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  1. #1
    Junior Member Registered Member
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    Question 2005 Dodge Caravan Headlight Switch Problem?

    Hoping someone else has encountered this one... Have a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan. Occasionally, if you turn the vehicle on, switch the headlight switch to on and drive away the headlights won't be on. Then if you turn the switch to off then back to on, it works. My delaership has no idea and can find no problem code in the drive computer. Suggestions?

    Cheers
    Steve

  2. #2
    Spam Reaper Site Moderator Slanter's Avatar
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    The dealership tried to diagnose it with a computer? Sigh. Some people rely on these way too much - chances are the computer would not even be capable of detecting this problem. I'm pretty sure that the problem is the headlight switch itself, but I would pull it and test it with an ohmmeter before ordering a new one.

    And if something more serious happens, bring it to another dealership.
    Slanter - redefining "jury rigged repair" since 1997
    '66 Dodge Dart & 2000 Ford Focus -
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  3. #3
    Junior Member Registered Member
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    May 2006
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    Happened again tonight!

    Hi Slanter, thanks for your reply. Yes they did look for error codes and yes it sounds strange, but the switch isn't like the switch on my old 97 GCaravan... if you turn the lights on there is almost a delay where it seems like the switch is making a contact, closes a circuit on a relay somewhere and then the lights come on. Same delay with the high beam control. It wouldn't surprise me that the switch is read by a low voltage logic circuit feeding into the computer that then triggers a relay. Who knows why they wouldn't just have the old switch that they had before that behaved like an ordinary electro-mechanical switch. If the switch itself was defective would the problem be occurring frequently... it doesn't ... might happen one time in ten.

    Thanks

    Cheers
    Steve

  4. #4
    Spam Reaper Site Moderator Slanter's Avatar
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    I don't know, I've had defective switches that would work sometimes. My Ford Probe's ignition switch would sometimes cause the windshield wipers and trip computer to lose power. A computer normally won't sense if a switch fails to make contact, and may not be able to diagnose a failed relay either.

    If this is more than a simple switch, or switch and relay combination, the only way to troubleshoot it is going to be to get a factory wiring diagram.
    Slanter - redefining "jury rigged repair" since 1997
    '66 Dodge Dart & 2000 Ford Focus -
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