Hello. I have 2001 Dakota. 3.9 engine 5 speed. regular cab.
Just so you know, this is my very first dodge. I bought it about a week ago and I'm still getting all the issues fixed.I used the truck last night an for the first time after dark. All the lights work, just not the dash lights nor the heater/ac lights. also the headlight switch light wasn't on. I checked the fuse and found it was blown, replaced it and it went again. I started checking online to see if I could find the problem. Someone said it could be the aftermarket radio. I pulled and disconnected it. I think that may have been the problem. I'm not for sure what it was. I also have the instrument cluster out now but I don't know what wire/power/pin that feeds the cluster to see if all is good there. I ordered a headlight switch and it should be here tomorrow. I rechecked the fuse socket and I get 12 volts on one side now when I rotate the dimmer off no power/ dimmer on 12 volts. What kind of continuity should I have on the side of the fuse socket?
Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. If I'm in the wrong spot, Sorry.

 

Welcome to the Forum Rusty..

Did the previous owner use a wire harness for the new radio that connects to the aftermarket radio and plugs into the OEM radio harness in the dash or did they cut into the OEM harness and hardwire the new radio? If they used the matching harness there are two illumination wires on it, one is orange and the other is orange with a white stripe. In the factory radio harness in the dash there is an orange wire and a black wire with a yellow stripe. The orange wire is your dash lights/dimmer circuit, the black/yellow is the parking light circuit. No matter how the radio is installed, be sure all of the illumination wires are insulated and taped up/capped off so they can not short out against the case of the radio. That may have been the cause of the dash light short all along. Check the wiring behind the radio very carefully, it is the much more likely problem than the cluster or headlight switch.

Jimmy

 

I'll check the wiring today. I do have the radio out, and yes it is a butchered install. Someone had installed an amp and junk under the seat. I pulled all that out and I'm going back to a basic setup. it looks like all the speaker wires has been replaced with heaver wire . That is some else to track down today. On a side note, I got the bright idea of taking the headlight switch apart cleaning and greasing it. There is not much inside these things. If you decide to do this, do it in and enclosed area. It has steel ***** that are spring loaded.
Guess why I'm waiting new switch!?
Dave

 

I have Instrument lights! The orange/white stripe was just lying in the dash and with all its copper uncovered about 1/2 inch was the culprit. I cut it the end off and taped it up. I'm not sure what else to do with it. The light switch came in and I installed that. It didn't look quite right because it seemed to be a dark blue, not black as the original. Luckily, the switch panels are interchangeable. I changed it new to old and it looks right now. One small note. Someone had used wire nuts to tie in the speaker wires I couldn't figure out why the door speaker was not working. when i undid the wire nuts I found the wires going to the speaker, one was stripped for a connection, the other was not. So I stripped wire put everything back where it was supposed to go. So now I have Cluster lights and a Radio!
Thank you all for the help on this part of the truck project. I will have more questions, but not for this particular thread.
Dave

 

Glad to know you got it fixed.

Jimmy