Different electrical problem

[djduk]

96 dodge gran caravan
the running lights wont turn off, tried the normal stuff but not being much of an electrican i am lost
the only way i can get them off is to pull the fuse which is a pain for the mrs
I figure the problem might be the dash mounted light switch selector- good guess?

Any Ideas?

[woscarr]

Your daytime running lights module is fried.

Under the hood, passenger side firewall, there should be a black box, it's the module. Unplugging it will solve your problem and you will have a new smaller problem. The high beam indicator will not function with the module unplugged, the high beam lights will still work tho.

Of course if your not cheap skate like myself... Replacing the module will also fix the prob., I don't know how much they cost.

[woscarr]

Well after posting a reply here to you I decided to go out and grab my daytime running light module from under the hood and bring it in and pick it apart.

After spending about a hour getting the small circuit board out of the module case I immediately discovered why it wasn't working. The circuit board was imbedded in silicon sealant and was a bugger to extract.

After extracting and cleaning the small circuit board I could plainly see what was wrong, I also noticed what seemed to be a design flaw.

The problem... The transistor in the corner and resistor was de-soldiered from the board.!

The flaw... The transistor had some sort of plastic device coming from the plug assembly that held the transistor against the outside metal housing. I discovered it with at least a 2mm gap between the transistor and metal housing !

Of course this is why the transistor and resistor where de-soldiered from the board... a transistor with the only way to disperse the heat was down thru it's own feet back onto the board... a recipe for eventual failure.

I removed the piece of plastic in front of the transistor and marked it and drilled the outside housing and sanded it, re-soldiered everything connected the transistor with a nut and bolt and thermal grease...

And guess what... I got daytime running lights again !

Only thing left to do is fill it with silicon sealant again !? I might look into other ways of water proofing. Any suggestions ?

Cheer's
Wayne

[slantsixness]

Wayne,
Don't use silicone. It'll break down and break the connections again.
Spray it with a conformal coating, or even clear poly spray paint (NOT METALLIC!!!!). And, if it does break again you can fix it again. seal the box with a little electrical tape. That will seal it well enough for any climate or conditions.

Slantsixness