2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Parking Light short on 96 ram

[tp0d]

Parking Light short on 96 ram.. hallllp!!

I have been troubleshooting an annoying short in my parking light circuit (fuse 18), and I`m running out of options. Here's what I am experiencing. .



Lights will run fine indefinetly with truck off. . I`ve jumped up and down in the truck to simulate movement, no short.



Lights will stay on between 1-5 minutes with truck running and in motion. Fuse will pop for no reason, either sitting at a light or at 55mph down the highway. Bumps dont seem to be the problem.



Turn signals and stop lights work fine.



I`ve tracked down a bunch of wires in my service manual, and did some ohm readings, from the headlight switch black/yellow I get about 1. 6 to 2 ohms on normal run to ground. All light bulbs ck out, as do all unshielded harnesses... .



Is there something I`m missing? When I unplug the rear main harness, take out both bulbs in the front and have the headlight switch unplugged, I still have 300 ohms resistance. Shouldnt this be open?



hopefully someone has had a problem similar to this. . I`m just about to take it to an electrical shop and let them go at it. . its against my nature tho. . sigh. .



tnx in advance



-Jerry

 

[mechanic]

I have been troubleshooting an annoying short in my parking light circuit (fuse 18), and I`m running out of options. Here's what I am experiencing. .



Lights will run fine indefinetly with truck off. . I`ve jumped up and down in the truck to simulate movement, no short.



Lights will stay on between 1-5 minutes with truck running and in motion. Fuse will pop for no reason, either sitting at a light or at 55mph down the highway. Bumps dont seem to be the problem.



Turn signals and stop lights work fine.



I`ve tracked down a bunch of wires in my service manual, and did some ohm readings, from the headlight switch black/yellow I get about 1. 6 to 2 ohms on normal run to ground. All light bulbs ck out, as do all unshielded harnesses... .



Is there something I`m missing? When I unplug the rear main harness, take out both bulbs in the front and have the headlight switch unplugged, I still have 300 ohms resistance. Shouldnt this be open?



hopefully someone has had a problem similar to this. . I`m just about to take it to an electrical shop and let them go at it. . its against my nature tho. . sigh. .



tnx in advance



-Jerry

I don't know if this will help, but does it have the factory overlay harness for the tail light circuit? If it does it should have a relay for that harness. If it has the factory harness, it could have a problem between the switch and the relay. But the trailer load is on a different circuit. It is feed through the relay. If it does not have the overlay harness, and has a tailer or fifth wheel plug, check for corrosion in the plug and the condition of the splices if any. Your ohm test should be open if all the loads are removed. Did you remove the side marker lights and the overhead lights? They may be on the same fuse. If you can't find anything, call me at the number in my profile and I will look up the schematic on ALLDATA and fax or email it to you, along with any service bulletins that may show up on it.

 

[tp0d]

It has the trailer package, the trailer relay is removed in the PDC. I have unplugged the well-worn factory trailer plug.



Overhead lights still work with #18 blown, all I lose is parking lights and dash illum. I have inspected so many feet of harness I`m seein split loom in my dreams. . =/



The alldata info would be much appreciated. . dunno if they have any different info than in my service manual, but it cant hurt. . my email is tech at xerotolerance dot net



thanx



-j

 

[KennethS]

I had trouble with headlight switch

My gas gauge and tail lights would stop working when I turn the dash lights dim knob. The dealer kept changing the gas sending unit and could not find the problem. I found It by chance and went to dealer and they change headlight switch and everything Is ok. Have you added anything on the truck ?

 

[tp0d]

got it.

Well, after a solid hour of tracing out wires for the 2nd time, I finally found my problem. . The parking light wire for the passenger front (black/yellow) was caught between the intercooler and the frame and just slightly worn, just enough to short out...



I`ve read of shorts in this area before, just took me a little while to track down connectors and isolate a single harness. The ohm readings were still consistant, until I started moving the harness then it went from dead short to open, and back again. . my multimeter earned its keep today. .



tnx for the help. . i think i was making my problem out to be worse than it was, for some reason I thought there may have been something besides lights on the failing circuit. .



-j