1998 dodge dakota 3.9L 4wd two-tone paint (white w/ silver rocker panels) and gray interior and a dent behind the left rear wheel well

so i bought a piece of shit BWD headlight switch from advance. bought it 12/17/08. had a 1 yr warranty. starting fucking up around xmas . so what's a decent brand w/o having to go to the dealership. i think ACdelco part #C1524 is it. where can i get the delco one besides online? any better ones y'all can suggest? would it be worth it to get the OEM part? tired of having to fiddle with the switch to get my damn headlights to come on and i'm tired of having to change it every year.

1/1/2010 8:21:57 PM

what's the price difference between the one you got and OEM? any kind of longer warranty on any of the others?

1/1/2010 8:46:24 PM

idk what the OEM price is. they're closed and apparently you can't just look that shit up online. at least not on the mopar website. 1 year replacement is all i've seen. i don't know if the delco switch comes with a warranty. it doesn't at the places i've found it online. i'd rather just get it from a local parts store if possible.

[Edited on January 1, 2010 at 8:50 PM. Reason : BWD switch was $25 at advance retard auto parts]

[Edited on January 1, 2010 at 8:51 PM. Reason : vatozone has a duralast brand switch]

1/1/2010 8:49:51 PM

Quote :

"two-tone paint "

well theres your problem right there.

are the contacts fucked up on the pig tail?

1/2/2010 9:23:42 AM

I'm thinking the dent behind the rear left wheel damaged a wire which is now shorting out.

1/2/2010 11:14:34 AM

The wiring in the plug is usually the problem. The original switch that went bad had damaged the plug already, then replacing the switch only delayed problems with it. Depending on how poor the connections at the switch have been, theres a good chance it has gotten so bad now that the otherwise good switch is fucked up. Take it apart and look at the wiring, it takes 10 minutes tops. If its like my Ram then you can clip the wires and splice new spade terminals onto them and plug right a new BWD switch. OR clip a good end at LKQ and splice it into the harness. Take the reciept from the new switch, put the old switch in the box, wait a month and return it.

[Edited on January 2, 2010 at 2:12 PM. Reason : do you have any aftermarket lighting shit on the truck? pull a trailer with lights a lot?]

1/2/2010 2:11:49 PM

it had a set of OEM fog lights installed before i got it. it didn't come with them, but the guy installed them with all the OEM pigtails and switches just like if it had come with the fog light option. it also has a set of hella driving lights that i installed, but they're completely independent of any of the other lighting systems. i use them fairly regularly. i got the hot wire coming right off the hot feed into the power distribution center and have them on a separate toggle switch under the dash. i pull my boat with lights every now and then, but haven't lately. the truck also has a CB radio, VHF marine radio, and a satellite radio receiver if it matters. all of these draw power right off the hot lead into the PDC as well.

it hasn't given me any trouble in the past couple of nights. i'll pull it apart and look at the connector this coming week. that switch from advance never felt right from the beginning. just feels sloppy compared to the OEM switch.

i also just remembered that a couple times when it acted up the headlights have remained on, but the instrument lights on the dash went out. i assume the parking lights were out too, but i was driving down the road and couldn't tell for sure. i also don't know if the taillights are going out with the headlights. they're usually on the same relay, right?

i despise electrical shit

1/3/2010 12:42:25 AM