Hello all. I'm new here. I'm having a problem with my wife's 2002 Dodge Durango SXT. She came home from work last night and told me that it started making a clicking noise then the dash lights went off. First thing I checked was the tail lights.

Not working. So I pulled the fuse. Didn't look blown, but put a new one in anyway. Still no dash, tail, or park lights. Ok, I started thinking that it's got to be the relay then. Pulled the horn relay out and just switched the two relays around. Still no lights. I noticed that the fog lights won't come on either. What the hell is wrong with this thing?

I am mechanically inclined but I'm not an electrician or much of a Dodge man either. I can't seem to find the answer anywhere, and just stumbled on to this site. Hopefully somebody here has had this problem before, or knows what it is so that I can get this fixed without having to pay those bandits at the stealership or garage. Thanks in advance! ...Joe

 

sounds to me like the CTM is out, do the wipers work ok, what about the door locks? or the interior lights? just about all of these things are controlled by the CTM (ALOT is controlled by this unit), so when a bunch of seemingly unrelated systems start acting up, the ctm is the normal culprit (it controls the headlights, fog lights[so that the highs and fogs wont be on at the same time] and the tails and dash lights) if you buy a new one it NEEDS to be programed to your truck and its features by the dealer, make sure to bring your key fobs with you so that the dealer can program them to the new unit

 

Thanks for the reply! The wipers, interior lights, and door locks work. What is the CTM, and where is it located?

 

Could the headlight switch be the culprit? If so, how can I tell? This damn thing is making me nuts! Thanks guys. ...Joe

 

are the brake lights not working, or is it only the tails?

i read it as the brake lights werent working either, if the brake lights are working then yes, the switch is a possible culprit too,

the CTM is located in the driver side kick panel
http://www.mediafire.com/file/kwmwzuvymmf/2002 Durango Owner ManualCTM.pdf

directions should be in there


any chance you can give an area of the dashboard where the clicking sound came from???

 

The brake lights do work as well as the turn signals. It still has headlights, but no park, tail, or fog lights. I didn't hear it make any clicking so I can't say for sure, but she says it sounded like it was coming from the instrument cluster because the instrument cluster flashed on for maybe one second then went off. This clicking noise continued for maybe six or seven miles because she said it made the clicking noise almost all the way home like it was trying to turn the lights on or something. It must have quit because I couldn't hear it when I was trying to diagnose what the problem was. I sure appreciate the help trying to figure this thing out. Man, I'm really hating Dodges right now! ...Joe

 

ok well with it being just the tails out (sorry i misunderstood at first) i would start tracing wires and look for a loose ground or a broken wire in the wire harness going to the back, if you have a trailer plug back there that is aftermarket i would check those connections, its sounding to me more like a loose wire/plug or connection now than the CTM (this will save you lots of $$$$$$)

 

I hope that it doesn't turn out to be that CTM. How much are they, around $300 or more? It doesn't have a trailer plug or anything like that. The dash, park, tail, and fog lamps won't work. Everything else works, brake, turn signal, hazards. I'll buy whatever part I need to fix this, but I just don't want to spend money and then still not fix the problem since they don't take electrical parts back once they've been installed.

With the headlights being the only thing that is currently working off of the headlight switch, and from digging around some more on the internet, it seems that the headlight switch just might be responsible, but I'm just not completely sure. So....it has to be one or the other then right, either the headlight switch, or the CTM? .....Joe

 

if you have checked for a bad ground and not found one, i would then check to see if you have power to the headlight switch (it would seem to me like you do since you said the headlights go on) does the dimmer for the interior lights work (part of the headlight switch)
you are pulling out on the switch to turn the fogs on correct? (you would be surprised how many people dont do that ) and since it is only the tails and fogs i would be suspect that they might share a ground point that is loose/broken

 

I think you have a grounding issue or a bad head light switch.