So going through town last night and come up on a 12v dually pull'in 3-4 horses in trailer the lady driving with young son is having alittle trouble with staying in her lane (horses mov'in round) anyway about a hour later were at the tavern and sirens and lights are seen so we step outside only to see that same truck at stop sign with a totally engolfed engine bay. They got horses out and people I assume as the cops would not let us close. This is the 2nd time I've seen this what causes this leaky injector/ fuel line, wiring or something else. Just kind of freaks me out cause as we passed her I told my wife "she's got a 12v no worries there reliable truck" if you see my sig. you'll know why I said it. Nate

 

I have heard of some rare fires from the headlight switch getting to hot and catching the dash on fire. The switch is not relayed so it gets HOT

 

My guess would be h/l switch also. Mine went out going to our cabin(at night..), digging into it found serious evidence of heat, ie: burnt/melted wires like everyone else w/these trucks. If there was insulation, paper of any kind, would've started a fire.

 

Mine all but caught fire in my 94. One night while driving home the lights went out and I started pulling on the light switch. They'd come on, and go out. Once out, I felt the steel part of the switch shaft and almost burned my fingers it was so hot. The Carquest replacement came with a long piece of harness that contain much heavier wire. They wouldn't sell just the switch because this is a revision. I have no doubt it could start a fire. Being you saw the truck at night, the lights were on so it's very possible that's what it was. I saw a 96 DRW burn to the ground just 8 miles from me. They said it looked like it started on the left side of the dash somewhere. HUmmm....

 

Yea any H/L switch that isnt run through relays is a danger. Ford's have the same problem and the same fix as we do. Them puppys get hot. And especially with her hauling a trailer, that adds to the stress. Relay it and be done. Plus the lights them selves will be better.

But you cant assume that her truck burnt down cause of that though, Any wing nut could have been in there and did something, an injector line come loose due to nut getting tightened properly, starts leaking on the manifold, pulling a large trailer.... Anything can cause it really.

 

We used to see a bunch of burnt up harness' at the dodge dealer when I was there. Guys/gals running to many chicken lights and trailers with chicken lights off the standard circuit and poof, melted dash harness.

 

OK, you guys are starting to scare me now. I do NOT want our 96 3500 to do a big fat meltdown while pulling our five horse! OR, while pulling hubby's heavy equipment, either.
Pretty sure I saw info on DTR someplace, some time ago, regarding the relay fix - can anyone come up with part number, schematic, or just specific how-to for this one? I am in a knuckle busting mood this week - new throttle cable, new oil pressure sending switch, Piers turbo boots,, and generally neatening up a lot of wires and stuff...

 

Try These:

http://dodgeram.info/tsb/recalls/819.htm

http://dodgeram.info/tsb/1999/cust_notice_820.htm

 

i added the relay kit that connects the headlights to the batteries

will that solve the problem ?

 

Yepp, that is the fix for it. It takes the load off the switch and dinky little wiring that Dodge put in. The result is the switch only activates the relays to supply power to the headlights. So there for it isnt under a load anymore, and runs much cooler.

 

Adding headlight relays is a good idea. I measured the voltage at the headlight with them on. There was a 1.5 volt drop compared to the battery. After adding the relays there was only a .2 volt drop and the headlights were noticeably brighter.

 

Any way to know if this affects the 3/4 ton Rams?

 

I'm pretty sure the headlight thing is a problem on all the second gen trucks 1500-3500.

 

The weather strip seal on the cowl that seals to the back of the hood can fall of and lay right on the turbo. All most every truck i have seen that strip is loose i throw them away or screw it down.

 

Unless the 2nd gen is a lot different from any other truck I've seen, the tail light/trailer wiring is on a separate terminal on the headlight switch from the headlights. That's the one that smoked on my 1st gen. Are you guys installing a relay for the tail lights and trailer lights too or is that still running off the HL switch? Those trailer/chicken lights can draw a lot too unless you have all LED.