Headlight Switch

This look like your system? This is a '01 dodge dakota "headlight circuit" out of "mitchell i" it should show everything dealing with the headlamps. Check out the diagrams (Below). Please let us know what happens.

Do you see anything along the lines, in the diagram, that could be suspect? I have read, a good while back, somewhere in here (2carpros), another issue with a dakota with a "central timer module" issue (i don't remember the problem). It's shown in the top left corner of the diagram I also did a google search (and used images only. Sorta my favorite way to search!) To look around a bit for what the "ctm" looked like in a real photo, exactly where it is located, and how much one might cost

Hello, did you check the fuse circuit for voltage? Even if the fuse is good, if there is no voltage on the circuit, the circuit is dead. Did you check the wiring circuits at the headlamps? Violet wire is hot for low beam, red wire is hot for high beam, black is ground. If no voltage, backtrack the circuit. Possibilities-- headlamp switch-- dimmer switch--wiring circuit.

Welcome to the forum, your right, you have to do testing when the problem is ongoing. You can't test anything, when it is working correctly. The violet wire with white tracer carries voltage for the low beam circuit. There may be a multiwire connector under the dash, close to steering column, for circuits going to and from the steering column. If the problem occurs again, check for voltage on that wire. My first thought would be the dimmer switch? You may have it fixed?

When you had the wiring connector loose from headlamp switch, You should have used a jumper wire on the proper two terminals to see if low beams would work, with dimmer in low beam position. At the switch, red wire with lite green tracer is voltage, fuse protected, hot all the time. Lite green wire is circuit for low beam.

Hi:
It could be the switch. It's a cheap try, but if it doesn't work, you will need to checking wiring in the steering column or thehi / low beam switch itself.

Joe

It may be a short in the wiring harness or the headlights themselves you may hear clicking inside the truck when this happens and that is the circuit breaker in the switch doing that. So you will have to check for a short in harness. Check by battery if on that side as the acid may have eaten through harness due to age. Especially if harness goes under battery box.

Hi guys. I gotta butt in because this has been somewhat common. The hot switch is the major clue. Pull it out and inspect the terminals and the connector. I suspect you will find two blackened terminals. Resistance can develop on the switch's internal contacts or between the switch's terminals and the connector terminals. Either one will generate excessive heat that will migrate to the other one.

If you find that, replace the switch, and, most importantly, cut out the two blackened terminals and cut away the melted part of the connector body. Cut those two wires back about four inches. You'll feel that part of the wires will be stiff from being hot. Solder won't adhere to that.

Splice in four inches of new wire of the same gauge. Solder the splices and seal them with heat-shrink tubing. Never use electrical tape because that will unravel into a gooey mess on a hot day. You can use common crimp-on terminals to replace the two you cut off, but solder them too. Relying on just the crimp will usually result in another overheated connection in a few months. Plug those two terminals in one at a time by themselves. You do not have to replace the entire connector body and the other terminals.

Be aware that auto-resetting circuit breaker in the switch that HMAC300 mentioned can develop arced contacts that cause more trouble than they prevent. Any resistance will generate heat when current is flowing through it, and that heat is what makes the breaker trip, but in that case the heat is confined to the circuit breaker. The symptom will be flickering lights or lights that turn off for a few seconds up to a minute, then come back on again when the breaker resets, but usually there is not enough heat to make the entire switch feel hot.

Thanks cardiodoc