on a 98 dakota the headlights go out. when first turned on they work fine, but after a set amount of time, about 30 mins they turn off or even faster if the brights are on. the headligt switch in dash has been changed.
what should i begin looking at?
thanks
matt

 

is this another case of bad ctm?
thanks
matt

 

It's probably not the CTM. I don't have the wiring diagram for a '98 but at least '99 and '00 didn't feed the headlights through the CTM. That was a 2001 up change.

Do the lights come back on after a bit? I'm thinking you have a circuit breaker that is heating up and cutting out. Then after things cool, the lights come back on. It may be integral to the headlight switch.

You say you changed the switch though. Are you running the right bulbs in the headlights? Too many amps can cause the breaker to cycle.

 

On mine, a '99, the lights did the same thing,..
I replaced the combination lever for the bright lights
on the side of the colum & that solved my headlights going out.

 

when they go out, just play with the switch and they come right back on. before the switched was changed you would have to turn off the truck and turn it back on for them to work again. And again they go out faster with the brights on, they seem to be getting over loaded or to hot? i will have to check the bulbs to see if they are correct. the lights were ordered online a couple years ago through autolights.com i believe.
thanks
matt

 

Yep, if I played with the lever, on-and off a few times, it would keep the headlights on. But, it got worse over time. It had nothing to do with the headlight switch down by your left knee on the dash, it was the stalk on the colum. Auto zone or pep boys had them,..
Can't remember which one. It was under 40 bucks I believe. Pretty easy to change-out
also.

 

i tried playing with the stalk on the column when they went off this weekend and it didnt help any. the actualy light switch had to be turned off and back on for the lights to come back on. should replace the switch again?
thanks
matt

 

I'd start checking all your connections 1st.
From the light sockets, to the wires, to the plugs.
Then, the socket where the plug plugs into the light-switch.
Look for burnt wires. Then, I would replace the switch again.
But i'd bet there's a problem around where the wires go into
the socket for that switch or, inside the socket it self. You
could have it slightly melted inside there do to a short or heat
build up. But mine, was the multi-function switch. It could still
be that.