Barryn

My 3500 has no parking/clearance/side marker lights, gauge lights, underhood light, or blinkers. The following all work: elec windows/mirrors/door locks, headlights, brake lights, radio (sound and display), interior lights, and cargo light. The 15A "Park Lamp" fuse (Fuse 18-Inside fuse panel by the drivers door) blows as soon as I turn on the headlights. I can see the clearance lights on top of the cab flicker momentarily before the fuse blows.

The prior owner took the ball out of the bed before he parted with the truck. Apparently to make it easier on himself he just cut all the wires before pulling off the bed to do so. In addition the prior owner added a keyless entry (Maybe it's an alarm also???) and also wired in a 6 and 7 way into the inside of the bed so there is quite a lot of splicing under the hood and at the rear underside of the bed. My dad was the one who found this truck up near where he lives. He wanted to help me out so he used wire nuts to put the brake lights back in working condition so I could drive it back home. I think one of the wires the prior owner cut is causing my problem. I started by removing the wire nuts from the taillight wires and used crimp connectors to put those wires together, then wrapped them in electrical tape. I left those connectors apart and also disconnected the lights on the tailgate and the license plate light. I still blew the fuse. My next target is to check the wiring where the 6 and 7 ways were wired in to see if the problem is there. I also see some wires that don't seem to go to anything under the hood. I'm going to sort through them to make sure they're not causing my problem.

Does this sound like the best way to attack this problem or is there a better/faster way to go about it? Is there anything I'm missing?

Thanks everyone!

06RAM2500

Yep! Keep unhooking all the faulty splices until it quits blowing a fuse. Then you know which one was the culprit.

Barryn

OK I'm frustrated. I'm still blowing fuses.

I've crawled under the bed and pulled every wire nut, splice, and connector apart.

I've looked for wires that might be rubbed and touching where they go through a hole in the frame.

I've pulled apart, at the battery, what looks like the splice for the keyless entry/alarm.

I've checked for wires that might have been pinched between the bed and the frame when the prior owner put the bed back on.

I've pulled the panel off under the steering wheel and looked there for any problems in wiring splices.

What have I missed?

I think I'm going to cool off here in the house for a bit and then go take a fresh crack at it. I thought I'd ask those who might have another idea first.

Thanks guys!

bowlerman

just read article about headlight switches going bad in 3500's. do a search

Barryn

Yes it looks like the prior owner replaced the headlight switch. The wires further in look like they got hot. I had a shop look at it and they said it looks like the problem is burned wires behind the gauges. They said the prior owner probably had a wiring problem with his trailer, didn't fix it, and ended up burning the wiring in the truck. The flashers weren't even in place next to the inside fuse box. The shop said the best thing to do is pull the dash and wiring harness then lay it out on the bench and fix it right. They will check parts with the dealer, but they're trying to find reasonably priced used parts as well. I found this site with info on wiring harnesses and they had new and used harnesses for sale. It looks like I'll be buying a new dash and new/used wiring harness. The old brittle dash was cracked up and needed replaced/covered already. Needless to say I'm not too excited about the possible costs involved. From past post it looks like a new dash from Dodge is around $200. The harness may cost the same and then there's labor on top of that.

Anyone have any suggestion (or at least a nice big cry towel)?

Thanks,

Barry

dozer12216

Doubt you wil get wiring harness for $200 from dealer. Probablly not avaliable now. A salvage yard might be able to help on a 94.
I did one laying in floor. It was very tough. Most of wiring for brakes is accessable with some effort. You need a FSM to figure wiring if burnt badly.
A suggerstion: wire a 2 way turn signal flasher and a bulb in place of fuse that pops. The bulb will flash as long as short exist. Now you can play with wires till find shorted area.