hello, i am currently a ford tech but worked chrysler for ten years, if a tipm ipm or fcm sees a fault in a hi-side driver circuit(such as a headlight) it will shut it down. on subsequent key cycles it will work the circuit until a fault is seen (why it goes on and off) after reaching a certain count it will permenantly disable the circuit until either the tipm,ipm,fcm(varies by model and year) is reset or replaced, if a fault does exist resetting it will only work for a short perioid of time. this was seen repeatedly with trailer lamp circuits on the dodge rams until a new program came out upping the amperage limits before setting a fault.

 

I have a 2006 dodge 1500 4x4 5.7L. my passenger low beam quit working about a 2 weeks ago. I decided I was going to put in a set of HID's instead of replacing the factory bulbs. So i was testing the leads to find out which wire was low, high, and ground. Upon testing these I found that I had no power to the passenger low beam at the headlight connector. Installed a new H13 bulb thinking that the TPIM would need some form of resistance to stop the curcuit from tripping (there are no fuses or relays for the headlights. Fully controlled by the TPIM, the curcuits for the headlights are on the underside of the TPIM) and still no low beam. So I took my concern to my local Dodge dealership and talk to the shop foreman. After a lot of twisting his arm and showing him that I had already aquired the full wiring schmatics/diagram he advised me the test the passenger low beam wire from the tpim to the connecter (am going to do this tonight) and see if there is an open curcuit. Shop foreman does not believe this is going to be the case, he believes that the tpim is going to require replacement. After more arm twisting he explained to me that this isn't that uncommon of an occurance. So after spending 30 minutes talking with him this is what he believes happend.
My passenger side low beam filament broke (burnt bulb). This caused a power surge in the system that basiclly fried the tpim passenger low beam curcuit (due to the fact that there is no fuses or relays in the headlight system.
In conclusion. $20.00 headlight burnt out causing a $850.00 plus failure because a dodge engeneer decided that fuses and relays were no longer a vital safety factor in this electrical system.

I am going to take my fight to Dodge Canada and see what happens.

 

New news for passenger low beam headlight not working. I went to a different dealership last night (I know the new service manager there) and we began the process to see if dodge canada would pay to replace the TPIM in my 06 1500 4x4 sport. At that very moment his electrical tech happend to walk by and overhear our conversation and asked if he could see the truck. He plugged in his scanner and "flashed" the TPIM with the latest software updates available for the truck. Check engine light came on after and he cleared all the codes. Good news, passenger low beam headlight is now working. The tech tells me it souldn't happen again (crossing my fingers) because the old software would tell the TPIM to disable that curcuit after so many high current failures (due to a burnt out bulb). Hope this can help someone else. On the downside he said if it does happen again and they cannot reset the TPIM with the scan tool the it will need to be replace.
So in conclusion - This does not seem to be an uncommon problem and "flashing" the TPIM with an updated software does work in most cases. In my opinion if this happens to you take the vehicle directly to the dealership and talk directly to a shop foreman (or the tech if they will let you) because most of the service advisor probably do know no of this problem and could lead to a breakdown in comunication between you, the service advisor, and the tech.
Good luck, and I hope your fix was as simple as mine

 

Thanks jeepfixitman & pryc83, this is good info to have for WHEN this happens again.

I respect those of you with the time and knowledge to find the "secrets" behind these "common" problems in trouble shooting vehicle malfunctions, and I value the fact that you share this info.

No, my fix was not as simple as yours. It was a $900+ bill to make one $20 headlight work on a 3 year old vehicle. I'm not even sure what or if they replaced really, they just called it a computer.

If you or anyone does take this or similar issues up with Dodge, I'd be very happy to hear about it!

Thanks,
LDE

 

Thanks guys!!! I have a 2007 2500 diesel...

Hopefully this will save me a bundle...

Also, is there an aftermarket 'computer' that can replace this $800 unit for less money/more durability?

And, I was told that the PIAA bulbs/other bulbs can bring this on as well? In my case, I bought some mid-range bulbs (sorry, don't recall which ones, they were a bit less than the PIAA ones), and within 2 weeks, I had a daytime running light out on one side, a low beam on the other, and back to the first side for the headlight that was out!!! Pretty funny, really.

Then, 2 weeks in to the PIAA bulbs, and the driver's side low beam is gone 'for good'. Quite the ordeal.

Again, thanks! I'll go to the dealer with these ideas and see what I get!

 

I have the same problem with my passenger side headlight, have you guy found a remiedy yet?
Please let me know. Dont have 850 bucks just laying around

 

I have a 06 2500 cummins mine is the high beam on the right side thats all so far. My thing is that my dad has a 97 my mom a 02 my brothers a 04 the other a 06 we have all had trouble with headlights in one way or another what is dodge doing to fix these problems?

 

ya. I have '04 1500 5.7 and have same issue. passenger side low beam does not work. tried new bulbs and even switched bulbs. wires and connectors look good. Not sure what to do. please help !!!!!

 

Check the bottom side of your fuse panel under the hood. They had a common tendenancy to corrode and cause intermittent electrical problems. If not that, the you should check your cluster.

 

And the 04 does not have a TIPM so that helps you out a lot