Okay, to explain, I got rid of my 87 Dakota, because of it's MASSIVE fuel/air/electrical/plumbing issues...

Then I had a 94 with massive transmission issues.

Now I have a 98 SLT, and it's biggest kerfuffle is that it has an electrical issue that I cannot place. I work on furnaces and air conditioners for a living, so I know enough to at least come up with an idea of what should and shouldn't be happening.

The problem:

I have ZERO accessory power. That means, when the key is off: no dome lights, no ignition ring light, no interior lights, no cargo lights. When the key is in the accessory position: same as before, but no radio, no anything.

What I saw: They jumped the blue wire from the ignition harness, to the red wire on the white connector behind the fuse block. Also, when the four pin connector on the edge of the ignition switch is in line, the horn and buzzer cycle with the key in and such. I remove that, and it's all good and quiet.

The red wire on pin 1 has 12V to it, and the 4th pin has it as well. Nothing else has anything to it.

Any ideas???

 

Welcome to the forum Jason.

Do you have a wiring diagram for your '98?

The closest I have is an '00. The dome and cargo lamps share the same fuse, #12, in the junction block on the side of the dash. Check the fuse.

The cargo lamps should be fed "hot." The ground side is switched usually. Check for power to the bulbs - at least it will narrow down if it's the hot or ground that is bad. The dome/cargo lamps share the same ground too.

 

Yeah, I forgot to update this.

Here's the good news.

It was just one of those block fuses.

But the idiot who worked on this basically jumped from blue off the ignition switch (hot only in the on position), to the black and red wire behind the fuse box (which is supposed to be always hot!)

So a new fuse and life is good!

 

glad you updated here (I almost made a comment after seeing your facebook post)