Running Lights Dead, Can't Use Truck

[farmall]

I posted this on the 911 forum also, I hope someone can help. My running lights went dead today. The headlights work, but the running lights will not. I can not drive my truck in the dark until I get this fixed and I need to go somewhere tonight.



First I checked the fuse and it is good. So then I put my test light the connection where I tied my gauges in for lighting. I am getting nothing there, as in when I pull the switch out one click nothing turns on. No running lights and no dash lights. The other day my dash lights went out and I messed with the switch turning it back and forth and they come back on. Now nothing will work. What has me puzzled though, is when you pull it out on the first click with the door open the buzzer still comes, and if you pull it out to the second click the headlights still come on. But still no dash or running lights.



I pulled the front of the dash off to take the swicth out, but I cannot figure out how to get the switch out. I looked from the bottom up, but still do not see the way. Do you think I am on the right track thinking it is in the switch? Although the buzzer still comes on with the first click and the headlights still work with the second click. I forgot to add it will still work the dome light also.



One last thing, the hot wire running down to the fuse for the dash lights has no juice. Does this get supplied from that switch? I cannot see up in there far enough to figure it out. Please help, I am stuck except for daylight hours and daytime is getting shorter fast. Bill

 

[Philip]

Sounds like it burnt out the terminal for marker/tail lights.

It is a pain to get the headlight switch out. You need to pull the dash bezel off. Then you need to pull the switch on/off knob assy out. There is a small peg on the botton of the headlight switch. It is spring loaded. It is hard to get to. But you have to push in on the peg with the switch pulled into the run position. (Unhook the battery). Then after you have the knob assy out of the way. You can get to the switch mounting post.



You will probably find the wire harness plug burnt on the terminal for the marker/tail lights. Dodge does offer a repair kit for this if yours is bad. If your lucky all you had was a switch go bad.



This is a common problem. If you do a search you might find the Dodge part number for the repair part.



I loose a headlight switch once a year.

 

[farmall]

Thanks a lot for the info. I will be into first thing in the morning. I already have the bezel off, just didn't know how it came out. Thanks Bill

 

[DPKetchum]

Hi. If you tow a trailer a lot with lights on it will eventualy burn up headlight switch and the connector to it will melt down. The switch cant take all that draw threw it. (mine got me at 2am at the big red mile in Kentucky. NO LIGHTS)Dodge dealer had parts the next morning. Anyway the correction for this(found out from old tow truck driver)was to add a seperate circuit for all xmas tree lights on trailer with a seperate toggle and leave trailer brake lights only on the light circuit. I added this with a seperate fuse under hood and cut Xmas tree lights out of plug in. Added the new seperate circuit. Made light switch metal stalk much cooler(less voltage running threw it}Tow driver said only very late models was this corrected. Said all older trucks of all makes melted these same parts on roll backs because of running lights. Dodge had a headlight switch/wire recall because of this on new body style trucks and some of those removed were melted badly. mine was BURNT.

 

[Case500D]

Question

Hi,



It happened to me too. I lost everything but the headlights last Sunday evening. I was heading home with the horse trailer and poof, everything was gone. That immediately caused a 10 on the pucker factor scale. I found a blown fuse. I could get the brake and flashers to work without blowing a fuse, but never could get the running lights to work with the trailer plugged in. Everything works fine with the truck by itself (with a new fuse of course). I unhooked the trailer lights and had my wife follow me home. Anyway, I can't find anything wrong on the horse trailer. It takes about 6-8 seconds before the fuse blows. I have had a dead short before and it will immediately blow the fuse. Is there a chance my light switch is partially melted down and will work with the truck but not with the additional load from the trailer lights? This is really a pain. I have to get it fixed b/c I am taking off for Wisconsin to pick up a mule for my wife (no a$$ jokes please ) Thanks for the help and ideas.



Jeremy

 

[Philip]

(no a$$ jokes please )

Well shoot talk about taking all the fun out of it.



It could happen. I haven't seen it before. Most of the time I have seen the burnt out terminals is when the lights do not work at all. Or if you start to see the dash lights flicker when you hit a bump.



What size fuse are you running in it now?



When I set a truck up for towing. I will step up the factory fuse on tail and markers to the next size bigger. Or change over to a circuit beaker if it is available for the truck I am setting up. I haven't seen a circuit breaker style for our spade type fuses.

 

[Philip]

Here is one type of old style circuit breaker.



http://www.centechwire.com/catalog/accessories/cbk.shtml



I found the newer style for our trucks. Guess I'll have to get some ordered.



http://www.bussauto.co.uk/Auto Breakers.htm#Series 21X 'Mini'%20Circuit%20Breakers



NAPA does stock them also. I just checked. They run under $10. apiece. These are manual reset. I am looking for auto reset.

 

[JFitzgerald]

A good fix would be to wire a 12VDC relay into the system to take the load of the trailer lights. This way, the only additional load on the headlight switch is the relay coil, which is very minimal. My switch has not failed yet, but I should do this to prevent that high pucker factor thing. If anyone wants to do this, but isn't sure of the wiring, I could draw a sketch.

 

[Case500D]

Great Bumper Stickers for the Mule Hauler

Okay, here are a couple of stickers I have considered for the trailer. "My wife has a great a$$", "I got this trailer to haul my wife's 1100 pound a$$", "This CTD can haul a$$, can you?", etc, etc. Anyway, I am running a 20 amp fuse right now. I like the idea of a circuit breaker (auto reset so I don't have to tear the fuse block out along SR 25 at 8:30 pm in the dark). I wonder if there is enough corrosion to cause an excess load with the trailer lights, but not the truck lights? Everything worked fine until I went over a RR track. I have checked the trailer over very well and can't find any grounds. I rewired the trailer last year and it has worked perfect until last Sunday. I will also do the relay thing when I put a new switch in. The new GN looks like a Christmas tree laying on its side, so I had better fix this right before I really get stranded and someone has to save my mule (or half a$$). Okay, back to work now . . .



Jeremy

 

[Philip]

"This CTD can haul a$$, can you?"

This would be the safer one. What the miss's laughs at one day will get you in trouble the next.



A auto reset can limp you home at times. If you have a lot of lights on that trailer. Try a 30 amp fuse in it. On my truck with all the dually lights it pulls 13 amps. You have cab lights but not the tail gate lights. So you are at 10 amp or very close. If the trailer has more lights than the truck. You are over amping the fuse.



If you have a multi meter. Take> ALL< of the bulbs out of the trailer. Then setup the meter + to the tail light feed. Meter - to trailer ground. If there is any reading showing on the Ohm meter setting you have a ground somewhere.

 

[DPKetchum]

Hi again,the light switch terminal on mine did'nt burn in a one shot deal. It did it over time and a few months previous noticed at times they flickered or didnt come on until light switch wiggled the was ok until they crashed all the way. Its too much draw on it over time. The whole connector was sagged internaly. When looking at connector more or less it looked normal until it was unplugged and the it was like DAMN it was a wonder it worked at all. The flatbed driver that informed me about it said Dodge,Ford,Chevy's all did this on a regular basis until someone got smart and put the trailer or flatbed running lights on a seperate circuit. I got one from advance a little lite toggle switch and cut the xmas tree light wire out of rear trailer hook up and ran a seperate fuse(30amp)from battery back to trailer connector only for small xmas lights on trailer not tail or brake lights. Now if I want to i can turn them on seperate in day etc. You just have to remember to turn them off also. The light switch and melted connector was a $235. 00 repair while I waited at 8 am in lexington dodge dealer. Was a fair amount of soldering to replace. I think six wires or so. I thought then thats what caused this because I new about recall on newer models. The Flatbed driver later told me What we new this for years and said to reroute circuit. New trucks this has been corrected(user friendly)

 

[Case500D]

Part Numbers

Hi Guys,



I just did a search for the part numbers on the updated pigtail, headlight switch, and the trailer wiring harness with a built in relay. But I wanted to see if anyone had the most current numbers available. Thanks.



Jeremy

 

[rkubicki]

My headlight switch burned up on the way home when I bought my truck... (what a foul smell!!)... I paid about $25 for a new switch and had to transplant the harness connector from another wiring harness because mine was a big ball of melted plastic.



The problem was that all of the parking and instrument lights were on one circuit that was fed through the switch by a measily 20-gage wire... This is even more of a problem if your truck model has the roof lights, side clearance lights, and talgate lights... . There is just too much current flowing through that little wire.



If you replace your switch and harness connector, a good way to ensure that you won't have to do it again in the future is to wire in a load-reduction relay... . I used a standard 30-Amp Bosch fog light relay from an auto parts store ($5)... Follow the link below to see a quick schematic:



http://www.kubicki.tv/relay.htm



Now the only load through the headlight switch for the parking light circuit goes to drive the relay's primary side... (which draws a very small, constant load, keeping things cool and safe).



Good luck, Rob Kubicki

 

[AlK]

Rob,

I tried to access the link that you posted but nothing shows up?



http://www.kubicki.tv/relay.htm



Help?

---

Al

 

[rkubicki]

ALK,



I converted the picture to a different format (one that would load faster) and put it here:



http://www.kubicki.tv/relay2.htm



Give this a try and let me know if you still can't see it.



Thanks, Rob

 

[AlK]

Rob,

Thanks, that works. Very simple solution to avoid potential problem down the road.

---

Al

 

[ERMiles]

wiring question

I don't know if any of you on this thread will get this message but here goes - I just burned out my running lights and, thanks to your info, I tracked it down to the switch. I now want to install a relay as some of you did. I ended up, after spending a long time upside down, with a sore neck and a real nice relay circuit on my dash lights!!!%^$$#.

I need help! Is there a place to get to the running lights circuit under the hood? If so, how do I find it?

 

[rkubicki]

Re: wiring question

Originally posted by smiles

I don't know if any of you on this thread will get this message but here goes - I just burned out my running lights and, thanks to your info, I tracked it down to the switch. I now want to install a relay as some of you did. I ended up, after spending a long time upside down, with a sore neck and a real nice relay circuit on my dash lights!!!%^$$#.

I need help! Is there a place to get to the running lights circuit under the hood? If so, how do I find it?

Hi Smiles,



I hope I undserstand your question correctly... You can get (tap into) the running lights circuit from under the hood by following the wiring from the back of one of the running lights - this would be inside one of the fenders. Hope this helps.



Rob

 

[Tim1]

headlite switch

Hey Rob, very nice diagram on that relay! If you fellas want the parts list that I posted for helping the headlite switch with relays, you can look at SMOKIN on 9-24-03 . This works for me as it relieves the load from the switch. Good Luck on this fix, fellas! Tim

 

[rkubicki]

Re: headlite switch

Originally posted by Tim1

Hey Rob, very nice diagram on that relay! If you fellas want the parts list that I posted for helping the headlite switch with relays, you can look at SMOKIN on 9-24-03 . This works for me as it relieves the load from the switch. Good Luck on this fix, fellas! Tim

Thanks Tim - I'm impressed that this thread is still alive and kicking after all this time