how long has he had that remote starter and alarm hooked up?

edited to ask:

What did he power it with? What lines did he splice to get power to it?

 

Roommate bought it with all the bells and whistles 4 years ago. He's made no changes to it since. I have no idea how it is set up and I seriously doubt he has any idea either.

 

the lights are on a constant power circuit, and so would a remote start and alarm be powered.. I was asking because, if the splice wasn't soldered (which it likely wasn't), it is a good place to fail..

before I'd go pulling that switch out, and this is just me I guess, but I'd be poking around in the harness behind the dash looking for black tape or plastic splicing gadgets..

If your fella hit it with his foot or some such, or just because a un-soldered connection is destined to fail, it could have done just that.. Water in the lights WOULD have caused a short which SHOULD have blown your fuse if it infiltrated the circuit.. I'm thinking the fuse is much likelier to go than the switch- but as it has already been said (and not that I know this, but I trust the source) the switches are weak..

Still, I'd fish around in that harness under the dash to see if there is anything amiss. It stands to good reason that a person would cut the lines of a constant source power to feed something else, and pigtail them in with the new gadget..

see where I'm coming from?

 

I'll take a flashlight out and peek. It's dark out now, so it may be hard to give it a thorough look.

 

if'n the switch is bad, it 'could' smell bad.. like electrical burn.. not like

Also, ask him if he smelled electrical burn when it happened? Even if it happened with him not in the truck (it is a constant source), the smell could still have been there when he opened the door.. If those points failed with him in there, he should have smelled something burning/melting, even if only briefly..

 

No bad smell.

Checked under dash. On the far right side under steering wheel, I see a pink plastic box labeled aux. wire harness port with wires leading away. Attached to the steering column, I see a shock sensor ziptied to it with more wires leading away. On the far left, I see a large white plastic receiver many little connectors with pretty colored rainbow wires.

No exposed wires, no evidence of melting, corrosion or anything disconnected.

 

Hopefully, somebody will be along shortly that can help you out.. It's over my head now.. This baby's whooped me..

 

Check the headlight switch for god sakes.

 

zman, I have switch housing undone and pulled out of dash, and can see the connectors, but cannot reach my hand in to remove the larger one. I asked a while ago if there was a way to remove connectors given the lack of slack in wires to pull switch out. I have not gotten a response yet. I keep re-reading manual steps (the diagram shows that the wires should be longer to allow me to pull switch out further), and am googling youtube videos. I am about ready to attempt removing bottom panel in hopes of better access.

I would love to test the switch on my roomie's damn dodge if I could figure out how to disconnect it... seeing that he has MY truck at work now until his truck is fixed.

 

If you have the switch pulled away from the dash some, the plug to it is right on the back of it.