Why did my interior lights go out but my gauges still work?
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I have a 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 4×4 and speedometer lights, dome light, my turn signal interior lights and my accessory lights (a/c light, radio light, glove compartment light) went out. Everytime i put a new fuse in, it pops as soon as i put my headlights on.
Tags: 2004 dodge ram 1500, 4x4, dodge, dodge ram 1500, dome light, fuse, glove compartment, headlights, light radio, radio light, speedometer, turn signal
if the fuse pops as soon as the headlamp switch is used then you most likely have a bare wire touching ground,thus popping the switch,one way to isolate the area of this wire concern is to unplug various load devices one at a time,such as turn signal switch or glove box lamp,perhaps the dome lamp and then plug in the fuse and see if it blows,this will narrow down the circuit affected,if you suspect the headlamps are blowing the fuse then unplug the headlamps,install fuse and then turn on headlamp switch and see is fuse blows.DO NOT however use a larger size than the recommended fuse as this may cause wires to burn.
you’ve got a short in the headlights.
read the manual to see the size of the fuze that is needed or maybe it could be a bad coil pack
Any electrical component on that fuses circuit is suspect. Since the parking lights and side marker lights also come on with the headlights, try turning the parking lights on with out the headlights. If the fuse still blows, make sure the side marker and license plate bulb wiring is OK and that there is not any corrosion in the bulb sockets. If you find nothing, the next step is to isolate each item on the fuse and power up one wire at a time until you get the shorted one.
I don’t know the specific reason for this model of auto, tipically it is one of the components on that circuit that is at fault (causing heavy current load) (shorted out). It may be the headlight switch or wiring after the switch or a relay or the dimmer control because it’s power is taken out of the headlight switch.
Question does the fuse blow if you adjust the dimmer (for interior dash illumiation)? Does it blow if you only turn clearance lights on? Look for rodent dammage! Many times a rodent (like mice) eat the insulation off of wiring. The best sign of this is mouse feces under the hood (just means they’ve been around) so they may have been chewing too. They really like rubber and vinyl wiring insulation.
Gauges take their power from a different circuit than the lighting for the gauges so they are powered by a different fuse. They’re also turned off and on by the ignition switch, not the illumination control or headlight switch.