i have a 1997 Dakota and Recently all of my running lights have gone out. Headlights still work, brake lights still work, and turn signals still work. But my gauge cluster , a/c controls, front and rear running lights do not work. I have checked the multifunction switch for the lights, i tested it with a voltmeter and its working correctly. But, at the lights, i am getting nothing. i was wondering if anyone has encountered this problem before or might have any ideas as to what might be the issue. i have not had time yet to pull off the dash and look behind it.

 

ive kinda had the same problem.....at night i have to keep my steering wheel all the way up for my low beams to stay on......my fogs, turn signals, and high beams still work while the wheel is down.....i think its the fatory switch in the dash but im not sure and ive looked into it b4 and came up with nothign....i guess were just hassleing with a dodge's wireing

 

i replaced the factory switch in the dash, and it didnt change a thing. so its not that....

 

There has to be a short somewhere. Dumb question but did you check the fuses, at both the interior fuse box and the Power Distribution Center under the hood by the battery? Do you do any towing or have a trailer light harness or fog lights installed? There might be shorted wires on the trailer harness connections if you have one or a problem at the fog lamp connections. I would check every light and bulb wiring harness/socket on the exterior of the truck and I would start with the connections and wiring at the license plate lights. I have heard before of those going bad shorting out and blowing the illumination fuse. What happens with the lights that don't work if you turn on the bright lights? The illumination circuit runs through the multi-function switch too and it might be bad causing the lights not to work. That's probably not likely but still is a possibility.

 

welll....i jsut recently replaced almost every outside lite on ym truck(headlights,turn signals, side markers, fogs, tails) adn my sides adn tails are LED so my truck blinks faster then norm.....and my truci have foglamps on the bumper but there werent there when i bought it 5 months ago adn just now started to have this problem...the foglamps i have now worked fine and then i started to have teh problem......

 

i have gone through and checked every light and every fuse, no fuses are blown, and every light socket appears to be completely normal, the brake lights also work with the lights "on", i have volt tested everything. i know there is a short, and so far i haven't been able to find it. The only other option i can see is to pull off the entire dash/instrument cluster assembly and check the wiring behind it. but with school and work, time is pretty tight, and that is pretty time consuming, but it really is the only other place i can think of that would have a short effecting the entire electrical system.

 

be careful when removing the cluster, especially with the manual select, there will be a rope with a sensitive clip if that breaks you can say bye to seeing the gear, hah. 50 bucks to replace the selector though...

 

Personally I would not suspect anyhthing behind the dash at this point. It's a possibilty but not a likely cause IMHO. I'm not sure if your truck has one but if you have a Central Timer Module it could be the cause of the problem. All the lights, blinkers, radio, and just about all of the electrical functions in later Dakota's are controlled by the CTM. I just don't know if a 97 had one. My Haynes and Chilton books don't show it. YOu could call the dealer parts dept to find out. I'd also get a Haynes book or some kind of shop manual and check the multifunction switch for proper continuity before removing the dash panel. You could take it to Autozone or a parts store to have the PCM scanned for trouble codes.