Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) dash fire

[kenny61]

96 2500 club cab- installed gauges the other day (pyro and boost) power from cigarette lighter lights from behind headlight switch. road test everything ok. Next day start truck drive down road rear brake line rusted out. ... park truck..... drop fuel tank replace brake lines and rusty fuel lines replace dead sending unit in tank while i got it out. put truck back together and start truck. was wondering why my cigarette was smoking so much until i realized it was pouring out from under the dash... shut truck off disconnect batteries find melted / burned wires... . wire that is toast is grey with black tracer # 3 on ignition switch connector manual says it for brake system warning lights wire melted all the way from ignition witch to connector on firewall to pass into engine compartment ( may be toast in engine compartment too but havent checked yet) is anyone else had this problem and if yes what caused it? im gonna order a new harness tomorrow but i dont want to put it in just to have it fry again... . help, help me please... ... ... . :{

 

[Howard Durand]

Usually if something bad happens with no apparent reason, the first thing you should consider is, what was the last thing I did? The wire that burned should give you a clue.

Could you have shorted out any of the wiring when you were working on the brake lines and fuel tank?



I would guess that the gauge installation is not the problem because you say they were working OK on the earlier road test.

 

[kenny61]

checked all the wires in the area all looks ok. checked service manual its the brake warning light circuit and the wires go nowhere near where i was working. and the wire actually carries ground (not a hot wire) and gets the power at either the vacum sensor switch or the all wheel abs controller which are both under the hood... new wiring harness = $1,800 from chrysler. Im gonna just cut out the wire since i dont need a light to tell me the pedal has gone to the floor. but i dont know if it will effect the abs controller and i really wnat to find out what caused the short in the first place

 

[KevinH]

go to napa and get the harness if they have it. usually it's the headlight switch that catches fire. just another great product from dodge.

 

[kenny61]

cut out burnt wire no more shorts but no more idiot light to tell me it aint got no brakes guess i can live with it but sure would like to know what caused it

 

[Howard Durand]

KevinH suggested the possibility of a faulty ingition switch. There was a safety recall that modified the heater blower circuit to prevent ignition switch failure. Was that done on yours? If not, that could be your problem.



If you don't think the switch is the problem, then more trouble shooting can be done.

 

[tp0d]

you can call dodge with your VIN and see if there are any safety recalls on your truck... hmm i forget the #. . Mebe the dealer can do it, dunno. .



Possible your abs could be affected by cutting out that wire. If its 4 wheel ABS i`d pull the fuses to it so you have regular brakes instead. I only have rear ABS on my truck tho. .



good to hear you caught the fire before it took out your truck



good luck



-j

 

[Howard Durand]

You said that the wire that burned is the one between the ignition switch and a connector on the firewall.

Turn the ignition switch on in the run position and check the end of the wire that is still attached to the switch and see if it is either hot or grounded. It should be neither. It should only be grounded when the switch is turned to start. If it has voltage on it then there is something wrong with the switch.

The other end may have voltage on it since it is a grounding circuit for the warning lights.

If it has voltage, make up a wire with a 5 amp fuse in line and connect it between that end and ground. If the lights come on and the fuse doesn't blow that part of the circuit is probably OK. If the fuse blows, you have a short somewhere that is by-passing the lights.

This is based on what I could see trying to follow the circuits in the manual. There may be something I missed but the above checks should help you to isolate the problem to one side of the circuit or the other.

 

[kenny61]

I checked the ignition switch with a tester and it was ok (only ground at start). and the wire didnt burn going up to the bulb so it had to be coming from the engine compartment. One of these days im gonna try what u said but I dont got the time right now. I brought the truck in for all the recalls they sent me but maybe ill stop by the dealer in case i missed one. the abs seems to be working (no warning light) ill find out for sure at my next panic stop. The weird thing is that it totally burnt off all the insulation on the inside side of the main harness connector but the engine side was fiine also not one fuse blew. the only thing i can think of is that the wire is a couple of gauges smaller on the interior side of the plug and that just enough juice was coming thru to burn up the 22 gauge wire and not the heavier one. looking at the manual dodge was so cheap they put in the smallest wire they could get away with because the gauge size changes depending on what options your car got. im sure they saved all that money but all the time they spent enginering different harness that are 5/10 of a cent cheaper then each other. ( I am now shaking my head) If I ever figure out what happened Ill let you all know. At this point I'm just curious if this is happening to anyone else...

 

[Howard Durand]

Glad the truck is working OK and there was no more damage than what you had. Maybe it is good that the wire that was easiest to get at is the one that got hot.

I would assume that there is still a problem somewhere but, at least, you can wait until you have more time to figure it out.

Good luck,



Howard