Long story short, I habe cab lights and under glove box lights, but my dash/guage lights quit. Headlights come on and off. Checked fuses. Checked everywhere Chiltons told me to. Could it be the headlight switch itself? Also, finding near impossible to find front grill piece that fits over passenger headlight. Blinker assembly I guess you could say. Anyone have a scrap truck parting out?

 

Well, it would help to know what year truck; wiring changed and so did the "headlight door" assemblies over the run of the Gen1 truck (plus some don't even notice what year they're posting in!)

But.

Item 0 - If you're having electrical problems, take that Chiltons (and a Haynes if you have it), take them into the field, douse them in kerosene or diesel, and set them afire. They'll shed a LOT more light on the problem that way ...

Then go online to Ebay, or over to Bishko (which also sells through RockAuto), and pick up the Factory Service Manual (depending on year, you may be able to download it from one of the Dakota forums on the web).

After that, you'll have a REAL troubleshooting guide, with REAL wiring diagrams, and the ability to trace out the problem.

THAT said - have you checked the bulbs, possibly by substitution with a new 194, and made sure they didn't just all die?

And for that grill piece, which is also known as a "headlight door" (WHY, I do not know!) - RockAuto will list them for several years. It's also known as a bezel.

RwP

 

Ah! Thanx for the info and help! It's a 94 Dakota SLT and I'll track down a service manual!

 

For the headlight door, RockAuto lists a few part numbers (different manufacturers): http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/d...dlamp+door,816

Due to the age, you MIGHT want to consider new composite headlights while you're in there; they're bound to be foggy and yellowed some.

They also have a headlight switch http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/d...mp+switch,4472 ... but again, before I ordered that, I'd check the wiring with a test light and/or multimeter to make sure it's a bad switch.

Looking at the stickies here, I'd also be sure to check Fuse 13 (4A) to make sure it didn't fail. Don't do it by the eyeball method, put a test light on both sides of it.

RwP

 

If you just need the headlight door and not all the reflectors, let me know. I bought the above that Ralph linked to, because I needed new reflectors...but I had already had a set of headlight doors painted. I moved all the reflectors over to my set. So, I have those above headlight doors without the reflectors, primed and ready for paint.

PS...While I have a 90, I swapped the front end to a 94, so it's the right parts...same as yours.

 

yeaj the only thing i need is the frame i guess you could say. 4 screws and comes right out after twisting the bulb sockets out. mine is cracked at the top so when it rains, i have to almost buy a new headlight bulb every time. i duck taped it and spray painted it to sort of seal it the best i could under an overpass hahaha held up so far. how much are you asking for it?

 

thanx for all your advice! fuse "looked" fine but nothing under test light. you nailed it on the head. traced the issue to a loose wire behind the ashtray and started working again.

 

Heh. Been tracking electrons for about 50 years now; started with gaseous state devices (aka "vacuum tubes").

Schematics and/or wiring diagrams help.

RwP

 

why the wire is connected to the cigarette lighter is beyond me lol the hot for the bulb itself runs to the lighter. oh well. lol

 

Actually, no, it doesn't.

However, they two are very, VERY close to each other.

Hrm ... 1994 ... Closest I have handy is 1995, but it shows them as separate circuits. A 20ga OR wire to the light and a 20ga BK wire from the light to a ground point; a 16ga RD/TN to the cigarette lighter, and a 20ga BK from it to the ground point.

RwP