2003 Ram 1500 Electrical Issues

Asked by titanium3er Apr 26, 2016 at 08:51 PM about the 2003 Dodge RAM 1500 SLT 4WD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

First, let me thank anyone who provides any advice in advance for their time.
I'll try to make my long story short!

I bought a 2003 Ram 1500 4.7 V8 last week. It had a few lights out when I
bought it, but I didn't really think much of it except that I'd need to replace a
few bulbs or maybe a socket. So much for that!

Essentially, there are a number of electrical components which aren't
functioning at all. These are the one's I'm aware of:

-Interior overhead console
-Driver side rear turn signal
-All brake lamps (driver side, passenger side, and third brake light)
-Driver and passenger side reverse lights
-Driver side power mirror

Interestingly, the rear parking lights, the passenger side rear turn signal, and
the cargo lamps (the white lights within the third brake light) all work. The
passenger side power mirror also works. The driver side brake lamp was
working in the beginning of my troubleshooting, but I seem to have done
something which caused it to go out and I can't get it working again.

I decided to start by troubleshooting the rear brake lights so I replaced all
bulbs, checked all fuses/relays, and switched the left socket (circuit board?) to
the right and vice versa. The passenger side rear turn signal continued to work
after the socket swap and the driver side rear turn signal continued to not
function. To me this would indicate the issue isn't the sockets. I also looked at
the wiring underneath the truck and there are no obvious issues with it. I also
checked the brake light switch underneath the dash and the plug was fully
seated. I reseated it just to be sure.

After doing a bunch of research it appears these trucks have fuse boxes and
front control modules that are susceptible to corrosion. This truck was driven
in the mud, so it isn't a stretch to imagine moisture getting into the fuse box or
FCM if those components weren't properly sealed. Can anyone offer any other
testing suggestions before I try to replace one or both of the above?

1 Answer

20

having a bad battery in bad cables is only going to cause a problem if you were Vehicles not getting the proper amount of amps. But if it's not doing that it's likely not even going to turn on or start much less having minor electrical issues. Electrical issues come from fuses, relays, control modules and wires. I have seen other people with similar problems who have found the relay switch in the fuse box to be the problem. Number 73 to be exact. If I were you I would start there. The only stupid thing about these relay switches is that you can't test them like you could have simple fuse. You have to basically pull it out and put a new one in in order to see if the old one was bad.

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