This is my 1st post so I hope all is correct. My 03 Dakota blows the ignition relay fuse's in the cab, and sometimes the ign. relay fuse under the hood. Never both at the same time but sometimes it's the the one in the cab fuse panel, sometimes the one in the engine compartment fuse panel. This is the weird thing, it only happens with the truck running while adjusting the tilt steering up or down. A little scarry when you're going down the road and while adjusting the tilt, the motor stops. Anyone know anything about this???????????

Jim

 

Hmm....sounds like a short inside the column to me. As to actually fixing it.... (This is where we curse the air bags)

 

Dakota's with tilt steering sometimes have problems like this with the wire harnesses under and around the ignition switch getting chafed and shorted out or pins pulling out of the plastic molex harness connectors.

You will need to remove the knee bolster panel under the dash and get under there with a good light and move the tilt steering up and down and see if you can find and fix the problem. It would probably help to remove the steering column covers too, so you can see the entire harness.

Jimmy

 

Jimmy, and magnethead, Thanks for the response. I did reach in around the column and moved the wires I could feel but nothing happened. As soon as I hit the tilt lever the motor quit. Obviously another blown fuse. I am going to try removing the panels and see if I can see anything better. Thanks again for the imput. I'll let you know how it goes.

Jim

 

Did you actually tilt the column, or just rotate the lever? If #2, I'd look around those moving parts..