I am new here so first off I'd like to intro. myself. My name is Tim and I live in Maryland, I'm in the construction field and I prefer to do my own vehichle work, My Ram has just about 470,000 on it and I'm just trying to keep her alive. Now for my issue.

A few months ago I replaced the headlight switch for the 3rd time and not long after the rightside lowbeam went out I changed the bulb but that was not the problem as it worked on the left side but the high beam worked but was dimmer than the drivers side. Now I don't especially like driving with the highbeams on but ya gotta do what ya gotta do so now when I turn the highbeams on the horn sounds for a few seconds and the turn signal indicator stays on. I'm not very knowledgable in electrical work so I can only guess that there is a short somewhere, possibly in the multipurpose switch as the headlight switch is not the problem. Has anyone had this happen before? Any ideas anybody?

 

welcome to DF.

my guess is that the wires in the steering wheel harness have rubbed and shorted out. most likely at the point where the tilt action is.

remove the clam shell steering column covers. requires a long skinny torx on the bottom. also some patience to unclip the 2 halves without breaking them. find the big wad of wires from horn, dimmer, turn signal multifunction.

see the sticky section at the top of 2nd gen for the 01 service manual. the wiring diagrams are in section 8 with all the wire colors identified.

 

After figuring out your issue, you might consider making a relay harness for your headlights as preventative maintainence. Itll save those headlight switches. If you dont want to make one, LMC Truck has one pre made you can buy.

 

Did I see 470,000 miles?

 

I bet there is a lot more worn than just wires.

 

if the passenger side high beam is brighter than the the drivers side then you might have a ground problems.

 

That's right 470,000. Average about 30,000 plus a year.

 

I guess everythings a possibility I will look at that when I look at the steering column wiring this weekend.

 

Thanks for your input, I will start looking into this beginning tomorrow. I need to get this done Iv'e been issued a repair order.

 

a dim light would indicate a bad ground to me. after you this fixed you should really consider putting your headlights on relays so you will not burn through so many headlight switches.