Dash lights and backlight for instrument LED screen wont go out

[Nate_G]

I found a fix to my problem which was just the backlight on the gauges were staying lit and draining the battery overnight. The difference between them being on and off is so subtle that I didn't realize it at first.

Short story is that I had a faulty AC and Heating control module beside the glove box. I replaced it and all is now good.

Long story: this is the Rube Goldberg of how to drain your battery. It starts with the infamous leaky third brake light. A few months after i bought the truck I noticed the headliner in the back corners were getting wet from an obvious roof leak. The dealer knew what was going on right away and replaced the stock gasket with a foam weather strip and some silicon.

Well I guess after a few years that foam weather seal broke down because I noticed the leak came back after a heavy rainstorm earlier this year. This time the water pooled up in the front right corner in front of the passenger seat, because of the angle my truck sits on the driveway. No worries, my weather tech floor mats kept the carpet from getting wet. But the problem I did have was that when I started the truck, the climate control system did not turn on. In fact the controls on the screen and the lights on the knobs didn't work. It was like it wasn't installed. So I pulled out the glove box and looked at the control module and sure enough, it was wet from the leak and I could smell burnt electronics. Well I knew enough about electronics to know that if you let them dry, they might still work. Sure enough, the next day after everything dried out, the climate control worked again. Hallelujah! I didn't have to spend $150 for a new one.

Well, what I didn't notice until a few weeks later and waking up to a dead battery a couple of times, which I blamed on a cheap battery that i had bought about the same time, was that the back light on the gauges were not turning off, and I wasn't hearing that creaking sound of the actuators on the vent doors closing anymore a minute after shutting off the engine. Once I realized that there was a shutdown sequence that was getting stuck somewhere, and doing some research, it all led back to that heating control module. I tested my theory and unplugged the module, and sure enough the lights would shut off as expected.

So I spent $150 on a new module on Ebay, and now everything is back to normal. Next step is to tear off that foam weather strip and replace it with a marine grade weather strip per advice on another thread forum.

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You are a true life saver!! I've been looking for the cure to this issue since June. I tested your theory and ordered the new part today. Thank you soooo much for posting!!

 

[Dean Newman]

GOT IT FIXED!! Forgive my ignorance, I have no mechanical experience and dont know what these parts are. Apparently the culprit was the steering angle sensor, or something like that. Evidently part of the clock spring. Replaced the clock spring and problem solved. 2 and a half years later. Fingers crossed it doesn't come back but I gave it a week before posting update.

What is the year make and model of your truck wondering if it's the same issue with mine I've been reading this forum and as of 2 days ago my truck has been leaving the dash lights on all the time I have been pulling the f49 fuse to kill the power to the dash but the dealer is telling me they never heard of this problem and they gave experienced techs to diagnose this problem.
Me having no warranty left on this vehicle I just dont want it dropped off and have the dealership deal with it for 27 days which I can't afford would love to know what the trouble is

 

[Dean Newman]

to all that are having dash light problems (staying on) I just had a 2016 ram slt with that problem and after spending an hour to figure it out I came up with the problem being the ac heater control module it is located on the far right hand side of the dash remove side panel for screw access and remove glove box to remove module. Unplug module just to confirm your problem goes away.

Is there any way you could post a pic of the module and where it is located exactly

 

[Mpgrimm2]

This will help. Behind the passenger air vent

M² Mods.

 

[sonloch]

I just had this issue with my 2014 RAM 1500 Big Horn. After reading this thread, I had all kinds of fear that this would cost a fortune to fix or take forever for the dealership to fix. Not only was my dash lights staying on and draining the battery, but the computer was throwing all kinds of codes (Service shifter, BCM error, Cooling Fan errors, 3 coolant valve errors, etc). Luckily the dealership had good trouble shooting technicians and found the issue pretty quickly. They found that if they pulled Fuse F60 which they say is for the hood lamp, the dash/shifter lights would go out. They went to the schematics to trace the circuit and that lead them to the connector I-230 (inline engine/dash harness connector, which is in the passenger side of the engine compartment) and found it was wet and mildly corroded. The said the hood lamp is on a constant power supply, and since it was running through this connector, the current draw was bleeding to the other pins because of the wetness, and this preventing the bus from going into sleep mode. They dried it out, cleaned all the pins and used dielectric grease to keep the moisture out. That resolved the battery draining issue and allowed my dash lights to go off when the truck was turned off, and stopped all the computer codes from being thrown.

 

[KevinFlores]

Hello, I am having this same problem on my 2015 ram 1500 Laramie. The dash lights will not go out when the truck is turned off. I have read and saw a lot of people with this same problem. Has anyone come up with a solid fix for this issue.

 

[8732cuts]

Hello, I am having this same problem on my 2015 ram 1500 Laramie. The dash lights will not go out when the truck is turned off. I have read and saw a lot of people with this same problem. Has anyone come up with a solid fix for this issue.

2018 Laramie is doing the same thing including no sounds coming from radio and it will not turn off?

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[PeteH]

OK, sonloch nailed it!!! I was having issues with battery drain overnight and today I caught the power drain and while trouble shooting saw the instrument cluster lights were on (had not seen that before). I pulled the F60 fuse and after the timeout the instrument lights went out. FYI, the F60 is for the under hood light that I don't have... go figure... I pulled the battery power, opened up the I-230 connector and lots of water came out. I also saw corrosion which I cleaned up. I used compressed air and blew more water out of the connector. We have had a lot of wet rain, snow lately. I suspect there were other symptoms like the the truck unlocked overnight (I have power door locks) and I had a 'check shiftier' error one day. I have a photos of the connector, if I could just figure out how to attach.
FYI, I love my truck. My wife loves my truck. This is the 4th truck I have owned and the best one so far.

 

[Bugman2013]

Mine turned out to be the external thermometer or something else in the driver side mirror. after all the things the dealer had tried I narrowed it down to the driver's side door by pulling a fuse. I suspected it was the door handle or proximity sensor key??? anyway after all the problems the dealer just replaced the whole mirror assembly. been good for a long while now.

 

[Sebec Saloon]

I've been having exactly the same issue with my 2016 6.7L diesel for the past 1.5yrs. Taken it to the dealer several times. Finally left it with dealer a week and they saw the dashboard lights come on after the truck was shut off. Happens randomly and sometimes goes on and off multiple times in a row. Dealer changed ignition switch, dashboard cluster, did some reprogramming and still keeps doing it. Dealer contacted Chrysler headquarters and a different technician says it's a BUS system that supposed to check various items like fuel temp and various other things. I dont buy this logic at all, but keep getting the run-around from the dealer. Battery saver mode message keeps coming on, too and battery gets weak after parking it several days. I'll try sharing your success story with the dealer in Maine I've been working with to see if it helps them find the cause, but I think they just dont know how to fix it so they tell me "Its supposed to do that and nothing of wrong with your truck". That BS...vehicles dont have dashboard light come on and off 5, 10, 20 times in a row to check vehicle status after the vehicle shuts off...we need to keep pushing Chrysler for a solution...this isn't right!!

 

[Sebec Saloon]

Jtuck82 - I have been having the same issue as you for the past 1.5 years. After working with the Dealer and getting nowhere fast, I was told by a technician that there is an IOD fuse which controls all monitoring functions of the vehicle when the vehicle is shut off. This fuse is the one that allows all of the critical vehicle systems to be monitored after you shut the vehicle off. When vehicles are shipped from the factory to the dealerships, the factor leaves this fuse OUT of the vehicle and the Factor requires the Dealer to install the fuse before selling the vehicle to customers. It is very common that at the dealership, that if vehicles are parked outside for several days without starting the vehicle and with this IOD fuse installed, especially in colder weather, that the vehicle's battery has to be boosted because the battery runs down. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why based on the fact that our dashboard lights come on and stay on for several minutes at a time, shut off, and then come back on again....over and over again while "Monitoring" the vehicles critical systems. This is presumed to be the reason why the Factory removes the IOD fuse from the vehicles before they ship them....so that the batteries are not dead upon arrival....which tells me that the Factor is aware of this issue. The FCA customer relations person assigned to my case has not been effective at all in helping to resolve the issue. Its as circular downward spiral where they listen to my concerns and agree that we have an issue that needs to be resolved, but when she speaks to the dealer and the dealer's tech tells them that since there are no "Codes" showing up on the truck when the check it with their computer that there is "NO PROBLEM" with my truck, there is "no problem" with the truck, all I hear back from the FCA customer relations person is that the technician is saying that there is "no problem" with the vehicle because there is no code showing up on their computer test equipment and so we don't think you have a problem. However, my battery has run down dangerously close to not starting on several occasions after it sits for 4 days in a parking lot at the airport while I travel each week and one of these days I am afraid it will be Dead when I get back to pick it up. Several times I have sat in my truck and witnessed the gauges all light up (right after shutting my truck off / keys in the ignition or out of the ignition...doesn't matter) for 5 minutes and then shut off for about 20 seconds and then come back on for another 5 min and then repeats this process for 5 or more times in row. Sometimes it will come on and stay on for hours. I am not getting anywhere with resolution and believe the only way out of this one is to contact a lawyer and push the issue legally. I think RAM is aware that they have a major issue and they don't want to deal with it globally. I believe they want consumers to take the hit and unless they use a legal approach, they will not spend time / money to fix the root cause(s) of this systemic problem. A company like Chrysler should know better than to treat repeat, loyal customers like this...its not good for business. I have purchased 3 vehicles in the past 3 years from the same RAM dealer...the least they can do is fix this problem. I am going to raise this issue up higher at the 1-800 number for customer care until someone there takes me seriously....this is NOT OK....

 

[Jason Woodward]

I bought my 2016 Big Horn 1500 back in February and now am seeing this same issue. It’s definitely frustrating. I currently have the F49 fuse pulled so it don’t drain my battery again. I’m starting to have regrets buying this truck after seeing all you alls complaints from the past few years. Maybe I should of stuck with a Ford! IDK

 

[Tach_tech]

I bought my 2016 Big Horn 1500 back in February and now am seeing this same issue. It’s definitely frustrating. I currently have the F49 fuse pulled so it don’t drain my battery again. I’m starting to have regrets buying this truck after seeing all you alls complaints from the past few years. Maybe I should of stuck with a Ford! IDK

They all have their own issues. Go on a F150/Silverado forum and guess what, it’s full of people having issues asking for help. No vehicle is immune to failures or weird quirks.

 

[madtrucker2016]

Maybe go into 8.4 radio settings under light and try just putting all the delay light settings to zero and see if that does anything think the truck has two light delays for your truck

 

[madtrucker2016]

It's a bug.. I've experienced it on both of my late model Ram's so far. I want to say that pulling underhood fuse F84 for a few seconds will reset it as it's a PITA for me to remove both battery cables on my 2500, especially since I have a lot of custom batt cables and term blocks installed. In most cases taking it to the dealer will be a waste of time (especially from reading some of the fixes). It's also one of those difficult things to diagnose, since once it's been reset, it doesn't just come right back. Mine has done it twice in a 2 year period and once on my last truck. I believe it's CAN bus related or initiated and something to do with the dash cluster module or it's assoc firmware getting into a locking up state.

One interesting thing I did note was that I was playing around with updating my Kenwood firmware and changing some vehicle settings through the Maestro the last time it happened. I've since turned off the extra OBD features of the radio to see if it is bus related. It's been a few weeks and no issues so far, but I also know that the problem is very intermittent.

If it happens again, I'll report back with the exact fuse number. I'm fairly sure that it was F84 on my 2500.

I think its China attacking our American trucks with a virus

 

[tom martley]

My 2019 Limited with 500 miles on it does same thing. Stays on acc. when I shut truck, and will not go off until I repeat the start stop cycle.

 

[Gene Dawg]

Oh good gosh! Just bought a used '14 1500, I've had it a month and this started happening to me, (nice of it to wait a month amirite!) Gonna take it back to the dealer today, with fingers crossed they are willing to help me out, been pulling the battery cable to limp along until I can get it looked at but yesterday while I hooked up the horn and lights went into panic mode and wouldn't shut off. I haven't seen that " symptom " mentioned on this thread. Anybody else ever have that problem?

 

[Burninfuel]

follow up on brand new ram 2500, dead battery after 4-5 days of being parked, dealer didn't stock and would have to wait ???
bought in Feb and now, last week, dealer had it and pulled the crew cab up, tore everything out, dash, carpets and replaced the complete interior wiring loom, back home and working, also got to pull the new trailer/ camper for a test drive to Bishop California and back to Topaz lake

 

[C-Salt]

I've read and re-read this thread in it's entirety. I have gained much headway from the catalogued frustrations of others. (and I salute you for your perseverance) I found through parasitic test that I have a 404mA draw through fuse 49. Several others have much smaller values yet I am still having to fully disconnect the battery overnight as pulling this fuse douses the lamp but doesn't cure the battery drain. (2014 1500SLT 5.7) I suspect the corroded connections several others have noted (will inspect the heater module as a starting point) but am unable to procure a schematic/Service manual to narrow this down. A diagram of this circuit would prove helpful. Further assistance in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Mpgrimm2]

My 2013+ Shared Schematics and other OEM Info.

M² Mods.