My $20 headlight switch

[Dennis Garrett]

My headlight switch was starting to smoke & fry in my 97. I removed it & found it was getting hot on the "H" pin. On the way home from work I stopped by an auto salvage that had a wrecked 94, 1500. I dug out the switch & gave them $20 for it. (New ones at the dealer are about $90. 00, & at some auto parts stores up in the $150's) Anyway, I put this used switch in & it works perfectly & stays cool. I noticed a difference though, the original switch had tinned or galvanized terminals, & the new (used) one has solid copper pins. The plug was only melted slightly around the "H" pin, & was otherwise OK. What is the "H" pin? And is the "copper pin" switch original to 94's ? Maybe this was a replacement switch too, put in before the truck was wrecked.

 

[Archive]

There was a recall on the light switchs, but I do not know what years were covered. We had the light switch in the 95 replaced last year, under a recall.

Bryan

 

[ISBPilot]

????????

Not sure of the years either. A buddy of mine had a 98. 5 that melted, but my 99 hasn't had any trouble so far. 102,000 with lots of night driving.



Todd

 

[DieselTim]

Final Fix for headlight switch

I had the misfortune of having a near meltdown of the headlight switch on my 96 2500. I found the info about the recall on the rams for the headlight switch and along with 2 other recalls took it to the dealer to fix them all. Well they informed me that the headlight recall was only for the 3500 trucks and would not be done on mine as a recall. Not to go into the other "Problems they caused while they FIXED my truck", but I did buy the kit for the recall of the headlights on the 3500 trucks for about $60. This is what you need to install if you have any problem with the stock switch. The new one came with a small relay and much larger wires,and a new switch. It took a few min to install because I soldered the new leads ( larger wires) in and used the heatshrink that came in the kit to cover the new connection, and new plug to install the new switch. It was a tight fit back in the old location, but I have no fear now of it catching fire, while driving to work.



Keep um' rollin Tim





143,000 and counting fast

 

[SOOT]

135,000+ miles on the 97 and 121,000+ on the 99 and no problems with the light switch

 

[pcorssmit]

Has anybody without clearance lights had this problem?



Pete

 

[Gray 5.9]

Mine done the same thing as everyone elses, I started smelling somthing weird going to work, but it was very faint at the time. The next morning it was dark with heavy rain and I not only started to smell it but see itwhile i was in traffic, and I could only see the white lines untill the on coming car past me so i pulled over and shut the lights off for about 3 mins, then went down the road and it did't do it again. But I decided to replace it and went too napa and got the switch for (I couldn't believe it) for $14. 00 Dodge wanted $60. 00.

 

[Dennis Garrett]

One thing I did notice when mine fried. It seems to have been coming from the guage lights. When I turned them completely out, it cooled down. They still worked fine, but if I turned them on even slightly, it got smokin' hot.

 

[azcummins]

My 98. 5 kept roasting switches and after taking to the dealer, they said the recall was only on '95 models. They blamed the cooking on my triple Isspro gauges hooked to the wire going to the clearance lights. After a new wiring harness for the switch, 3 hrs later and a $500 bill, mine hasn't had a problem.



$90 seems high for a switch. All of mine were $25 from a dealer. 5 star steelers!

 

[Blakers]

Mine done the same thing as everyone elses, I started smelling somthing weird going to work, but it was very faint at the time. The next morning it was dark with heavy rain and I not only started to smell it but see itwhile i was in traffic, and I could only see the white lines untill the on coming car past me

I've been having this strange sweet smell now and then in my 95. I haven't been able to track it down but recently my lights have flickered occassionally and the switch seems to be harder working. Also, sometimes when I turn on the lights when it's really really cold out, they don't come on immediately.



I called my dealer and they offer just the switch for $30 or a retrofit switch and harness for $77. Which should I get? Any other suggestions?



Thanks a lot!



Blake

 

[Dennis Garrett]

The $30 for the switch sounds like a hell of a deal to me. The dealer here in Lawrence, KS was over $90, Auto Zone wanted $82. That's why I was happy to get a used one for $20. If you get it out of there before it melts the plug on the harness, you'll be money ahead.

 

[Blakers]

Well I stopped tonight and picked up the switch/harness assembly for $58. 06. I figured I better get both in case the plug is fried. I'm going out in a few minutes to work on it. I leave for work at 5:30 am and definately need dependable lights.



Thanks,



Blake

 

[Blakers]

... well, tore it apart tonight and the plug is fried, but I think it's only the high beam terminal. That explains why the smell occured only after I exited the freeway and turned the brights on. I wondered why the smell was related to back roads - haha. I'll be fine getting to work, so will fix it at my dad's tomorrow.



Blake

 

[wtrenholm]

Installing relays is the answer to all the problems mentioned here. In our Dodges, the switch seems to be the point of greatest resistance. Current passing through a resistance will create heat, a warm component will increase its resistance, which makes it warmer, see where we're going with this? There are two power feeds into the switch, one is for the headlights, hi and low circuits are in series until the dimmer switch. The other feed is for the parking/marker lights and the instrument panel lights. Either can be a problem.



It takes voltage to push current through a resistance, this resistance could be the actual light bulb(the load) or a undesirable source like a light switch or poor connection. Voltage used crossing a load is called voltage drop. Say you have 13. 5 volts available from a source(batt/alt), that 13. 5 is used up (or dropped) before returning to the power source. Now say the headlight switch is a undesirable resistance and it takes 1. 5 volts to cross it, that leaves 12V to operate our load (the bulb). The result is a reduction of light output and heat being generated in the switch. After putting overwattage bulbs in my ole Lebaron work beater the switch would overheat and pop the circuit breaker in the switch, causing the headlights go on/off once the switch got too hot. I checked voltage drop on the HL feed. One lead of the voltmeter on B+ and the other on the B+ pin of the bulb, 2. 75 volts drop! My truck only has . 3V drop to the HL, so no problem or benifit there. With trailer tow, the trailer is already relay controlled.



The fix: (using HeadLight as an example)

Take a cheapo relay and bypass the high load current from the switch. Same basic deal to bypass for trailer lights.



Parts needed:

1. A relay and wiring. I'll give ISO numbers but my favorite is a GM high blower relay and harness from the junkyard. A bag of a dozen make the guy at the yard look at you funny.

2. A fuse holder. For your new power feed.

3. Wiring info. Wiring diagrams prefered. Sometimes the HL wiring splits way before reaching the HL bulbs.

4. Soldering iron & shrink tubing. Scotch Locs suck, so don't use them. Your trying to repair a problem, not make a new one.



Procedure:

1. Find the wire that is feeding the HL and cut, wire the end from the HL switch to pin #86.

2. Wire pin #85 to ground.

3. Take your fuse holder and wire it to pin #30, use a good power source very near the battery.

4. Wire pin #87 to the HL wire that you cut.



Done. Now you have eliminated the voltage drop from the feed and have about 500 milliamps of current passing through the HL and dimmer switches. Now you can add driving lights, wire your trailer with all kinds of lights, or what ever. Relay's rule man.



I'll help in anyway I can, if you are interested. Early Rams really need this, gassers too.



Sorry to be so long winded,

HTH

Wayne

 

[Blakers]

With trailer tow, the trailer is already relay controlled.

What do you mean by this? Are all trailer tow packaged Rams equipped with relays for the trailers?



Thanks,



Blake

 

[shendren]

where is the "switch" exactly that you are talking about?? thanks. scott.

 

[wtrenholm]

Blake,



My Ram has a Trailer Relay in the Power Distribution Center (PDC) under the hood. I will try to find out what year this showed up by looking at various year wiring diagrams, if some else knows please post the info.



Scott,



The switch we're talking about is the actual push-pull headlight switch in the dash. Very common to overheat causing bad things to happen to the switch and plug.



Happy Holidays,

Wayne

 

[JJW_ND]

98+ switch in a 97 older

Anyone try a newer (98+) in a older (97-) truck. My 96 switch works fine but rattles.



BTW, Over the years pulling trailers, mostly at night (lights on forever). Always pulling 2X trailers with upwards of 14 lights on each trailer (28 total), sometimes the inside cargo lights would be on, my truck has factory plus extra 7 markers. Never had any problems and every thing is still factory stock at over 200K. At least 50K miles pulling with all lights on.



Replaced both headlight bulbs several times and can't remember how many driving bulds replaced already.



Truck is a 96 2500 with factory Trailer towing. Added a second trailer plug in back, but factory wiring from back of truck.



jjw

ND