Dodge Ram 2500 Truck specs:
-Year: 2002
-2nd Gen Ram 2500 5.9 /24Valve inline 6 Diesel,

Long story short:
My truck was all standard untill about two months ago, then I hit a 12 Pointer.
I dont have any pic's of my truck's front end being pretty much total, because my truck went straight to a shop to fix it all!

But instead of restoring it "factory",....well,....some things got changed.
-Ranch hand (Legend Series) front and rear full bumper replacements
-2" Level kit,
-4 X New rotors, calipers and brake pads all around,
-20" X 8.5" XD BLACK Rockstars with Toyo Open Country tires,- 33X12.50X20LT
-2 X Hella Rallye 4000 Euro Beam Lights,
-2 X Hella Rallye 4000 Cornering Beam Lights,
-2 X Hella Rallye 4000 Halogen Fog Lights,
-2 X Hella Micro FF Fog Lamp Kit - as extra backing up lights on rear Ranch Hand bumper.
This whole list,...several $GRAND all together was professionally installed/fixed at ONE shop!

Problem?
All of the aftermarket Hella lights are professionally installed, mainly due to the fact that I am just no good with electrics.
Electricity and me are kinda like "water and fire", so for my trucks safety (fire) and my own,.......I stay away from it.

However,....last night 12 hours after finally picking up my truck from the professional shop who fixed it all,
I went out to find me about a mile long straight flat stretch of dark road - free of any traffic - to AIM all the added lights.
After aiming the backing up light: Micro FF, Euro Beams and Cornering Beams,...turned all of them off and it was time to aim the fog lights.

The fog lights are wired in with the "factory" (pull out) switch.
After aiming them about 25 mins later,.....I could NOT turn them off anymore, no matter what I did.
-Pulling the relay - they stay ON - pushed the relay back in. / (the relay was at pulling time by the way BLOODY HOT)
-Taking the keys OUT of the ignition - they stay ON!
-Pulling the relay AND taking the keys out of the ignition - they STILL stay ON!
The ONLY way to get them off is either disconnect the batteries or CUT the wires of the new HELLA Rallye 4000 Halogen Fog Lights.

Can't really have disconnected batteries all the time,...so I had too CUT them off.
Even with reconnecting the batteries (only the NEGATIVE's) after 12 hours the little "fog light indicator" bottom left of factory switch STILL comes ON!

Another strange thing: disconnect both POSITIVES fog-lights are still ON,......reconnected them.
Disconnecting ONE NEGATIVE (either side-left or right batterie),...lights are STILL ON,........they ONLY go off when BOTH NEGATIVES are off?!?!?!?! WTF?

-The factory Fog Lights are 37 watt's, the Hella Rallye 4000 fog lights are 55 watt's.

Do you perhaps think that the relay need to be of a heavier caliber?
-Is there a way to measure the current flow through the relay?
If so,...how????

I know,....that I should go back to the SHOP that did it all and let them handle the prob,...but if it's just the relay,....I can replace that myself.
I'm just asking all of this to you Electric Specialists,.....so that I have something to say incase the professional SHOP doesn't want to corperate!,...................You know,....trying to blame it on my truck's AGE, MILAGE (110K) or factory wiring.
Where as,....I never had ANY probs with the electrical system before the 12 pointer hit!
Infact,....even with leaving my headlights ON all night,....my truck would still start in the morning,....no probs at all there!

Can someone explain ALL of this in PLAIN English???
Meaning without a whole bunch of electrical terminology!

Thanks in advance DF guys & girls!

Regards NICE_N_EEEZ

 

i can only think that the wireing may be touching something else thats giving it power

 

it sounds like someone at the shop scewed up. you should take it back to them and make them fix it.

 

First of all they shouldn't be wired through your stock switch. It's quite possible you screwed the switch and now the power is flowing through it at all times. The little fog light indicator makes me think this way

The ground wires deal I'm not sure on. They may have tied them together somehow. Not sure why though.

Def take it back. The headlight switches ain't cheap. They screwed it up they should have to replace that if it's bad now.

Wiring is hard to tell without actually looking at it

 

I would have to say hitting the buck must have pinched a few wires as they cross the front of the truck and didn`t quite cut the wire or insulation. But, after running some current through them it finished melting the insulation and is now backfeeding somewhere that is hot all the time. I say this because if the switch was bad pulling the relay should cut the power no matter what (unless of course it`s backfeeding). I`m just trying to think of a constant hot wire that would run near the fog lamp wiring... *scratches head* - maybe I`ll have to consult a couple wiring diagrams.

EDIT: BTW two 55w bulbs pull about 9 amps, relays are able to handle 30 amps... Speaking of which it`s hard to fry the switch itself since all it does is ground the relay... Adding load on the system would only fry the relay, not the switch.

 

+1 blackskyracing

It almost sounds as if they cross wired your lights somewhere so there is a backfeed problem. This would explain the removing of both grounds to kill power and your power wires do nothing. This is easily done if they only used black wire for the install.

They may have even bridged the wires wrong at the switch.

 

95RAM360,
Thanks for your quick reply.

Do you happen to have any ideas,....on where it's touching?
I mean,....touching NEAR the fog lights,...or does distance not matter?

Thanks in advance once again!

 

crazzywolfie,

Thanks for your quick reply!

You got that RIGHT alright,....someone DID screw up in the shop.
I sure as heck ain't gonna pay for a NEW switch THEY fried!

Thanks in advance once again!

 

BlueBeast2,

Thanks for your quick reply.

Why shouldn't they wire through the stock switch?
Is the wattage or AMP's of the new lights to high?

What does a new factory replacement switch exactly run for? $$$

The Low beams and high beams are still working on the same switch, and CAN be turned on and off.

it's only the fog lights that won't go off,.....is the factory switch then still fried,....or does it become a dif prob then?!?!?!

Sorry for all the maybe kinda dumb ELECTRICAL questions?!?!?!?
I just don't know anything about all this stuff.

Thats WHY I handed my truck over to the "PRO's"!

Plus I'm kind of pissed at that SHOP,....I mean this job was a BIG JOB,....a whole NEW front end / coolers / engine parts / Optima's / steering/ ect, ect, ect the list just dont end,....and then some more of that list on the top of this page,.....all together 5 figures worth on work!

I kinda EXPECTED a bit more "Professional" quality from that shop,..seeing that they got a REALLY GOOD name!
Like an "all systems go" kinda quality, straight out the shop,....for THAT kind of money it SHOULD,.....if you know what I mean.

Thanks in advance once again!

 

Blackskyracing,

Thanks for your reply,

Is there a way to TRACE this "backfeed" problem?
Will a Multimeter do?

Thanks in advance once again!