Probably what happened is the switch overloaded and fried a wire somewhere
down the line and shorted out. It'll take some time to locate and correct,
I'm afraid. Take a look at the wiring harness at the trailer connectors and
see of they have shorted to the frame of the truck. If you have the kind of
harness that attaches to the taillamps themselves, see of one of the lines
disconnected and shorted to any metal. One way or another you have a hot
wire shorting out and it's making contact to your lights in some way or
another.
Tim R.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Coleman" <wcoleman@bigfoot.com>
To: <dakota-truck@buffnet.net>
Sent: Monday, September 11, 2000 8:42 PM
Subject: DML: A Problem With the Headlight Switch (Maybe)
> Hello. I am having a rather puzzling problem and hope one of you may have
> had the same problem and will be able to lend some advice.
>
> About a week ago I got in my 1995 Dak at started it up. It was dark and
as
> soon as I started it I noticed the parking lights reflecting off of the
car
> in front of me. I thought to myself that it was strange that I had never
> noticed that the parking lights come on by themselves. Then I noticed
that
> the dash lights were on also. At this point I had NOT pulled the
headlight
> switch.
>
> I then pulled the headlight switch to the "parking light" position and I
> noticed that the parking lights brightened a little. I did not notice if
> the dome light was working at this point or not. I then turned on the
> headlights and everything seemed OK so I went on my way.
>
> The next day I drove to work in the morning. When I pulled up to a
> stoplight I noticed my parking lights reflection on the car in front of
me.
> I did NOT have the switch on.
>
> I came out to my Dak at lunch and noticed the clock/radio had stopped
> working (it had been working that morning). At this point I gave the
truck
> a little better inspection. I found that the dome light was not working,
> the clock/radio was not working, the cassette deck in the radio will run
(I
> can here it run when I put in a tape) but there is no sound. I tried
> various combinations of headlight switch on/off but was not able to get
the
> dome light or the radio to work.
>
> I drove a short distance and when I turned the ignition off the blower fan
> kept running! I started playing with that and found the headlight switch
> was in the parking light position. When I turned the headlight switch off
> the fan went off. When I turned the headlight switch on the fan would
come
> on! This was with the key OUT of the ignition.
>
> The problem with the parking lights and the fan are intermittent. The
dome
> light and clock/radio will not work at all.
>
> I read in my owner's manual that if you tow a trailer that has several
> lights on it, it may overload the headlight switch and cause the switch to
> fail. I do tow a pop-up camper so I thought maybe the switch had been
> damaged. I replaced the switch today but still have all the same
problems!
> The dome light and clock/radio will not work at all. Intermittently, the
> parking lights will come on when the ignition is turned on. When this
> happens the headlight switch will also turn on the blower fan (I find this
> to be the most baffleling part of the problem).
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> Thanks in advance for your help.
>
> Bill Coleman
> '95 Dakota 4x4
>
>
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