It doesn’t look as bad as mine did.. thats good… clear coat with some lacquer clear and hook her back up.
Hopefully it will work..

 

Ok thanks for the help. I do have one question though. How will sparying some lacquer clear on it going to fix it? At this piont, I am going to try it because it can't make anything worse. I just want to fix this thing so I can drive it again. I miss my HEMI.

 

Well you just saved me $338. I went out earlier and bought some lacquer clear and sprayed two coats on there. Waited for it to dry and hooked everything back up. At first the lights were off, then they turned on, then off and stayed off. They now work normal. Hopefully it will continue to work for a long time. Till then I can save my $338 for bills. Thanks again for every one's help.

 

Awesome fix! Definitely a lot of money saved for yourself

 

I'm having the same problem. I guess I'll try cleaning the circuit board. I found a video on utube showing how to take it apart and solder the ground circuit. It's worth a try. Does anyone else show error codes from this.

 

Hello all, I just got my lil black 02 dakota slt 3 weeks ago and a few days back a lady pulled out in front of me and i hit em. I had to pull the front bumper off the truck. Everything works fine except the park lamps, tail lamps, plate lamps, and cluster lights. Ive heard these are all on the same circuit. I checked relays, fuses, grounds, and bulbs: all good. if anyone could help i would greatly appreciate is. I love my lil truck and its a shame not to see her on the rd.

 

not sure if this has been answered or not, but that's normal.

Exterior Lighting Fail-safe - In the absence of
a headlamp switch input, the EMIC will turn on the
cluster illumination lamps and provide electronic
headlamp low beam and park lamp request messages
to the Front Control Module (FCM) located on the
Integrated Power Module (IPM) for default exterior
lamp operation.

 

i am having the SAME EXACT PROBLEM!
how long did it take you to take everything apart? and was it a tough job?
my symptoms are 100% exactly as you have described your issue and my switch is also in working order as far as i can tell and my lights also came on when the harness was unplugges from the back of the switch except when i completely turned the truck off.

i was going to take it to a local shop on friday and the place i bought it from was going to pay for it and add the cost to the end of my loan, but i would like to avoid that if possible!
it sounds like i have the same issue just wonder if i would get as lucky as you with the lacquer????

 

even if the symptoms are identical it doesn't mean the same fix will work for you too... but it's worth a shot.

This is a fairly old thread so I don't know if that member is still active on this part of the site.

Have you tried to pull any C-Codes from the truck?

If not you can do so by putting the key in the ignition (with engine off), press and hold the trip-meter button on the cluster and turn the ignition to the "on" position without starting the truck.

Then write down each set of codes EXACTLY as they appear... it might help us point you in the right direction if there is something else going on aside from a fuse box issue.

 

Taking it apart depends on how well you are working on things. I know you have to drill out some plastic welds inside the fuse box and the rest you just have to pry carefully around the tabs untill you get it apart. I think I used a few screwdrivers to hold the tabs apart while I moved around to the next one. I actually traded that truck in about three weeks ago and when I traded it in, it still had the same fuse box that I sparyed. So I got luckey and got a few years out of it and who knows how long the next owner will get out of it. I say, try it, it can't hurt. Its only five bucks and you can save yourself close to $400 if it works for you.