Headlights not working through plow harness
Thread Starter
|
New User
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
Headlights not working through plow harness
Hi all,
I have been lurking for a few months, but this is my first post.
I bought my 2011 F350 6.7 CC SB Lariat back in November 2013 with 89,000 miles on. Put the plow on right away and it didn't come off until recently. Everything with installing the plow went great and it worked well all through winter. When I took the plow off I couldn't get the truck headlights to work. I traced it to the truck headlight harness shutting off as soon as I turned the headlights on. With the bulbs unplugged I get a little over 12V at the plug, but as soon I plug the bulb in the volts go to 0. Is there some type of overload for the headlight harness? It does have to run through quite a bit of plow harness before it gets to the headlights and I am wondering if this is too much resistance. I checked all of my connections for corrosion and didn't find any. BTW, it is a Boss plow.
Thanks in advance for any help or ideas on this.
I love the truck but reading through all the problem threads could make a guy a little nervous about his truck and when it is going to break down. Traded in a 2005 Dodge Power Wagon. I am sure glad I had the F350 for plowing this winter as I am not sure if the Dodge could have handled it.
John
I have been lurking for a few months, but this is my first post.
I bought my 2011 F350 6.7 CC SB Lariat back in November 2013 with 89,000 miles on. Put the plow on right away and it didn't come off until recently. Everything with installing the plow went great and it worked well all through winter. When I took the plow off I couldn't get the truck headlights to work. I traced it to the truck headlight harness shutting off as soon as I turned the headlights on. With the bulbs unplugged I get a little over 12V at the plug, but as soon I plug the bulb in the volts go to 0. Is there some type of overload for the headlight harness? It does have to run through quite a bit of plow harness before it gets to the headlights and I am wondering if this is too much resistance. I checked all of my connections for corrosion and didn't find any. BTW, it is a Boss plow.
Thanks in advance for any help or ideas on this.
I love the truck but reading through all the problem threads could make a guy a little nervous about his truck and when it is going to break down. Traded in a 2005 Dodge Power Wagon. I am sure glad I had the F350 for plowing this winter as I am not sure if the Dodge could have handled it.
John
Thread Starter
|
New User
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
Yes, there are relays on the plow side. I setup these up on switch 4. The relay and plows lights kick on when I turn on this switch. BTW, I installed this so I know where everything is and what is hooked to what. My problem is when the relay is not powered and the truck side runs through the plow adapters. I get 12V at the headlight plug but as soon as I plug in the truck headlight something(BCM?) cuts power to the headlights. Could there be too much of a draw and the BCM shuts it down thinking there is a short? I called both the local Boss and Ford dealer and they hadn't heard of this. Right now I unplugged the plow harness and have the headlights hooked to the factory plugs.
Hope I explained this right. Thanks for the help.
John
Hope I explained this right. Thanks for the help.
John
Tuned
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 320
Likes: 47
From: Eastern TN
What you can do to rule out the BCM is try hooking up the Boss plow light switch instead of using the upfitter switch. If your headlights work normal after that then you know the problem is the upfitter switch going through the BCM. You can also go to plowsite and go to the Boss plow section and look there and see if anyone has had a similar problem, also Boss monitors the site and will usually chime in. Hope this helps.
Ray
Ray
New User
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
Any fix?
Any luck on a fix to this? I am having a similar problem on my 08 F250. My low beams won't turn on with or without the plow hooked up.
History of my situation: year ago had the problem, Boss dealer said it was the truck, Ford dealer said it was the plow. Finally Ford dealer replaced a wiring harness and the lights worked all summer. Once I hooked the plow up this winter the problem has come back. This leads me to believe the plow is the problem. Boss dealer said they completely removed the plow harness and hooked the truck up stock and lights still wouldn't work (I still think it could be the plow frying something but they won't hear any of that). Took it back to the Ford dealership and they said I have a bad smart junction box and need new headlights. I'm only skeptical because I have read a similar post stating that they tried the same fix and the problem still remains.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
History of my situation: year ago had the problem, Boss dealer said it was the truck, Ford dealer said it was the plow. Finally Ford dealer replaced a wiring harness and the lights worked all summer. Once I hooked the plow up this winter the problem has come back. This leads me to believe the plow is the problem. Boss dealer said they completely removed the plow harness and hooked the truck up stock and lights still wouldn't work (I still think it could be the plow frying something but they won't hear any of that). Took it back to the Ford dealership and they said I have a bad smart junction box and need new headlights. I'm only skeptical because I have read a similar post stating that they tried the same fix and the problem still remains.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
RUJusten
1987 - 1996 F150 & Larger F-Series Trucks
6
Nov 25, 2014 09:38 PM
Country_boy_2007
Pre-Power Stroke Diesel (7.3L IDI & 6.9L)
8
Feb 20, 2014 12:20 AM
burntice
1987 - 1996 F150 & Larger F-Series Trucks
5
May 20, 2012 06:20 PM
mattsautobody442
2004 - 2008 F150
2
Sep 4, 2009 01:06 AM
