2004 Dodge Dakota Headlights

Tiny
AZMN66
  • MEMBER
  • 2004 DODGE DAKOTA
  • V8
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 125,000 MILES
Long story short I had a old guy backed into my truck in a parking lot and broke my passanger side headlight, the whole thing not just a crack, so I went to a parts Yard and got a new one and replaced it myself. Now when the lights are on the passanger side is on brights and the driver is on normal when I turn on my brights the driver side goes bright as it should but the passanger turns off completely. Now obviously I made sure they are not in the wrong place, they are different sizes so it would fit even if I tried. Any ideas on what went wrong?
Thursday, March 18th, 2010 AT 3:46 PM

12 Replies

Tiny
TOOOMANYTOYS
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Try swapping the bulbs from passenger side to driver side and see if the concern moves. It may just need the correct bulb installed.
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Thursday, March 18th, 2010 AT 3:57 PM
Tiny
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Ok I will right now just fyi it was the same bulb as before
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Thursday, March 18th, 2010 AT 4:08 PM
Tiny
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Any luck? You might need to check the bulb socket and see if you have voltage and a good ground.
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Thursday, March 18th, 2010 AT 6:32 PM
Tiny
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Ok I tried it and its still messed up on the passanger side, driver side works corectly, so I switched the bulbs back let me know if you have any other ideas I will try ANYTHING we are going to be driving overnight to my parents house this weekend and I have got to have this fixed
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Thursday, March 18th, 2010 AT 6:44 PM
Tiny
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Check the passenger side headlight socket for power. Sould be three wires one ground one low beam power and one high beam wire. It may be necessary to trace the low beam power wire back.
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Thursday, March 18th, 2010 AT 8:34 PM
Tiny
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Well I looked at the wired I have a black one, a red one, and a purple with a thin red strip I know black is ground not sure what the other two are, what I dont understand is that its one bulb that works on high beam but not low beam. If it wasnt gounded properly then it would be flickering on and off right? Is there two different fuses for low and high beam? I checked my fuse box and couldnt find anything that said head light or any thing close to that. And even if it was a bad fuse then how is it backwards as far as the high beam on when it should be low bean and when I turn on the high beams it turns off. Let me know what you think
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Thursday, March 18th, 2010 AT 10:07 PM
Tiny
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Normally the fuse is for both low beams but the driver side low beam works. The black is the ground Check to see which wire is the high beam and which one is the low. If you have power at both the red and the purple when checking them you may have an issue with the socket itself, or the timer control module see diagram I sent.
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Friday, March 19th, 2010 AT 11:28 AM
Tiny
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https://www.2carpros.com/forum/automotive_pictures/462613_diagram_1.jpg

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Friday, March 19th, 2010 AT 11:37 AM
Tiny
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OK I know I will seem like an armature but how do I check it for power? And how do I find where the wire goes? As soon as it leaves the head light after 3 inches it meets up with a big bunch of wires that Tee off some go to this black box that I'm guessing is the computer and some go under the the fan and I guess end up at the fuse box on the driver side. Lastly you diagram is very hard to see is there any ways you might be able to get a bigger copy that I will be able to read what it says?
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Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 AT 10:22 AM
Tiny
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Sorry it took so long to get back with you. If you highlight the picture then right click you can save the diagram in an area where you can zoom in on it. Thats the only diagram I have and it will not zoom when I paste it. Using a voltmeter put the black probe on ground and red on low beam wire. Chances are if you dont have 12 volts at the low beam wire and the other light works you may need to see about swapping the headlight central timer module with a known good one.
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Wednesday, March 24th, 2010 AT 7:21 AM
Tiny
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Ok ill have to go get one, also driving back from my trip today I was in southern AZ and ran into heavy fog early morning while it was still dark my lights were doing something very strange. I had the low beams on and the driver side was hitting very low on the road and pointed way over to the passanger side, the passanger side was shooting way high in the air pointed way over to the driver side? Are they supposed to crisscross or are they supposed to be pointed straight ahead? Could it be that the low beams are one the passanger is just hitting so high that it appears to be the high beam? If so how do I ajust? And that would mean that the passanger side high beam is still not working as it should, should I continue with getting a volt meter and testing the wires? If you think it would be best for some pictures let me know and I can make that happen
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Wednesday, March 24th, 2010 AT 7:51 PM
Tiny
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You can adjust the headlmap assembly to get lights pointing correctly. Pulling the vehicle close to a wall or garage door you can adjust the lamps to proper level. Either way you still need to find out if you have 12 volts power on passenger side. With low beams on you should have 12 volts on one wire and with high beams on you should have voltage on the other wire. Compare to driver side to determine which wire is which.
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Thursday, March 25th, 2010 AT 8:48 AM

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