I just got this dodge dakota 94. I was driving it a few days with no problems. And the headlights flickered at night. I pulled the **** turn them off and then back on, and it seemed to fix it once It started driving some. After I turned off my truck, and sat for almost an hour I got back in and the headlights woudln't even come back on. I drove home using my brights, holding the switch back to see myself get back home.

So what causes headlights to go out like this? What do I need to check? What are some possible things that may be wrong? Thanks in advance.

 

Well there are a few possible causes to your problem. First and easiest is a bad fuse. Look up the location of the fuse on the fuse panel using your owners manual. Second and a little harder, being an older used truck you never know what kind of hacker has been behind the dash panel. It is possible that since you said you turned them off and then back on and they worked for awhile that the wiring harness on the backside of the switch is not on all the way and has worked itself loose. You will have to take the dash apart to fix this. It is not to hard to do just be patient and carefully look for the fastners that have to come out to accomplish this. I have one of these trucks myself and it is not hard to figure out. The last one can be a bitch to track down and that is a bad ground in the headlight circut. However this one is the least likely cause of your problem unless your terribly unlucky. One last possility is a broken power wire to the switch but again not very likely. I am not a tech by any means, just a backyard do it yourselfer trying to help out a fellow mopar fan. Good luck hope this helps. Hwystar

 

It can't be a fuse if the brights work, they are on the same circut. I would say its probally a bad high/low switch, jiggle it and see if they will go on. I had the same problem with my neon, had to buy a new turn signal high/low switch.

 

I switched up the headlights (hwystar, them bottom two srews on th headlight panel are a pain in the rear to get back in.)
The headlights didn't work so it couldn't of been a blown bulb, so I WENTOUT AND BOUGHT A NEW HIGH/lo beam switch, need to instal that later, will reply once I have it fixed.

P.S. Is there any way to get a cheap or used owner's manual? I don't want to spend 35 bucks to order a new one.

 

Try a haynes or chilton manual. They are not the most detailed, but they give you a good idea.

 

Sorry bud, when I said it was not hard to get the dash apart that does`nt mean you won`t have any problems at all LOL . If you still managed to do it regardless of the pain in the butt screws then it still was`nt that hard to do was it? Anyways let me know how you make out. Hwystar

 

I was able to get everything off.... i had a pal of mine with me, so we bullcrapped until we got it done. Got it put on there nd the low beams still didn't come on. Now the hi/lo switch that controls the wipers too didn't have anythijng to do with, pulling that toggle switch near your knees for the lights, so I don't know why it was meantioned it would be a the hi/lo switch. Anyway it didn't work.

The lights flickered before they went out, could there be a voltage short somewhere? How do you check that?


casper: Wheres the cheapest place to get one of them manuals, it was already suggested to me. Can I order one off the net at a discounted price? Used is okay too. Let me know.

-dd94unit

 

goto autozone, they are like $15

 

Do I need to ask for them? I looked there and Advance Auto Parts didn't see them.

 

They are right by the counter in the store round here. Any auto parts store should have them, just ask for either a haynes or chiltons manual for your truck.