hey guy hopefully someone can help.. I tried searching to no avail. I have 1998 dodge ram 1500 sport xtra cab 4x4 5.9l. I noticed I would come home from work shut truck off than go in house. come back out few hours later to notice my radio being on. so I than said oh well i'll turn the radio off before I turn my truck off, now im coming outside to a dead battery. so today I went and picked up a new battery, replaced the ignition lock cylinder, the ignition switch.. and when I turn the key off I notice my radio is turning back on, also with ignition off and key out if I turn the wipers on it makes a clicking/buzzing sound.. can somebody please tell me what is going on.. thanks

 

Did you notice if any of the wires may be pinched in the steering ?

 

when I was replacing the ignition switch I did notice a bare wire underneath the column so I rapped it with electrical tape but problem still exist.. is driving me insane.

 

Wink, wink

 

its a pretty common problem with tilt steering. Maybe that same wire or another one is still grounding. is it a factory radio? Headlight switch also common problems. So many wires that can drain the battery. Its cold , how good is your battery?

 

it is a aftermarket radio I put it in 2 years ago and used the factory clips.. battery is brand new.. I thought by me saying that the wipers,directionals, and radio still have power when key is off and out of the ignition would narrow down the problem for someone reading this. I see tons of people with this problem when I google it but none of the questions have been answered. its just driving me crazy cuz im on a tight budget because of getting laid off from work in the winter and have already spent like 300 on this problem and nothing. still haunting me and wife is ready to kill me.. lol

 

Jim , electrical is something I hate on vehicles . However , if I had your issue , I'd start with disconnecting the main harness from the steering column if possible , then check to see if the power was still on the radio . I'm thinking it won't be . If not , it kinda narrows the problem to the column wiring . If you can get a manual with a wiring diagram (FAQs) you could narrow down the wires to test first . My guess is a short in the column .

Inside the column next to the signal light switch , there will be a large plug-in for several wires . There is live power there , I'd be poking at that first . Tilt steering can dislodge the wires from their sockets . Lost my headlights like that once doing 75 when I lowered the steering wheel .

I think the only way to find it is by a process of elimination , but , it's still early in the thread's life , maybe someone had this issue before and knows exactly where to look .

 

im going to have to look over all the wires in the column tomorrow am when I have light again.. thanks for the input so far guys

 

next time you find the radio on, start pulling 1 fuse at a time, and if you find the power source feeding it, then pull up the wiring schematics and go from there. Hope you find it before she kills you, lol

 

I bet if you have a look at the harness that plugs into the ignition switch, the wires that plug into pins, 5,6,and 7 and possibly 4 are missing insulation.