Hi all, I'm experiencing a headlight issue with a 2005 Dakota that's proving difficult to diagnose. When I turn the head lights on, both passenger side bulbs (headlamp and turn signal bulbs) are out. If I turn the high beams on, the passenger headlamp turns on and driver's side goes out. The exact behavior I'm seeing is detailed below. Has anyone seen anything similar or have any ideas on what I should be checking?

When low beams are enabled:
* Driver’s side headlamp bulb is on
* Driver’s side turn signal bulb is on
* Passenger side headlamp bulb is off
* Passenger side turn signal bulb is off

When high beams are enabled:
* Driver side headlamp bulb is off
* Driver’s side turn bulb signal is on
* Passenger side headlamp bulb is on
* Passenger side turn signal bulb is off

Both turn signals work properly whether using low beams or high beams. There is no indicator on the dash warning a light is out.

 

Sounds like a bad ground. Check your wiring.

 

I'm not seeing a statement anywhere that the bulbs been replaced as part of troubleshooting.

The low beam element isn't active when the high beams are activated. If high beam element on driver side is bad and low beam element on passenger side is bad, this is the behavior you will get.

Same issue with turn signals. The running lamp element is separate than the signal element. The bulb can light up for a signal even if the running element is bad.