dash lights went out.

[1lonlyranger]

i bought a ranger almost a year ago. at first my lights were working great. then the lights cut out on a camping trip. i replaced the swich and everything was working great then they went out again after a night of wheeling. i then took the switch off and a tanish wire with a wite stripe was burnt out and melted the plastic arond it. then i lost all dash lights. im having trouble what this wire is and what would have caused it to burn out. is it even atached to the dash lights? oh and to make all the lights work i have to find a balnce point. any ideas?

 

[RonD]

Have a look here:

http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/EDiagrams/index.htm

Often trucks come with trailer light plug-ins, even if you never use them, and sometimes because you never use them, lol, they can get corroded and short out, they should be on a separate circuit but often are not.

Light bulbs and sockets can short out as well

 

[1lonlyranger]

thanks RonD i have noticed two pin holes on both hot high beam wires. i steal have high beams would this be the point of the short?

 

[RonD]

No, probably not a short, but it could mean someone else was chasing a short in the past.
Pin holes might be from someone using a meter to test voltage or OHMs

 

[1lonlyranger]

i got ahold of the guy i bought the truck from. he said that the owner before him had fog lights hooked up to bright switch where i found the pin hole. i know that lights run of relays and i know how to test those but could extra lights cause this short?

 

[RonD]

No, not if the fog lights have been removed, the pin holes were from plastic wire splicers often used for adding trailer lights and other electrics to vehicles without having to cut and splice wires.
They have a plastic snap lock case with a wire coming out, when case is placed around an existing wire and snapped together it has a sharp needle point inside that pierces the "power" wire and provides "power" to the wire coming out of the case.
The hole in the wire is what is left after splicer has been removed, it does no harm unless wire gets moisture inside and starts to corrode, so taping it is a good idea.

 

[1lonlyranger]

so i checked the place where its spliced and they looked clean. i heat wraped it back up and in put in a new female adapter for the switch. i cleaned the trailer light hook up. the dash lights still dont work i just thought of something that might have blown to make the dash go out. the dash illumination fuse. but is this just the dash lights because i still have the highbeam indicator and brake lights that work in it.

 

[1lonlyranger]

i fixed it thanks for everythong rond

 

[1lonlyranger]

everything my bad hahaha

 

[RonD]

Good work

Your solution might help others if you were to to post it here, even if you think it is a silly mistake, we all make them, so posting it can help us avoid them in the future.

 

[1lonlyranger]

to avoid diagnosing everything i fixed all of them. i capped off the trailer lights. i found the area of open wires i so cleaned it and used srink wrap to close it. i replaced the female end of the switch. replaced the fuse and got a regulator that tested good at the junk yard and put that one in. i also cleaned all conections and bulb inserts. it might have took a long time but i resolved all the possible situations and other then time it only cost 8 bucks.

 

[RonD]

$8...sweet