Get a wiring diagram & look for common routings for the circuits.Good place to start- check the headlamp switch - it is common to both. The wire for the interior lights is separate from the rest of the harness (if I remember correctly).There is also a separate ground wire that goes to the body/frame of the switch, and you can see the rotate-on contacts for the dome lights mounted external to the switch unit, by the dash lamp rheostat and nearest to the ****. The separate ground wire to the metal switch mount bracket is there for the dome light.

Good Luck

 

I pulled the switch, the separate ground wire is in tact and connected well.. tore out the dash.. no melted wires, grounds all appear to be good. I'm thinking about just giving up on this. Only way to get the ignition illumination off is to pull the middle relay/whatever from the fuse block.I'd take it to the dealership and let them deal with it.. but I just can't afford it.

 

I noticed the door buzzer didnt' buzz with key in ignition and door open.. so I took another look at the door switches and found this on the drivers side:


Reconnected, and door buzzer works now. Both of those lights are still stuck on.

Is there supposed to be a matching black wire connected to the passenger side too? I was under the impression there was only supposed to be one wire. I cannot find a loose wire on the passenger side for the life of me.

Passenger side:

 

Sorry for another post, but I went out and gave it one more look around and started pulling carpet back a bit and looking at the wiring behind it.. everything in the truck looks normal aside from a 12gauge yellow wire I found that runs from the dash down to the passenger floor through a fuse, then across to the drivers side, and it looks to be broken. Here are pictures.. my question, is this something that could be causing this?

The torn cable, looks like it used to connect to *something*


it and a big black (ground?) wire run all the way over to the passenger side:


Could this wire be the problem? Where is it supposed to go, or is it the remains of some amp that was hooked up or something? I see nowhere to connect it.. lol Fuse tested good.

Wires on the passenger side go through a hole behind the dash up into it.. but I can't find anywhere where they come out to the engine bay.

 

Anyone know what those two wires running across the cab are for? I'm thinking I'm going to fix the mechanical issue, piece the truck back together, and have the dealership do it. Anyone know the going hourly rate at the dodge dealership for electrical diagnostics/troubleshooting?

 

One last bump for any ideas before I put it all back together and start saving for the stealership.. hah

 

The interior lamp wires never leave the cab of the truck - You need to get a wiring diagram to find out what the routing is & where the splices are, in order to isolate where the short is. Ask around - someone out there has got to havetheservice manual in .pdf format. I would not be surprised if it was in the section of the harness that runs back to the headliner lamp - just an educated guess. If I remember right, it runs near the fuse block, down behind the kick panel, and continuesunder the edge of the carpet, near the sill plate to the rear of the cab, and then up the b-pillar by the rr speaker to the roof. The harnesscan sometimes get a trim screw run thruit by accident, or get chaffed on the rough edge of a body panel. Try to find where thereturn wirejoins the harness under the dash, and cut it - what's the worst that could happen, you have to repair where you cut? If the problem goes away- judge by the underdashlamp& illum ignition - that is your problem wire, don't try to fix it, just cut the other end off at the light & splicea new wire. At some point it becomes more time, money,and mentally economical to simply cut the offending wire at the light, and run a new wire to the door switch, splicing in a second wire to run to the other door.

Good Luck -