When I did my fuel pump I had raised the bed up to access the fuel pump. I unplugged both connectors by each tail light in the back. When everything was put back together I had these problems:

1)Headlamp switch doesn't work in the first position when pulled out. It must be slightly pushed in for the front marker lights to work and the 2 rear tail lights to come on. Third tail light doesn't work. Brakes lights always come on.

2)When headlamp switch is pulled all the way out, only the head lights come on. Brake lights work, but no tail lights.

I replaced the switch and the new one does the same thing. Where should I go next?

 

gauge lights go on and off with tail lights also

 

id start with fuses, check for pinched or broken wires. dash lights and tail lights went out on my truck and it was a fuse

 

All the fuses are good. I also failed to mention I had trailer lights hooked up and I disconnected some wires. Could that cause a problem. If so I'm lost as to where to re-wire everything back

 

I had almost this exact same problem when i did my fuel pump. I raised the bed and in the process i pulled the wires for the license plate lamps out of the plug...I tried to replace the wires into the sockets but the damage had been done...i kept blowing fuses because i had either switched the wires around or wasnt making a good connection or something. I ended up having to splice the wires together and bypass the plugs. Check all your wiring back by the rear bumper and try to reconnect everything as it was. Sounds like you have wires crossed or a bad ground somewhere.

 

Ground wire(s) most likely. You are going to have to trace all. Not that it matters now, but there is another good reason to drop the tank instead.

 

yup, next time i do a fuel pump, i'm def dropping the tank

 

I didn't know it but the park lamp fuse was what caused the problem. However I have a new problem. Upon putting in a new fuse. I went back to my truck tonight and the fuse blew. So i removed the abs/rwal fuse (20A), and put it in place of the park lamp fuse. Why didn't the 20A fuse blow? And is it safe to keep the abs/rwal fuse removed for night time driving?

 

You want to find out why the right size fuse blows...... (or is it normally a 20 amp?) putting in a larger fuse puts you in danger of overheating wires, and then,..... a fire.... No fun at all. usual culprits for that fuse is the trailer harness, where it hits the main harness.

Disabling ABS really won't make a lot of difference on how your truck drives/stops. Not like the RWAL on these trucks is all that effective in any event. You are taking a slight (VERY slight...) step backward in braking technology, but, the brake system will still work just fine. Real possibility you won't notice any difference at all.

 

I agree a fire could result from using a 20A fuse on something rated 10A. With the 20A fuse the roof mounted park lights blow out. The insulation for the housing broke. Could they be shorting out the fuse?