Hey all,

Have an electrical issue that popped up out of the blue. Finally took the truck for a drive last night after its sat dormant through a color change and noticed my passenger side headlight is now very dim, and I have lost all rear turn signals, brake, running taillights…

We did not touch any wiring during paint, but simply just pulled the bulbs out of the housings, and zip tied the wiring up. So my question to you all, is where should I start? I’m sure it’s a short, but it’s an odd one for me.

Here are the symptoms:

- Driver Side headlight is bright and normal- Passenger Side Headlight is dim and grim
- Front turn signals are good, Rears turn signals are out on both sides
- Cab lit brake light works fine – Rear brake lamps do not
- Reverse Lights have never worked, but I have never cared.
- Cruise has never worked either - want to fix this soon

All I can think of doing is checking all my fuses first, Then start replacing bulbs, but in the back of my mind I know there is some short somewhere in all this, but I’m not sure where… The only thing I did do was replaced the burnt out brake light in the cab brake light, I’m going to pull it and see if this corrects something, but I doubt it…. So I was hoping that one of you all could help me on where to start. Its disappointing and I really so not want to pull the front of the truck apart again, In the middle of moving and it’s my DD, so I’d like to get it fixed asap.

 

Check grounds on upper radiator support for rear lights. Check grounds on fender apron for headlight issue.

 

Will do, I think I remember seeing those, remember what color they are?

 

..... Black .....

 

Ok, well that's what I thought, The ones I saw were red, PO had fooled with some wiring, I think for a set of KC lights judging by the holes in the old bumper, all take a closer look this evening.

 

Dim headlight is normally due to a bad ground.

Did you pull the bed ?
If so there's wiring by the rear bumper that had to be unplugged

 

Headlight is fixed, was a loose plug. Yes we pulled the bed only a couple feet, but yes we pulled all the wiring out of the bed, and zip tied loose to the frame, Very delicate with it when pulled and took our time. I'm going to inspect the bulbs first, got 3 out of 4 items done on the list last night, save that one for Wednesday. Hopefully I can find something, I doubt its the bulbs since they are all out though...

 

Well just replaced the bulbs and no go... This must be a grounding issue. Technically if I hook to a trailer the tailights/turnsignals/braki light should not work on the trailer correct?

ANYONE ELSE?

 

If its the factory trailer wiring then that's a system by its self.

With a test light test the plug in the main harness that the tails plug into
If you have powe there then you know the issue is from plug to tail

 

The harness for the tail lights has a ground wire that is attached the rear crossmember

 

Didn't even think of doing that. I plan on resolving this tonight after work. I'll see what I find

Brad thanks for the input. I will look for that one as well.

Had another question for you. Since you run the Drop N' Lock goose have you found a bagged shock absorbing goose adapter for your setup? Similar to this but doesn't use a pin, some sort of alternative?

 

Well thanks for the help fellas. I found the short. I have brake, running, and signals again. My next step is to try to get the Reverse Position Switch fixed or replaced. I got under and couldn't even find a wire loom or where it went into the trans, I honestly think it has been ripped out since the day I bought it. I found the 4WD selector switch under there, but it sure looks pretty ragged. It does not work either on the dash...

My end game goal is just to get the damn cruise to work. I don't need a dummy light on the dash to tell me where I'm at in the transfer case as its very easy to feel, and I have a big set of bed lights for loading unloading/hitching, so my reverse lights are pointless.

So my next question is to get the cruise to work... what should I look for now. All lights work on the truck, minus the reverse lights, which I wouldn't think would affect it. In all the other threads I searched through I have covered my basics.

I hate electricity and wiring so I'm hoping this is not a take it to a shop to fix deal.

EDIT: I might start a different thread about this as well if need be. I will note I had the recall done on the reservoir for the speed control. The only other thing is my horn has not worked since I bought the truck. I'd think it would be quite odd if the horn were tied into the system, but I just wanted to get that out there too!

 

Automatic or manual transmission?

 

Actually cruse control does tie into the horn circuit. It uses the horn relay (coil) to provide voltage to the steering wheel clock springs. Get the horn working, or at least the horn relay and go from there.

 

Edit: Manual , I'm aware of the reverse switch on the ZF5, I'm missing the entire loom that plugs in at the two pin connector at the main harness on frame rail. I have a feeling it was ripped off when they dropped the trans when they put the wrong clutch in it...

not going into that story but in the end that's how I bought the truck so cheap... Wrong clutch, bad DualMass Flywheel, and bad CPS made it come off as a non running POS, and fairly simple fixes and my low ball offer made a 114k 7.3 a steal...

Anways off topic

That's good to know. Found one other post that mentioned it, but not in detail. I'm not sure what I have that is factory under the dash right now considering the birds nest I pulled out of aftermarket crap that was wired in. About 14 months ago I pulled god knows how much junk speaker, CB, clock, spare antennae, stereo and non factory wiring out. PO sure liked his accessories. I did not remove factory harness wiring, but there were a few 2to1 cheap splicer I did pull off existing wires and shrink wrapped.

I do know up on the 2 pin plug coming off the horn I have a yellow and black wire. Yellow goes in the harness, and the black was wrapped around a bolt when I bought the truck, since it seemed to be cut from somewhere, and I'm not sure what it splices into. Is there a way to jumper the relay for the horn to provide cruise with power? I'm not concerned to get the horn working at the moment, but it would be nice at some point. Fixing it as a whole correctly is the right thing to do... just sort of blown away that its not as closed loop as I assumed it to be. All these little bugs are slowly getting crossed off the list, maybe someday it will all work as it should :-)