Ok...Lamp out...Long story....

[cSypniewski]

Ok had my front control module replaced after my low beams stopped working altogether after my lamp out indicator was going nuts off and on. Both bulbs were good dealer tested and claimed it was the FCM... . 3 days later I had one lowbeam working and the other one wasnt. They replaced it again and told me to unplug the plow harness. they worked for a while... . then i had to plug the plow back in to drive it... . and now the lamp out is dinging again and last night in the reflection of my trailer i saw my drivers side lowbeam was out initially then came on a few seconds after the passenger side. sometimes when i start the truck the lamp out indicator is blinking then when i turn the headlights on it goes out. I cant throw more money into this thing without knowing whats causing the problem. Curtis the plow mfg is trying to help me out but isnt being much help at all. I need to get to the bottom of this... need to figure out if it is in fact the plow setup causing it or the truck itself. Can any electronic guru's come up with something for me to check or look at?



im poor and its driving me crazy.



BTW... . my tailights and every other bulbs are fine.



Truck is a 2004 3500 SRW

 

[jelag]

I hope that your plow has relays that power the lights from battery voltage and the low and high beam lights just power the relay... if not this very well could be your problem. .



If you continue to have problems I would suggest that you turn on and off the lights on the plow with a separate switch... I'm about ready to switch my trucks over to HID lighting and I'm worried that less than normal current will cause some problems as well...



Hope this helps...

 

[cSypniewski]

I believe the power for the plow lights comne directly from the trucks headlamps themselves... . theres a pigtail that plugs in behind the headlamp.



Care to elaborate?

 

[CDonaldson]

Suppose this is like the wiring for the trailer plug? System problems with TPIM or is it TIPM? The beast monitors current, voltage, amperage/one or all? I do not know what all model years are involved with that stuff, may only be the 2006's.



Plow light harnesses should go to a plug that is connected to your truck headlamps and also the plow lamps. When you put on your plow and plug in the lamps it should switch to the plow only via a relay. If the contacts have corrosion it will cause the kind of problem you have, been there with a plow before myself. I drug out the wiring diagram for my setup and took apart all the connectors, cleaned them, used dielectric grease in them. Then I took apart the grounds and cleaned/bonded them. My problem was in the grounds. I also had a bad relay once, but that caused no lights when the plow light harness was plugged in.



CD

 

[p-Bar]

I hope that your plow has relays that power the lights from battery voltage and the low and high beam lights just power the relay... if not this very well could be your problem. .



If you continue to have problems I would suggest that you turn on and off the lights on the plow with a separate switch... I'm about ready to switch my trucks over to HID lighting and I'm worried that less than normal current will cause some problems as well...



Hope this helps...

Call Joel at Britebox he made me up custom unit for my HID's

 

[cSypniewski]

no this system has no relays it uses a 3 way toggle switch. Somehow though..... with the headlight adapters plugged in it overloads my front control module and fries my lowbeams. When its disconnected it wont happen. Plow on or off the truck.



Here is the wiring diagram if anyone with some knowledge can PLEASE help me out. I need a fix ASAP!



Wiring diagram is on page 10



http://www.curtiscabs.com/Documents/Sno_Pro_Owner_s_Manual.pdf

 

[jelag]

I looked at your wiring diagram... I agree that there are no relays in the circuits... . this will overload your wiring on your truck and cause wiring harness, and bulb failure as well as additional problems with electronic devices designed to protect the circuits... .



You need to install additional relays to each light circuit... . 1 for tail lights (clearance) 1 for head lamps and 1 for each turn signal... a total of 4... you already have one relay that sends 12V from your battery to the plow for the hyd circuit... this might not be ample in size...



I suggest that 1 - you contact the manufacture and tell them of your problem and have them design and supply the needed wiring... they after all will have this problem with all new design trucks... . Ford, Chevy, and Dodge, they might not know it yet. . or are not listening to their customer base... . 2 - If you take this to a good auto electric shop and let them install the circuits... If it were mine, I'd either put the relays in a sealed box on the plow or in a box under the hood of the truck (best) and wire into the plows wiring harness that's on the truck...



You could come off the battery with a good 10 gauge wire to the relays, don't forget a 30 or 40 amp fuse or circuit breaker... . and a fuse to each of the 4 circuits. . clearance lights, head lamps, left turn and right turn... In my shop this would be a 2 to 2 1/2 hour project to round up the supplies and do a good job that would allow me to connect and disconnect the plow when I wanted... 75 - 100 in parts, and if we had to pay the labor I'm guessing another 120 to 150 in labor...



Hope this helps...



Jim

 

[cSypniewski]

jelag thanks for ther time and help!



The only problem seems to be with the headlamps. The turn signals and running lamps are still tapped in and everything works fine. whenever i hook up the headlamps it will blow the front control module. So can i get away with just running my own wires to power the headlamps through a switch with a relay?

 

[rbattelle]

So can i get away with just running my own wires to power the headlamps through a switch with a relay?

Shouldn't be a problem to do this.



Ryan