On my 2000 Ram, the overhead passengers map light push on, push off switch broke. None of my repair manuals describe the replacement of this switch, any suggestions?</P><edited><editID>Wildwing</editID><editDate>37887.8987847222</editDate></edited>

 

What do you mean it broke?? On mine the mounting screw poped out so I used a larger screw and glue. Is you light not turning on when you push on th elight???? did you check your bulb?

 

By "Broke" I mean that when I depressed the lens to turn it on, it depressed, and I heard a 'snap'. The light did not turn on, and the lens no longer had any spring pressure against it. It just rattled loosely in its housing. I then opened thedrivers door and all overhead lamps came on, including the one with the broken switch. Then I removed the lens of the now non-functioning map light, and found that the plunger that activated the push-on, push-off switch had no spring pressure against it, causing it to hang loosely in its cylinder. And, the switch no longer turned the map light on and off. So, the lamp is good but the switch is broke.</P>


Now the switch is plastic or nylon, and fits in agrayplasticbracket that has no visible screws.</P>

 

sounds different than mine. The lights on mine are one unit screwed into the consol by 2 screws.

 

My son just picked up a 1994 Dodge Intrepid and the same exact thing
happened as to Wildwing...the maplight switch failed. Took it
down and found the plastic switch itself had come apart and evidently
lost the little spring. Dodge wants something like $40 for the
switch and wire (not the whole map light assembly).



Might be a different unit than on the Dodge trucks, so please excuse me
if I'm posting to the wrong forum. Just wondering if anyone else
has had this problem and if you found an alternate source of a switch
to replace the bad one. Otherwise, looks like my kid either does
without the light, or forks out $40. Hmmm, I suppose
we could tap both map lights into the one set of switch wires and just
make both lights turn on and off.

 

I had the same thing happen on my 99 Ram. You can get a new plunger assembly from the dealership for $40 to $50 or you can fix it it for $4 like I did. Just go down to your local hobby shop and get some superglue that is medium dry time or 20 to 30 second dry time. Then reason for this is so you will have a few seconds longer to correct a mistake and most importantly not have to walk around for a week with a light plunger stuck on the end of your finger. Remove the overhead console. This can be be kind of tricky so be careful. Open the drop down storage compartment and look for a locking tab. You may have to peel back the black pad a little bit. Then depress the the end of the tab with a flat screwdriver. There may be a tab inside of the garage door opener compartment also but I cant remember at this time. In any case just look for any tabs before you start. Once the tabs are depressed you have to either push the console forward or pull it back towards you. It's been a year so I'm sorry if I'm a little fuzzy on exact details. You should be able to slide the console and pull it down. Be careful when you do this as the plunger assembly may have come apart and there are some pieces that may fall out. Keep on the lookout! If the plunger is still intact you will notice that it's about to separate. Thats because the little pins that hold the back cover on are broken from the pressure over time. Remove the plunger from the light assembly. Take the plunger apart and take note of how the pieces are assembled. Once you are sure of how it goes back together, apply a small bead of superglue around the edge of the flat cover and place it on the plunger assembly. Apply firm pressure for about one minute. Then allow it to dry for about fifteen minutes. Once its dry, apply superglue around the outside edge to make it's even stronger. If the other plunger is pulling apart fix that one at the same time. If it's not, apply glue around the edges to prevent that one from coming apart in the future. Then just re-assemble the console. Hope this helps!!

 

The EXACT same thing happened to my 99 RAM 2500. One broke about 8 months ago, then the other broke a couple of months later. I took it apart a couple of days ago and have been searching the internet for a replacement all morning. I was able to fish all of the parts to the little switches and I superglued them back together. The glue is currently drying.

 

If your overhead console has the temp/compass, the wiring harness is about $40.00,part # 5013608AA. Without temp/compass, part # 5013609AA, cost about $22.00....