disabling "Lamp Out"?

[JEstes]

Well, I've had my truck about a month now, and I've just had my first problem. The Lamp Out light/dinger keeps on going off. I've done alot of reading on here, and it seemed like the rear taillights were the problem. So, I cleaned all of the connections and put 6 new 3057 bulbs in. I've also checked all the other bulbs in the truck. None have dirty connections or worn fillaments. That cured it for about 24 hours. Now it's doing it again. Is there a way to disable the lamp out feature?



Also, how do I tell if I've got the new strips for the taillights? I can't find any direct TSB info, so I'm not sure if the stock ones are grey, like what I have, or something else.

 

[Pawpaw]

Go to any auto parts store and get some "battery grease". You know, the stuff you coat your battery terminals with to prevent corrosion.



Check your new bulbs to see if they're badly burned and replace as necessary. Coat the base of all the bulbs liberally with the grease.



If this doesn't fix the problem, you'll need to buy new bulb holders from the dealer. I would still do the grease trick.



Bob

 

[JEstes]

Any ideas on the cost of a bulb holder?

 

[Pawpaw]

I'm sure I've seen it posted on here a couple of times.



Bob

 

[Buffalo]

Coating the connectors with dielectric grease does help, a bit. It extends the interval to about 4 to 6 months, in my experiencs.



I clean the conntcting points with the eraser from a pencil & then apply the grease.



I need to check into the new connectors, next. Since I'm out of warranty, I wonder if I will have to pay for them or if they have an extended warranty.



Joe F. (Buffalo)

 

[RDyson]

Someone said some time ago that there was a TSB for this. You might check that out before buying new modules yourself.



Randy

 

[Firewalker]

Go to the local napa store and get all new tail light bulbs. Only buy the ones that have a glass base. The problem is the bulbe with the black plastic base get hot and the little connector wire gets hot and melts into that black bulb base. This causes the intermit connection issue.

 

[TRLRTRSH]

lamp out

Mine did the same when we lived down in mexico, being far away from a dealer I got fed up with noise so took a needle nose and carefully bent the contacts closer together, have not had a chime in over two years now. :-laf

 

[Dieselnut59]

I had this issue on my '03. I took a small flat blade screwdriver and bent the contacts in the socket to provide more tension. No more problem. NOW, for my question. How do these "lamp out" indicators work with LED lamps? I am installing a flatbed and am putting "big rig" type LED's on the bed. On my '98 work truck the flasher would flash twice speed for "lamp out" indication. It did this with the LED lamps installed. Put a normal 2-prong flasher in and it solved the problem. No problem on my '96 or my '92 work trucks when LED's were installed on the service bodies.

Back to the guy's original question: Is there anyway to DISABLE the "lamp out" feature?

 

[sag2]

No way to disable it, but you can add a small resistor across all the connectors to "fool" it into thinking the bulb is good. The logic behind it is the FCM (2002-2005) or TIPM (2006-2007) sends out a small current when the lights are off and determines if the circuit is complete. When the lights are on it monitors the amount of current flowing to determine the same thing. So adding the resistor tricks the FCM or TIPM into thinking the bulb and/or wiring is good. It is way better to just clean up the connectors or replace them and add the dielectric grease to keep the connector clean and dry and have the lamp out feature work correctly.