Hey Everyone,

I'm having some electrical issues with my 2000 3.9L Dakota. Some of the symptoms are:

Headset turns off by itself/loses power
Door chime goes off when keys are in ignition but doors are closed, headlights are off, etc
Dome light comes on unless it is completely turned off, causing me to keep the dash lights very dim.

Any advice on where to start here?

Thanks!

 

Battery, battery connections and grounds.

 

Thanks for getting back to me jkeaton.

So I went to autozone yesterday and they tested the battery. It's 5 years old but showed 100%.

I recently changed my TPS sensor and had to disconnect the battery (electrical issues were present before this). It was a b**** to get the red ground off (bolt and connector rusted), but I managed to get the bolt off with WD-40 and pliers. When I put the bolt back on the red ground I used the reverse end that wasn't as corroded. The connectors are tight, so I know that's not the problem. Could it be the red ground connector needing replacement? Is this the first step I should take?

Thanks!

 

Red should be positive, not ground. Unless someone has replaced the cables with the incorrect colors at some point.

 

My mistake, I meant positive.

Why would that cause the chime to stay on though when the door is not ajar? And also turn the dome light on when only the dash is supposed to get brighter? The cigarette lighters always works by the way, I don't know if that helps give some insight.

Thanks!

 

I always coat everything with dielectric grease, on a toothbrush. Take a razor blade and split the red insulator jacket on the positive cable for an inch or two. See if the corrosion has traveled up the wire. If so, that could be the cause and you will need to replace that whole cable.