thank you advanced auto

[4x4mike2004]

for frying my wireing harness.

the story (the truck is my dodge)

About two weeks ago my low beams burned out, and i had to drive around with the high beams on. Picked up a set of headlights at advanced auto and asked the guy to check to make sure they are the right ones. He took my information put it in the computer, and told me they were the right ones. So i go an put the new headlights in, turned them on an they work. I hit the high/low switch an the lights get real dim, but the high beam light stayed on. Tried it again same thing.

I'm not one to mess with too much wiring, so i made an appointment at the dealership i got it from for this past monday (the 19th). They called me and said the high/low switch went bad, and it will need replacing. Gave them the OK to do the work. Got a call later in the afternoon that there was a short in the wire harness somewhere that caused the switch to fail.

Long story short just picked up the truck this evening to find that the headlights i was given were the wrong ones and it caused the wiring harness to short and the swich to short. The total came just a hair under 600 bucks. Advanced auto better cover it. I'm not too happy.

 

[7.5L_STX]

was it advaned auto or auto zone?

 

[Gotta_gofast]

Why would autozone cover the cost if Advanced auto sold you the wrong part?

 

[jonsranger]

the lights would not have caused a short, something like this happened at teh advance i work at. two headlight bulbs have the same size connector but the two of the prongs are reversed( i think it is the ground and lowbeam, and the light grounds through the low). we put them in on of the boss's cars the only diff of the wrong ones is that the highs come on and the lows do not, there is no way that they can cause a short, the bulbs run on the same amperage and voltage. thats prob just a result of them being a little old or the dealership trying to screw u. o and the bulbs we were having this issue with were a 9004 and a 9007 bulb.

 

[LearjetMinako]

Seariously doubt that they will cover the cost of repair. They might refund the cost of the bulbs, but thats it. Customer liablity.

How the heck did wrong bulbs cause the short? What were the wrong bulbs and the correct ones?

 

[ChesterSPL]

The wrong bulbs would not cause a short. The bulb would blow, fuse and or relay pop, but they are not strong enough to hold the power to cause a short or burn through. The high beam switch may have shorted out and that could have cause a short farther back in the harness. No I don't work for Advance either.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Shouldnt it of blown a fuse?

I know thats usually what happens when you put a 100 watt light in a 50 watt socket in the house...wouldnt that be about the same thing?

later,
Dustin

 

[4x4mike2004]

it was advanced auto. It was the 9004 and 9007 bulb, and were brand new. I needed the 04 and they told me to use the 07 ones. The mechanic said that it was the bulbs that caused the short it took him a while to figure it out. He had the entire dash and wiring harness apart. It was ok with the high beams but with the low beams on it fried the switch and the wiring. Myself and my dad have bought our trucks off the dealership, and have had work done there a few times. They cut me a break on the labor hours for my truck.

 

[Destroyer000]

when you put the new bulb in didn't you inspect the old bulb? you clearly should have seen they were different..

 

[mhughes165]

it was advanced auto. It was the 9004 and 9007 bulb, and were brand new. I needed the 07 and they told me to use the 04 ones. The mechanic said that it was the bulbs that caused the short it took him a while to figure it out. He had the entire dash and wiring harness apart. It was ok with the high beams but with the low beams on it fried the switch and the wiring. Myself and my dad have bought our trucks off the dealership, and have had work done there a few times. They cut me a break on the labor hours for my truck.

what dealership is this....remind me to never let my truck near there shop.....

 

[razrwild]

bulb or fuse would have blown out or just not worked. Its for these reasons I don't think I'll ever use a dealership for more than taking test drives when I'm bored

 

[Original_Ranger84]

The bulbs or fuses would blow way before the wires melt I would think? And you should have looked and compared the old to the new, first thing I do every time. and if its an 07 shouldn't it be covered under warrenty? one more thing how can you put two totally different bulbs in the same socket? rams only use one High/low light right? because 9007's are H/L lights I have them in my 07 saturn.

 

[cr_the_machinist]

Sounds like there was a problem in the first place mike. The new bulbs seemed like they really didn't fix the problem nor make it worse. Sounds like the problem may have been in your switch the whole time. I know if I owned that auto parts shop wouldn't even refund you for the lights. It's like if someone came into my guitar shop and said the strings I sold them made thier guitar play bad. And then they bring in this guitar that was totally out of adjustment in the first place.

 

[LearjetMinako]

Sounds like there was a problem in the first place mike. The new bulbs seemed like they really didn't fix the problem nor make it worse. Sounds like the problem may have been in your switch the whole time. I know if I owned that auto parts shop wouldn't even refund you for the lights. It's like if someone came into my guitar shop and said the strings I sold them made thier guitar play bad. And then they bring in this guitar that was totally out of adjustment in the first place.

The 9004 bulbs are of lesser total wattage. If Dodge did the wiring correctly, a fuse should have blown if it was caused by the bulbs. Either there was a short somewhere else or the switch caused the problem.

 

[dusto2]

ok the difference is very slight between a 9004 and 9007 they are the same wattage, high and low the differance is the pins only the 9007 if you have the flat side up goes pin1 high pin2 low pin3 ground, were as the 9004 goes pin1 low pin2 high and pin3 ground
other than that the bulbs do look the same except the number on them. and this would not have blown anything other than the low beam fuse maybe. correction the 9004 is 10 watts less on the low side the high side is the same at 65. on a side note now seeing this i might swap in a 9007 and switch the pins in the gen2 so the lows are a little brighter