I have a 98 Ram Van with the 5.9 that I bought very cheap knowing it's kind of a mess. I had a used engine put in and it runs great. But it's got an electrical problem too. The signals and flashers don't work most of the time. I had a guy try to locate the short and he says the wiring harness is damaged, and of course, it's not really practical to replace the whole harness. I'm hoping to just rewire the signals and flasher myself, and do the samething with any other problems Iencounter. In other words just run my own wires and solve any problems one at a time. I'm wondering where I might be able to find a diagram. Any suggestions?
thanks in advance for any help,
Scott Scheffer

 

By any chance did you replace the flasher unit to see if that solved the problem?

 

Yes, and it's problems vary. Sometimes it flashes real fast on it's own. Other times you can play around with the flasher switch and get it to work properly (but not for long). I think the problem is on the left side, because even with the flasher removed, if you put the signal switch in the left turn position, the left signal indicator in the dash will sometimes light up. The most recent mechanic told me that the wiring harness was damaged, but that it also needs a signal switch. I think I'll try a signal switch from a salvage yard as my first attempt to solve it, but would like a wiring diagram because I think it's possible that it'll come in handy real soon. Does that sound like a good approach? Any other suggestions?
thanks for the input,
Scott

 

Considering that playing around with the turn signal switch varies the symptoms, it sounds to me as if replacing the switch will solve the problem.