law that runs an auto repair shop and asked him to locate and let me know what wires fed the ignition switch. He called me back in a hour or so and gave me the color codes for the feed wires. In the mean time I decided to take the colum apart when I went to remove the dash trim I tilted the wheel down and low and behold all the dash lights came on and the truck started. After further investigation I found the RED feed wire to the Ignition Switch was broken at the connector to the switch. It looks like the factory installed the wiring harness in the colum to tight and the constant bending of the wire from tilting the wheel broke the wire off at the spade terminal in the switch connector. I made a trip to the local Napa store and purchased some spade terminals and replaced the broken terminal and reinstalled the connector and everything was fine again. Just wanted to share this so you guys can check and see what is going on inside your steering colum. It could save you some headaches later. :-{}

 

[gonehuntingagain]

I had a friend have the same thing happen with his 2001 - the red wire was just a tad too short, making it extremely tight when the wheel was tilted up and caused the wires to break.



The dealer fixed it under warranty.

 

[magaliasram]

Unfortunately with 118000 miles I am now my own warranty station. It would seem if there was enough of those the factory would need a recall. If that wire shorts against the column then it could cause a fire. I just pulled a litte more wire up to losen it at the switch.

 

[ASimpson]

i had this happen at about 120. 000 another guy had the same problem and told me what to watch for and sure enough was pulling into a filling station headed right for the front door flipped the wheel up and it shut the motor off talking about standing on the brakes. i couldnt find a spade connector that fit just right so i called the dealer they knew all about the problem and told me they had a new harness for under the column. i think i paid $40ish for it left the wires long no more problems.