the lighted key ring on my 96 2500 has stopped working... I'm assuming it's the bulb as all other lights in the truck still work normally... how does one go about changing it? Thx

 

Pull the covers off the steering column, and have a look around..... I don't think you have to replace the whole ignition switch for that.....

 

No you don't, if you go over to ram forum, and under the DIY in the 2nd gen section look for the changing dash lights thread and go through it. Someone posted how to change out the key ring light and gives you LED light number for it. Sorry I cant remember the whole thing.

 

well, I read that entire DIY thread and see nothing about the bulb in the lighted key ring, guess I will have to do more research to try and figure it out.

 

If i recall there is a light in it but it's not replaceable. It's a bulb with two wires going to it. A led can be made to fit but i believe they sell a whole replacement ring for it. Just an fyi you need security torx bits to remove the cover and switch.

 

actually, I did some searching on Google, and it appears that there is a bulb in there, once I remove the cover from the steering column, supposedly it is easily accessible. I will see if I have time to mess with it this weekend. Would be nice to fix because it's still pretty dark here early in the morning when I'm heading off to work.

 

I'd like to know how this goes cause I want to fix mine too.

 

I"m curious as well.

 

well, I'm going to try find the time to look at it Saturday, from what I saw on a site that Google brought up, it's 2 screws on the cover under the steering wheel, and the cover pops off, and supposedly the bulb is right there. Sounds like it should be an easy fix. As long as it's not some oddball type bulb, lol.


If I get to it Saturday, I'll post here how much work it was.

 

I tried to fix mine today. You'll need a T20 screwdriver. Bit driver will not fit, too fat.
Changed the bulb and nothing, tried my other new bulb and nothing.

Started researching and found out Dodge quit connecting the key halo ring on later models '99-'02. The bulb is present but the wires go to the 4 pin plug and dead end. Pull the lower column cover and see how many wires coming from 4 pin connector, if only 2 wires then the bulb is not wired.






Here's the thread I was reading
http://www.turbodieselregister.com/t...ing-around-ign


I haven't been asked this question in quite awhile! First of all, the Halo light use to plug into the Integrated Electric Module (IEM) in the 1999 models. The factory no longer plugs it in for some reason!? If you do plug it in, I am told that it still won't work either.



I have a 2001 Quad HO 3500 and I found after opening up the steering column, that the light bulb was still present, just no wiring! The easiest way to reconnect is by running a pair of wires from the Halo light and tapping it into the dome light. Walla! Why the factory doesn't do this is beyond me. I'm sure that DC probably manufactured a million defected IEM's and was to cheap to fix the problem as my wife's Durango has the same problem.



Remove the top cover of the steering column. This is held on by three black torx screws found on the bottom cover (the silver one holds on the bottom cover). Once you pop the cover off it will be very obvious where the halo light lives (right above the ignition switch). The wires run from the lamp itself (a standard #74 if it ever does burn out) down to a four pin connector. Only two wires come out of the connector (the key "sense" circuit). Now extend the unconnected halo wires (black) by either adding the two missing pins to the connector or just splicing into the existing wires (like I did) with about 5-ft of wire. The new wires can be neatly run down the steering column and tie-wrapped so that it looks just like the factory did it. Route the extended wires up to the A-pillar by way of the fuse panel or up the door molding. I actually stick a very heavy gauge wire down through the side of the dash and pull the new wire up with it. Remove the A-pillar cover by just pulling it out enough so that you can work on the wiring harness and feed in the new wires. Unravel the black tape of the wiring harness about half way up the A-pillar. Center splice your extended wires into the pink and yellow wires found in the harness and rewrap the portion of the wiring harness with new electrical tape. Snap the cover back on and the halo light is all ready to go.



I rewired mine edit: 4 years ago (I received my truck in March of 2000 even though it is a 2001 HO model) and the circuit is working perfectly today. Never even a burned out bulb. One word of caution, however: whenever working on the steering column, be very careful with what you tamper with. I've been told that you can cause the air bag to go off. I personally feel that it would be quite difficult, but I thought that I would warn you anyway.



Good luck,