I bought a new truck, and gave my 1998 ram 1500 laramie slt 5.9l to my 16 year old son. He was washing it, and thought it would be a good idea to wash under the hood. He says he let it cool before he washed it so he wouldnt lock the motor, and that he didnt hit any electrical components. It turns over and runs, But the cab lights and radio won't work. And the gauges are hysterically moving around. I think he blew some fuses on the engine compartment fuse box. any other things that could be broken to cause this?

 

i would disconnect the battery adn let it air dry over night see if it works might just have water in the fuse box...just a thought

 

This happened a few days ago. when he did this, he disconnected the battery washed it, let it sit for about an hour, connected the battery, and started it. It's still doing this. he's been out of a truck for a few days (I'm not letting a 16 year old drive without working gauges) i checked the fuse box and its dry as a bone.

 

Blow compressed air inside and around the power distribution block, top and bottom. Also may want to check around PCM connectors. Don'e know how you would wash an engine and not get electrical componenets wet. They are all over, but most likely where they all connect.

 

He's just a stupid kid. lol, He'll learn one day. Thanks!

 

let him drive your new truck then i'm sure it has working gagues

 

I wouldn't say stupid. Making mistakes is a process in learning. Work with him to figure it out, and I bet he won't have the same problem again. Hell, we were all 16 at one time.

 

yeah like when i was 16 way back when(5 years ago) i thought it would be a great idea to take my dads brand new (only had it for a week)2006 dodge mega cam 3500 dually 4x4 in a mud pit at my friends house...... nothing broke but it was kinda hard explaining how much was caked on the underside of his truck that only have 350 miles....

i learned fast that the car wash is your best friend

 

My dad took great pains repainting the wheels on his volkswagen rabbit...... then my parents left for the weekend, and my brother and I took the car up to the lake, for some beach bombing..... well, of course we got stuck, and the car got REALLY dirty.... we were reasonably intelligent, and thoroughly washed the car off. Something we didn't take into account though, was the beach sand had very nicely polished the front wheels.... and there was NO paint left on them. We discovered our error when the folks came home, and the first thing we were asked was: What happened to the paint on the wheels?

Oooops.

 

"Looks like the paint just fell off. Dunno what happened!" and of course the historic, "it wasn't me!!!!"