Hi Folks! I'm new around here, I have a '97 Dodge Ram 5.2 4x4 with an electrical problem! Seems I left the interior light on one night and next day, I had to use my battery charger to start the truck. I accidently touched the opposite battery post with my clip and after this, with the key OFF, the headlights stay on and I have to pull the underhood fuse. I was hoping someone may have experienced the same problem and could give me some advice.

 

did you check the headlight relay? might be fused closed so the lights stay on. should be in the fuse box. you should be able to swap it with another relay since they are all the same type/pn's...

welcome to DF...

 

Hey thanks for getting back to me! I took your advice and swapped the relays with the same result. I could hear the relay clicking when I would put the fuse in loosely. I also traced the wires and none appear to be fused. This one has me stumped! Oh well, back to CSIing the problem!

 

IIRC, some of the 2nd gen Rams drew all the power for the headlights through the actual headlight switch in the dash. It's possible that when you brushed the wrong terminal with the wrong lead, you could've fried something in the switch. Just a thought. [>:]

 

ok, the only other thing I could suggest is going to the top of this forum and into the Merry Christmas thread and download the manual. there should be schematics in there that will help you figure out where the short is. the wiring should be similar.

one other thing to check is your headlight switch... it's easy to pop out if IIRC... check it out in the manual.

 

I found the problem finally! It ended up being the daytime running light relay box located close to the master cylinder. I just pulled the connector plug and now I can at least use the truck without having to pull the fuse until I can get a new box. I just wanted to say thanks again for your help and maybe someone else will benefit from my "foot work"