Ok I have an 03 ram, 5.7 QC. I have an annoying issue, it only happens when I have the headlights activated. During the day, with the headlights off, the indicator never sounds. The lamp out indicator and annoying chime will sound constantly for a few seconds to minutes, then not at all for what could be minutes, hours, or days. trying to see when it happens, i believe i have narowwed it down to occurring when i have the headlights on, and it seems like a short i guess in the passenger turn signal wire. I think that because a few times i noticed that if I had the signal on when it happened, that the blinking would speed up like when the bulb is out. in fact, once i observed the signal working intermittently. So I took the headlamp assembly out, the bulb was fine, contacts clean. I sprayed a little WD40 on the connections and put it back together.

Am i on the right trach that is could be a short somewhere? anyone else have this issue that cold offer me some guidance?

thanks in advance for any help.

 

Those things are supremely annoying, no?

Chances are, you have a bulb about to give up the ghost, as indicated by a slightly higher voltage pull and/or resistance.. in her infinite wisdom, mother mopar gave the vehicle the ability to sense such things, but didn't find it neccissary to tell you which light it is using the same mechanism.. grrrr...

I've had of happen three times since I owned the truck.. each time it was a tail light, but never the same one.. I swapped the bulbs in all of them the last time, and haven't had issue.. you're lucky in that it only happens when you're powering night lights.. which is to say: if it only happens when the headlights are powered, its most likely one of the various lights that illuminate when the headlights are on.. don't narrow it to only the headlamps, though, as it may be one of your tail lights, instead.

If you've eliminated those by swapping bulbs, it is possible you're one of the unfortunate ones to have a short in the wiring harness. These years of trucks are known for such things, and they can be a bear to track down.. let's hope its a bulb, first.. no?

 

Thank you, I am going to buy all new bulbs for everything today and I will let you know what happens. I like your idea, keep it simple and fix the easier more obvious stuff first.

Chances are, you have a bulb about to give up the ghost, as indicated by a slightly higher voltage pull and/or resistance.. in her infinite wisdom, mother mopar gave the vehicle the ability to sense such things, but didn't find it neccissary to tell you which light it is using the same mechanism.. grrrr...

I've had of happen three times since I owned the truck.. each time it was a tail light, but never the same one.. I swapped the bulbs in all of them the last time, and haven't had issue.. you're lucky in that it only happens when you're powering night lights.. which is to say: if it only happens when the headlights are powered, its most likely one of the various lights that illuminate when the headlights are on.. don't narrow it to only the headlamps, though, as it may be one of your tail lights, instead.

If you've eliminated those by swapping bulbs, it is possible you're one of the unfortunate ones to have a short in the wiring harness. These years of trucks are known for such things, and they can be a bear to track down.. let's hope its a bulb, first.. no?[/QUOTE]

 

I had the problem with the rear drivers side brake light. Had to replace the board the bulbs plug into. ($15 on e-bay) And just happened again about a month ago on the passengers side blinker like you are describing. Replaced the bulb even tho it looked fine and worked. (intermittently). Change the bulb, it should fix the problem.

 

+1 on the bulb. My truck was behaving similar to yours and it was one of the filaments in my tail light that was burnt out. My truck would blink 3 times normal speed, chime and then start blinking fast on the side that the filament was burnt out on. On the other side, it would blink 3 times, chime and then continue blinking at normal speed.

 

thanks guys, well I replaced every exterior bulb last night and it seems to be fixed. its a good thing i did it too, there were a few incorrect bulbs in the tailight housings. hopefully it is fixed, if not, i suspect that the drivers tail bulb board might need to be replaced as one of the sockets, there was some burnt residue on the metal contacts. it was a tiny amound, but there nonetheless.

 

Damn, I thought the issue was fixed, but its not. Driving home from work it happened again. At first I only thought it happened with the headlights on. As soon as I turned them on the lamp out came on again. I tried it on and off about 10 times, each time the indicator came on when I put the headligts on. So I thought that now I narrowed it down. But then while driving with the fogs and driving lights, it happened. So, now what's left? I am thinking of replacing the tail light bulb boards and take it from there.

 

I have the same problem driver side brake light I replace the board and still no better thinking about setting the truck on fire lol I'm stumped with mine it pisses me off every time I get into my truck

 

I found the problem to be the bulb wattage. I went through hell figuring that tail light thing out. There is another one just like it but a lower wattage. I can't remember what it was, 35w or something like that. The plastic plug would melt around the wire that makes contact and before long would mess up the board. Get the higher wattage bulb or find one made entirely of glass.

 

Well I just ordered 2 tailight bulb boards from LMC truck parts. Hopefully that will do the trick.