hey guys, im a little confused and hoping you can all help me figure out if i have a problem or not.

i just had an ARE cap installed yesterday. everything seemed fine.

later in afternoon im trying to hook up old utility trailer at father-in-laws (the trailer you have to fix somethign on every time you use because it gets around) and as were playing with the lights to get them working, i step on brake lights to test and only third brake light on cap is coming on. after a bit of tinkering, here is what i found.

they tied third brake light into black wire from left brake/turn (assuming ground).

they also ran a wire down under truck and tied it into a white dead-ended wire coming out of the trucks harness. is this some sort of accessory/brake light switched wire?

finally, we realized all three brake lights (cap third and truck sides) come on when the key is turned on and when truck is running, however if we turn the key off, only the third brake light on the cap comes on.

we didnt have any other dodges around, but the fords around had the brake lights all come on with the key on or off.

is something screwed up? what is that white wire? does it cause funny things to happen?

thanks all!!

 

That wire they used for the brake light is there for just that purpose.
They should have grounded to the frame just a little in front of that.

I'll check if my brake lights come on without the key & let you know.
It makes sense that they don't, the third brake light is on a separate circuit 12v switched by the pedal, the other lamps are driven by the tipm logic circuits.

 

Just checked mine - no key, no brakelights....

 

thanks a lot guys ... makes me feel a lot better. just strange that some cars come on without key, and some do. even checked my caravan and that comes on without key too.

just a little upset they used the crappy splice in connectors. guess i'll be back under there with a new connector and some heat shrink

 

Sounds like something's wired wrong. Your brake lights should come on when you push on the brake, key in or not.

 

go check your truck rocknfire ... i had a response on here from wnderr above and also finally got a friend with a 2011 ram to check, seems they dont go on without the key on in these new rams.

 

I also have a cap on my truck and it is wired exactly as yours and it also behaves exactly like yours. I'm not concerned at all.

 

After they installed the Cap on my 2500 I went back and re-did the wiring as well. Except I used a marine grade plug on it. I had the need to remove my cap from time to time and wanted an easier way to disconnect the wiring.
You can get the regular pigtail plugs at Pep Boys, NAPA etc. I got mine from West Marine. Figured it is made to withstand the elements and salt so it should work on the truck. Never had any problems with it. Just another option.

 

yea, i was thinking they really should use better connectors, and they should give you a plug so that it could be removed from the truck. i hadnt thought of it but a marine plug is a great idea, as i too will probably remove it too, at least once or twice a year.

 

This one threw me also, I had to replace the stop lamp bulb and after replacement ,tried it and NO LIGHT, went and got another bulb, still the same, them it came to me , turned on the key and it worked, I had to laugh.