Hooking up to my lawn trailer the otherday I always check to see if the trailer lights work during the day by turning on the headlights. Upon doing so I saw the trailer lights did not come on. I then noticed the headlights and tailights on the truck were not working either. I checked the fuse panel and all were good. I checked the fuses in the engine compartment and those too were good. Is there some place I should start looking for the problem. The dinger comes on when I pull the light switch on but thats it. Brake lights work as do the turn signals. Truck is a 95.

Any help appreciated.

 

could be switch, i had a trailer with a short in it, dang hay livin rats, caused an over curent load on the switch and burnt it. went through two switches before figured trailer.

 

Thanks. Lights work fine when hooked to other truck though with no issues but I'll check the switch.

 

Well, at least you now know the problem is not in the trailer. Check that lightswitch.

 

My truck does the same when I hook up to a trailer with a short, a fuse under the hood drivers side will blow and cause these problems...maybe double check???? There are several fuses under there.

 

Check your wiring at the trailer plug for a short or pinched wire. Could be corroded or shorted at the truck connection.

 

Check to make sure you havent lost the ground to the lights. I lost it on mine and the lights from the cab back went out. Check for voltage at the rear light socket and establish ground with a multi tester. If you have battery voltage at the socket, then the ground is lost. Mine was corrosion at the grounding points. I ran new wire from the switch all the way back. Everything works fine now.

Good luck.

 

Well I put in the new switch. I now have headlights but no tail, park or dash lights. I noticed when I shut the light switch off the dash lights came on for a split second. I then pulled the switch out and before it got to the first position (park lamps) the tailights, dash lights and park lamps came on. As soon as I moved to the first position of the switch and the second position the tail, park and dash lights went out but head lights work. Don't know where to look now.

 

Anyone. I would like to get this solved before I put it up for sale.

 

Bad switch?

 

Switch is new.

 

All the more reason to suspect the sw. Check for power out of the sw going to the park lites. Also ck for a terminal pushed back inside the connx on the sw. If the connector is discolored (brown or blackened) it has melted internally and is insulating the terminal inside. If this is the case you'll need to replace the end of the harness. I've seen this MANY times.

 

Will do, thanks.

 

Can anyone tell me which connections on the switch are hot. My test light only show's 3 terminals. I also put back in the old switch and it does the same as the new one, headlights but no park or tail lights. I fear this thing is going to get over my head if it is not something simple like a switch replacement.

 

The light switch on the 2002 Dually we had sometimes wouldn't turn on the headlights unless you moved it back and forward between parking lights and headlights a few times. That would usually make the headlights come on. Sounds like you have the same situation, but worse. I would try another new switch, you can always take it back if it's not the switch. Also check the connector and wires like Busboy said. I had a problem that took me a month to find where my brake lights would work about 1/3 of the time. Turns out the wire that makes the brake lights come on in the connector to the brake light switch was loose/broken in the connector. I got a new connector with wires from the junkyard and spliced it in, problem solved.