98 dodge 2500, electrical

[inshock]

Hi all, Having a problem with my Dodge truck.
Just a bit of history. Yesterday went to start and starter just clicked. Charged the battery, truck started, but would not idle without stalling. All symtoms pointed to bad distributor cap and rotor. Changed it and it ran fine.

Now to the heart of the matter.
Today I found that the interior lights and radio do not work. All fuses are fine in block and distribution panel. When I turn the radio on I hear the amp turn on, but no clock or sound. Are these circuits related?
Instrument lights work fine, except for the "key-in-switch" halo light on steering column. All other circuits seem OK.
The truck started up fine this morning with no issues like yesterday.

Any suggestions on what to look for?... or where to find a good wiring diagram?...The only part I could not check was the delay timer supposedly in the ciruit. Where would I find this timer? Any other suggestions?

Thanks, Stan

[BleedDodge]

That doesn't sound good at all. I don't know what to tell you...

[knucklebuster2]

I would check battery connections first, and then all the grounds (to engine block, firewall,etc).

[inshock]

Been looking at this all morning. What seems to have happened is...I added lighted running boards a few years ago and patched into the dome light circuit. One of the connections shorted to the body due to corrosion and knocked the interior lighting circuit out. All my fuses in the fuse box check out OK.There must be a fusable link or fuse that I have not located yet (or the time delay relay) that needs to be fixed/replaced. Does anyone know where any of these are located in the circuit??? Please give me an idea if you know.
Once I fix the lighting circuit I will work on the radio. The radio is getting power and has a good ground. I am starting to believe that I will have to replace the head unit.

[inshock]

Hi all,
Upon further investigation it seems that the pink wire that feeds the interior lights also runs some power to the radio (reasons unknown). I ended up splicing a new feed to the interior lights and one to the pink feed to the radio and everything works just fine.
From what I could gather from the incomplete wiring diagrams in the Haynes manual for my truck(would never buy another Haynes) there is a junction point in the pink feed wire someplace after the fuse box. Somehow this junction must have corroded or got smoked when my running board lights shorted causing my problems as described previously.
Hope someone else can benefit from my experience.
Stan

[EDWARD G]

Radio Don't Work After Rain