Electrical Issue

[mnvikingsfreak]

Ok I have a problem here with my wiring I have a 2000 dodge dakota and the reverse lights dont work I replaced the bulbs and checked fuses and all that but it still doesnt work and another problem is when I hook my boat trailer up it starts acting weird the reverse lights work and when im in drive and push the brakes the reverse lights come on too but when the headlights are on the truck and I push the brakes the trailer lights actually dim and you can barely see them so if you are not confused yet does anyone have any advice on this? I used electrical cleaner on the truck plug in and it made the lights work a little better its just when I put the brakes on everything goes to heck!! when the trucks headlights are on any help would be great I have already read the other posts on wiring but my prob is totally different then theirs

[Chris Stolp]

I'm almost sure you have a short somewhere. I suspect it is the trailer wiring at the truck. Trace your truck connection back to the harness under the truck. Is it connected via plastic plugs or has the original wiring been cut and spliced into. If its the plug in type you can unplug the trailer wiring from the truck and test easily. If the trailer wiring has been spliced you'll need to cut it out. I'd be willing to bet based on your description that your wiring is of the spliced variety and that the wires have coroded and are now shorting.

[mnvikingsfreak]

yes it has been spliced into its the 4 plug harness 1 male and 3 female is this the cause of my reverse lights not working even when I dont have the trailer hooked up to the truck?

[Jeremy airjer W]

A short is a powered circuit that has come into contact with a ground with no load in between. The typical result of this would be fuses blowing.

Since the lights work sometimes and not others "short" is unlikely. I am more inclined to believe that the issue with this is the ground side of the circuit.

If you backprobe the ground wires at the sockets that aren't working with a test while the other lights are on, I would bet that at least one of them will light up the test light. the only way it can do this is if the ground is bad. The other thing to try is to hook one end of you test light to the POSITIVE side of the battery and probe the gounds on the sockets. If you find one that doesn't light up the testlight you have found your culprit. Granted these are basic ideas and the fact that this could be a much more difficult problem does exist, but at least you can cover the basics!

There is always 12 volts on a circuit before or after the load until it is grounded. Once the circuit is grounded then there will only be 12 volts on the power side.

Hope that helps, let us know what you find!!

[Chris Stolp]

Maybe I should clarify when I say short. It sounds like power comming from one of the other circuits is powering the backup lights. The backup lights wire has been cut or broken so it is intermitent on its own and being powered by brake and or turn signal circuits. A faulty ground could cause them not to work but would not likely be the cause of them working when brakes are applied.

[Jeremy airjer W]

I just looked up the wiring diagram for your vehicle. The reverse lights and tail/brake lights do share a common ground. I can post them later tonight If you would like to see them.

[mnvikingsfreak]

yes that would help a ton! thanks

[Jeremy airjer W]

[Capt. Don*]

AirJer is exactly right, when you have and open or weak ground in lamp circuits, when energized it will try and hunt or find a ground path. Since a bulb is a closed circuit running power to ground through the bulb filament the ground circuit will back up through a bulb/bulbs causing the filament to glow dimly. Get grounded and your problems are solved.

[mnvikingsfreak]

thanks alot everyone for your help and advice I will try to fix this mess this weekend and I will post how it worked any more suggestions would be great I cant get enought advice! thanks again all!

[mnvikingsfreak]

airjer..where did you find that diagram for the dakota?

[Jeremy airjer W]

I have connections!!

I will be around this weekend (I should be) if you need a hand give me a shout. You can email me at mrairjer@att.net. I'm always more than happy to help out!!!

[mnvikingsfreak]

ok sounds good thanks airjer