Hi all. I have a 97 Ford Ranger 2.3L, all of a sudden one day I was driving and as it got closer to night time, I turned on my lights, only to find out I have no parking lamps, no dash lights, and no tail lights! I remember hitting a hard bump earlier in the day...the headlights still work though. the parking lamps and tails will also light when the hazard lights are turned on.

I tried replacing the headlight switch, that was a bust, didn't fix the problem the fuse still blows (this is fuse #3 btw).

Also tried a recommendation from a friend to (since I have an aftermarket radio) pull out the fuse for the radio and then put in a new fuse for the parking lamps and try again, but to no avail, it still blew.

WHAT DO I DO!? HELP!

Dave

 

I would say that you probably have a short somewhere. You are going to have to trace every wire and also check the ground wires. Check for a bare wire touching metal.

 

i've been searching for as long as i can stand, is it going to be in the engine compartment/underbody or inside the dash? or a combo of both? I've checked every ground I know of, they are all attached still

 

Well for a temp fix, just put in a fuse with a higher rating. But yea, look for any exposed wires anywhere on your truck. I had a fuse blow on me when I was rewiring my 3rd brake light cuz one wire was touching metal.

 

Do not put in a fuse with a higher rating, you will melt wire possibly or start a fire. If you could find factory specs on each circuit that would help. You could check for voltage between certain sections of wire and also resistance with a meter. That would help you narrow it down. I know it is a pain to find especially when the wires are buried or wrapped in loom.

 

Ha, so maybe you shouldn't listen to me, lol. Especially since Im the one that currently has a nice piece of wire as a "fuse" cuz Im to lazy to buy more, lol.

 

For starters crawl under the rear of the truck and locate the plug for the rear lights and disconnect it.It should be near the drivers side frame rail.Also make sure any trailer wiring is disconnected.
If the fuse still blows , remove the bulbs from the front marker and turn signals.Be sure to check the sockets carefully.

 

Thanks for all the advice. I'll try those things tomorrow morning...however interestingly enough tonight I noticed something.

Normally, the lights around the headlight switch are only supposed to turn on when you turn on the parking lamps (2nd pos.) or headlights (3rd pos.) right? Mine do the opposite, they turn on in the OFF position, and turn off in the on positions...I've never noticed thsi before because now that I installed a new switch, my lovely bulb works again...any speculations on this?

I also recall some time ago hitting bumps in the road and my headlights would flash off and come back on...

 

Weird. I cannot even fathom how that would occur...

 

Hey all, I fixed it! With the help of my girlfriend's dad, we happened to check the trailer light wiring, and the ground wire (i think, was black) was melted and the wires were exposed, thus causing the fuse to blow etc.

Thanks for all your help. I don't tow anything, ever, so we just cut it out (it was like a terminal wired in...not sure why it was there in addition to the plug for the lights)

In regards to the headlight switch, the lights now stay on when i turn on the park lamps and headlights, however they are still on regardless, I'm assuming thats what its supposed to do...:)

Dave