dieselfreak21

Just picked up a new to me 14 Laramie HO with 62K on it. Previous owner worked in the oil fields so it has been all over the US including Canada and AK. They either cleaned the truck up very well or the owner kept his truck clean as I was expecting to find some ware but it is close to a new truck in side. The buttons on the steering wheel and the shifter don't work unless I press hard on them. It is pain in the butt when I'm manually shifting and it bounces off the rev limiter when I tell it to shift and doesn't. Cruise doesn't always engage and going through the menus I some time have to hit the button a few time. I have 12 charger R/T with all the same buttons with 40k on and don't have this problem. Is this just a 14 or Ram issue? I'm sure it isn't a warranty item any longer so if you have some input I would appreciate it. Love the truck other than this.

1-2-3

Probably just dirty down in there. My 12 with 140k +/- mils buttons work fine. I know what you mean. They make it real easy to drive with no feet. Not sure of spraying some contact cleaner in there will help or not.

dieselfreak21

Appreciate the feed back. I hadn't thought about contact cleaner. It is possible to get at the switches. Only had the truck 2 weeks so haven't investigated if I can get the circuit boards with out pulling the air bag.

1-2-3

Just a thought driving in this morning. On my 04 the cruise didn't work. Wasn't used to having cruise so I didn't bother with it. On a long trip, the ac blower stopped. After a week or so messing with it, I figured out it was powered thru tiny contacts inside the ignition switch which had burned up. The contacts right next to it, which had burnt as a result of the blower contacts getting so hot was the cruise control connections. Replacing the ignition switch brought the blower and cruise back alive. A few months later I checked on it, and the blower contacts were starting to show signs of being overloaded so I added a relay to carry the blower load. I don't know if they are wired the same or if it has anything to do with the cruise anymore, but it's a thought.

Busboy

I would remove the blower motor and check to see if it moves freely, if it's burning contacts it will probably burn the resistor block too if there is not enough airflow over the resistor coils.

1-2-3

I tested the motor. It was fine. That was a year or so ago and it's still fine. if you do some looking around, it's a more common issue than you think. There's just not enough meat in the switch to handle the load. The motor and ac ran even better with it on a relay.

Busboy

Interesting, maybe I'll do the same mod.

1-2-3

Just cut the wire coming out of the switch to the blower. On an 04 or similar, It will be the one with the melted looking connection. Put it on one side of the coil of the relay. Ground the other side of the coil. Then run a good sized wire directly from the battery to one side of the normally open contacts and put the other side of the wore you cut that goes to the blower motor on the other side of the normally open contacts then find a place to stuff it away. Be sure to put a fuse at the battery.

1-2-3

This guy did a great job replacing his switch. I think he just replaced his switch, and did not add the relay.