I had a very interesting experience this last couple of weeks. My truck blew the number 12 10amp fuse which has a special holder so when you pull it the fuse comes out but stays in the fuse box (in dash on left side). The fuse is used to disconnect all circuits that remain active when the vehicle is off (used when shipping and or storing to avoid battery drain). I replaced the fuse and the number 5 5amp fuse blew a day later which controls the illumination through the variable resister on the light switch. Replaced it and then the number 1 10amp fuse blew which is the illumination fuse. When that one blew I replaced it and that is when things got interesting. All these blew individually over several days. I would turn the ignition key on but no lights or guages on the instrument panel yet it would start ok. If I turned on the parking lights the instrument panel would come on with all of the guages working. Two completely different circuits. The dome light would stay on all of the time unless I would turn on the dome light and then the map lights would come on and the dome light would go out. Turn off the dome light and the map lights go out and the dome light comes on. Turn on one map light and the dome lights dims 50 percent. Turn on the other map light and the dome light goes out.

Well it was time to do some investigating. I dropped the dash assembly and found that the harness was badly burnt just behind and below the instrument cluster. It had burnt through the square black plastic housing that the harness runs through. I found that the circuit was the illumination circuit. From fuse box to joint connecter #5 the insulation was burnt away from pin to pin. Then from Joint connector #5 to connector C203 it was burnt half way and distorted the other half. I spent 11 hours with the dash on my floor in the house cleaning, cutting and replacing sections of wire. When I was done I did not find the short. I went further up stream on the illumination circuit (pink wires) and found the short just shy of connector C347. Behind the lower left kick panel at the drivers feet there is a sizeable hole in the metal wall. The harness just shy of connector C347 worked its way through the hole and ended up laying accross the stop for the parking brake. Everytime I set the parking break the pedal would come back to the stop and hit the harness. Eventually the tape and the insulation on the pink wire (22 guage) wore through and that is what caused the problem. I cut and spliced a new piece in and put the truck back together. Finished at 2 o'clock this morning. Hooked the batteries up and everything works fine.

What ****** me off is that I can get Ford and GM connector pins but with Chrysler I have to buy the $900.00 underdash wiring harness. Instead of a chop job of cutting, soldering, and heat shrink I could have gone from connector to connector. I wrote to Chrysler and they said it was cost prohibitive to market every little piece. I wrote back and suggested that they sell the rights to an aftermarket company that makes money on Ford and GM pins and then collect royalties but no answer. I have checked around at places that carry automotive electrical items (ie...auveco, etc) and I keep getting the same response. Chrysler will not cooperate on their electrical connector pins. Anyone know different?

 

my headlight switch melted on me a few months ago. i went to napa and they had the switch and the harness. dont know if they would have your parts but i would try if i were you.

 

My headlight switch burnt out also and burned the connector up also, Your problem sounds a little strange. I am going to check my wiring were you are talking about.

 

What a deal, I'm definitely going to check and see if my ebrake is rubbing on anything.
Thanks for the heads up.

 

While you are into your electrical system, be absolutely certain that you have good solid grounds from the negative terminal on your batteries to the frame, the body, and the engine. Some rigs will drop a ground, feed back through the wiring harness and ground out under the dash, and the result is fried wire.

 

That job sounds like it was a real headache! I think I will check my ebrake as well and make sure nothing funny is going on.
Thx for the heads up.
Matodor

 

halerazor the pins in the headlamp dimmer switch are of the large standard size which are readily available. These are normally 16 guage or larger. When you look at the majority of the wiring in the vehicle it is 18 to 22 guage and the pins in the connectors are made differently than the industry standard. GM's female connectors are actually very similar yet Chrysler made theirs just different enough that you can't use the GM 280 series tangless pins which are readily available. Even the chrysler dealers keep old harnesses to be able to cut off connectors and splice them onto vehicles that come in with the damaged harnesses. I used less than $10.00 in wire, solder, and heat shrink but if I had paid to have it done it would have been several hundred dollars just because of labor which is still less than the $900.00 for a new harness plus labor!

 

One other thing. Once again I have found the Chrysler Maintenance manuals that I bought with the truck were priceless. I absolutely loved the wiring section. I thought it was done very well and all of the connectors are listed in a sperate section with all pins clearly marked as well as location of the connectors and a section on splices and their locations. That saves a tremendous amount of time trying to locate these items. Without the manual I would have disassembled much more than I did. If you are in the market for a new Dodge truck spend the extra $100.00 and use the coupon in the back of the owners manual and buy the manuals. If you just do minor maintenace buy the manual and read the section that pertains to the area of the problem that you are having. In many cases you can observe the person/shop doing the repair and determine if he is more or less following the correct procedures. I have yet to find anyone including dealships that changes the pinon seal on the rear differential correctly. You have to take a torque reading of the force it takes to rotate the differential at the pinon/yoke nut. Then remove it, remove the yoke, change the seal, reinstall the yoke and nut, torque to 440 foot pounds and then check the rotation torque and tighten in 5 pound increments until the reading is the same as before you disassemble it. Everyone I talked to just takes off the nut and then reinstalls it with an air ratchet. No idea if it is too loose causing damage, or too tight damaging the bearing and also not knowing if the bearing is seated correctly.

My manuals paid for themselves the first time I had to repair my truck!

 

Agreed, the Chrysler manuals are a deal at any price.
The generic one year fits all manuals are worthless for electrical.