Only have high-beams

DALE GHESQUIERERE

MEMBER
2000 DODGE DAKOTA
V6
4WD
AUTOMATIC
150,000 MILES

When I turn on my headlights, only the high-beams come on. The regular lights do not even come on. Plus, my dome-lights aren't working either. I just bought this truck. I took out the old (custom) radio and the headlight issue popped up. I put in a new radio, and the headlight issue fixed itself, but today the issue is back again. I do not know if the dome-lights/headlights are related, but there is some relation here with the radio in regards to my low beams/high-beams. Ever heard of this issue?

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,916 POSTS

Yup. Usually it is because someone wired the aftermarket radio incorrectly. To be specific, there is a tail light wire going to the radio to tell the display to dim at night when the head lights are turned on. There is also a dash light wire going to the radio from the dimmer rheostat to tell the display how much to dim.

To add to the confusion, there is no ground wire in the radio's plugs. The ground comes from the wire or braided strap bolted to the back of the radio. When uninformed installers search for a ground wire, they mistakenly find the tail light or dash light wire because they read such low resistance to ground through their many bulbs on those circuits. Using either of those wires for a ground wire shorts that wire to ground through the case of the radio.

The place to start is by unplugging the radio, then working on the lighting problems. Once those are solved, reconnect the radio, then see if any problems occur again.