I got my rig back from the body shop this weekend and have been discovering little issues that weren't there before the accident. The one I'm trying to fix right now has to do with the dash lights, tail lights, and marker lights.

First of all, the damage done was to the RR quarter panel and the rear axle/suspension. No damage to the front end whatsoever. Also, the cargo light, brake lights, and turn signals all work just fine. The stuff that isn't working is all on one circuit, protected by one 4 amp fuse. That fuse is not blown.

Here are the symptoms:
If I turn on the headlight switch to it's first position (which should turn on the affected areas), I get nothing. If I pull it all the way out to turn on the headlights, the headlights come on but still no dash, markers, or tails. I started playing with the switch and found that if I gently moved it between 1st and second positions, the affected lights would flicker, sometimes staying on for a few seconds at a time but I would hear an erratic clicking sound coming from the switch. So... I replaced the switch. $14 at my local AutoZone, no big deal... but the new one behaves exactly the same way. I can even feel the clicking inside the switch, so I know that's the source of the sound. This noise is directly related to when the affected lights will come on (or flicker).

Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this? My best guess is that maybe there's a ground cut somewhere... maybe position 1 and position 2 have separate ground wires and putting it halfway betweeen the two is temporarily grounding position 1... but I really don't know. *Any* advice is very much appreciated. Please put me out of my misery!

-JD

 

The main light switch has an internal circuit breaker (hence the $14 pricetag) to protect the switch itself from inrush amperage and shorts between the switch and the lamps since the fuses on the lighting circuits are in front of the switch in the circuits. What you are hearing/feeling is the breaker trying to trip most likely but without a dead short the breaker will need to heat up before it will trip. (Its designed to break the circuit more slowly than the fuses that protect the individual lighting circuits). If it trips it will reset automatically once everything has been shut down and cooled off. The problem, since it has reared its ugly head after the accident, is most likely damage to the wiring harness in the region affected by damage. I'd suggest taking a very close look at the harness in the area around the rear quarter that was damaged. Unfortunately, if the harness was pinched but not actually cut, it may be a difficult thing to track down. I would suggest removing the tail lamp on that side first to see if the problem still exists. (Just pull the lamp from the socket for starters). It won't really tell yo umuch if the problem goes away other than to confirm the theory that the problem is indeed in the harness somewhere between that lamp/socket and the switch. Happy hunting. Let us know if we can help further.

 

thanks again for your advice, grey. I did try removing that section of the harness, to no avail. At this point, it's just a guess... but they did straighten the frame and I'm guessing that there may have been a wiring harness mishap when it was on the frame rig. That would mean that the pinch / break is somewhere up the line. now if I could only find my multimeter...