The parking lights, turn signals, and brake lights all have their wiring in close proximity in the tail lights and use the same bulbs too, so it's not surprising that an issue with one caused problems with another.

 

Well I spoke too soon. Lost the dash again and the running lights. Turn signal sockets and bulbs looked fine, however the mini lamps for the running lights on the side were both black. Replaced them and another dash fuse......about an hour they lasted, if that. Back to square one......

 

Do you have a trailer wiring harness? Water got in the plug of mine once and kept blowing the fuse.

 

Yeah I do "that_guy," and the rubber protector has been off. We did JUST go through a pretty icy past few weeks lately and all of that has melted. I took a hair dryer to the trailer hitch socket for a bit.

 

Bimmer, did you ever solve this issue? I am having almost the exact same problem with my 1998 Durango.

 

hey rdcragg !

-- This thread is well over a year old...so you may not receive any answer from the original poster. However, I wanted to mention something that may (or may not) help.

First of all, yes I've just registered and this is my first post on dodgeforum -- but I still think you *might* benefit from what I have to offer (who knows?) - soo....

I just bought a used 2002 Durango recently myself. There were some initial problems with the car but I was already aware of them at the time I bought it (i do my own mechanic work and have fixed them already). -- One problem I discovered a bit later however involves trying to 'program' additional key FOBs (called "remote entry transmitters").

Now I've been tracking down a solution for the problem I'm having with that FOB issue...and in the process I happened to find a discussion in the DodgeTrucks/Dakota section here on the website. Ok...so I've just this evening read thru the other thread I mentioned...and I'm thinking there may be a crossover tie-in here with us Durango owners.

--- Anyway, just to cut to the chase... it seems that several Dakota owners have experienced electrical issues very similar to what's been reported here with our Durangos. --Now that doesn't surprise me of course because the Dakotas and Durangos share several common systems/subsystems between them.

Now I don't mean to suggest that there's an automatic and direct correlation with your specific electrical problem in this instance - but there's at least some non-zero possibility of a link.

In the Dakota Thread, a number of folks have isolated their own issues to problems relating to the CTM (Central Timer Module). That module controls a number of electrical functions such as interior dome lights, dash lights, turn signals, key-fob programming <wink>...etc. etc.
-----------------------------
edit: I've since discovered another thread here relating to CTM electrical symptoms and issues in the Durango section here!!

So I would suggest you at least scan over a few pages of those threads and consider if there's possibly any clue(s) there which may be worth looking into for a tie-in to your problem. It can't hurt..and if for no other reason, it might be good thing to do just for general awareness because the Dakotas & Durangos, Ram Trucks etc. all employ these "CTM" units nowadays for similar functionality.

Again, I don't want to have you or anyone else think I'm claiming to know what the true source of you problem is... it could easily prove to be one of several other possibilities (based only on your described symptoms thus far).

In any case, there are a number of posters (both here and elswhere) describing all manner of strange behaviors with interior/exterior lights, dash indicators, signals, chimes, door-locks, alarms etc. -- Today's vehicles are being controlled so much more these days through electronic-control modules. Because of that, such problems are VERY frequently directly related to the various CTM units in a wide range of vehicles (including connector corrosion, circuit board traces, deteriorated capacitors, and bad solder-joints etc).

So with that here's a couple of thread-links as I mentioned below for everyone's convenience.

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...knowledge.html
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/1st-gen...-question.html

Cheers!


P.S. --Just so you know, I've been doing my own mechanic work for decades. I've also been an industrial-electronics geeky-guy for what seems like forever! (i'm old, retired and senile now - lol) -- And lastly, I've got lots of grey whiskers on my chin from having faced countless situations requiring a start-from-scratch approach to researching, troubleshooting, and eventually solving a wide host of complex and tricky electrical/wiring issues. And yes, that includes often puzzling problems with cars, trucks, boats, and all sorts of other devices & equipment as well.