Headlight Dilemma

[Mmcneil]

I purchased a 2005 5.7L V8 Dodge Ram Daytona from a family member. I have had it for about a year and I took it to the mechanic to get some maintenance. My left blinker light has been out for a while. I haven’t changed it out of pure, laziness. But when I took it to the mechanic, they said the blinker lights were melted to the headlight assemblies. When I talked to my cousin, he said they had already replaced the assemblies once, less than two years ago from Amazon (oddly they can’t find these in their purchase history). I asked him what kind of bulbs he put into the headlights, and he said LED bulbs. I then asked if they had installed an adapter and they said no. That being said, there may have already been an adapter installed, I haven't checked yet. Can LED bulbs go in the 2005 model without an adapter? I’m so confused as to why it melted again, any tips? Is this due to a cheap purchase from Amazon? Is there somewhere I can purchase assemblies that won’t melt? Does anyone have any clue as to what has happened? Ps I'm a female and this is my first Dodge Pickup so please excuse any obvious ignorance.

 

[crash68]

There are LEDs that use a rubber bushing to mount into the housing, but those types would be doubtful melt into the housing.
You can find just about any size lightbulb for a vehicle nowadays.

 

[Atcer2018]

I purchased a 2005 5.7L V8 Dodge Ram Daytona from a family member. I have had it for about a year and I took it to the mechanic to get some maintenance. My left blinker light has been out for a while. I haven’t changed it out of pure, laziness. But when I took it to the mechanic, they said the blinker lights were melted to the headlight assemblies. When I talked to my cousin, he said they had already replaced the assemblies once, less than two years ago from Amazon (oddly they can’t find these in their purchase history). I asked him what kind of bulbs he put into the headlights, and he said LED bulbs. I then asked if they had installed an adapter and they said no. That being said, there may have already been an adapter installed, I haven't checked yet. Can LED bulbs go in the 2005 model without an adapter? I’m so confused as to why it melted again, any tips? Is this due to a cheap purchase from Amazon? Is there somewhere I can purchase assemblies that won’t melt? Does anyone have any clue as to what has happened? Ps I'm a female and this is my first Dodge Pickup so please excuse any obvious ignorance.

So your truck is 18 years old and while headlight assemblies aren’t something that typically go bad, age does catch up with anything. When you say the mechanic said the bulbs melted into the assemblies I’m thinking the mechanic means the bulb socket melted not the actual plastic headlight assembly. I’ve seen bulb sockets melt on far newer vehicles using the standard OEM bulbs. The sockets are replaceable and are part of the vehicle wiring not the actual headlight assembly. Your cousin most likely replaced the headlight assemblies because an 18 year old housing was deteriorating and yellowed beyond practical use. Hopefully the headlight housings are still serviceable after the turn signals are repaired. As for the LED bulb? It could be a faulty or poor quality bulb caused the melting or the socket was old and at the end of its use. I’m not sure what year RAM/Dodge began using PWM and made the lighting part of the CANBUS. A 2005 may not be sensitive to the lower voltage requirement of a LED bulb. It’s also possible that your cousin used CANBUS ready bulbs therefore no adapter was required. You asked why it melted again, did your cousin or their mechanic specifically state that the assembly was replaced due to a melted socket or the assembly was replaced for some other reason. I ask because the assembly and the socket are two different parts. The bulb sits in a socket that attaches to the the truck wiring and then that socket gets placed into the headlight housing. You’d almost need a fire to melt the bulb socket into the headlight assembly. I bring this up because if the mechanic is telling you that you need new headlight assemblies I’d be skeptical and get a second opinion. Socket replacement yes, whole headlight assembly, not likely.

 

[Smokeybear01]

My '05 still needed the resistors even though the bulbs I purchased stated they were Canbus ready bulbs. I ended up replacing every bulb on the truck with LED and needed six resistors total. The resistors do get hot when in use and need to be mounted on metal, but the bulbs (LED) never even get barely warm. I've heard that the newer Canbus ready bulbs will work with our '05's, but I haven't seen it in person and until I do, I won't believe it. That's just me. Good luck with your first truck.

 

[Ole Buck]

So your truck is 18 years old and while headlight assemblies aren’t something that typically go bad, age does catch up with anything. When you say the mechanic said the bulbs melted into the assemblies I’m thinking the mechanic means the bulb socket melted not the actual plastic headlight assembly. I’ve seen bulb sockets melt on far newer vehicles using the standard OEM bulbs. The sockets are replaceable and are part of the vehicle wiring not the actual headlight assembly. Your cousin most likely replaced the headlight assemblies because an 18 year old housing was deteriorating and yellowed beyond practical use. Hopefully the headlight housings are still serviceable after the turn signals are repaired. As for the LED bulb? It could be a faulty or poor quality bulb caused the melting or the socket was old and at the end of its use. I’m not sure what year RAM/Dodge began using PWM and made the lighting part of the CANBUS. A 2005 may not be sensitive to the lower voltage requirement of a LED bulb. It’s also possible that your cousin used CANBUS ready bulbs therefore no adapter was required. You asked why it melted again, did your cousin or their mechanic specifically state that the assembly was replaced due to a melted socket or the assembly was replaced for some other reason. I ask because the assembly and the socket are two different parts. The bulb sits in a socket that attaches to the the truck wiring and then that socket gets placed into the headlight housing. You’d almost need a fire to melt the bulb socket into the headlight assembly. I bring this up because if the mechanic is telling you that you need new headlight assemblies I’d be skeptical and get a second opinion. Socket replacement yes, whole headlight assembly, not likely.

My 04 is VERY sensitive to low voltage led's.

 

[Atcer2018]

My 04 is VERY sensitive to low voltage led's.

So is my 18 but her cousin could very well have used CANBUS ready bulbs. Still don’t see how a bulb could melt a headlight housing but then again the OP hasn’t been back to converse or give an update.

 

[Mmcneil]

So your truck is 18 years old and while headlight assemblies aren’t something that typically go bad, age does catch up with anything. When you say the mechanic said the bulbs melted into the assemblies I’m thinking the mechanic means the bulb socket melted not the actual plastic headlight assembly. I’ve seen bulb sockets melt on far newer vehicles using the standard OEM bulbs. The sockets are replaceable and are part of the vehicle wiring not the actual headlight assembly. Your cousin most likely replaced the headlight assemblies because an 18 year old housing was deteriorating and yellowed beyond practical use. Hopefully the headlight housings are still serviceable after the turn signals are repaired. As for the LED bulb? It could be a faulty or poor quality bulb caused the melting or the socket was old and at the end of its use. I’m not sure what year RAM/Dodge began using PWM and made the lighting part of the CANBUS. A 2005 may not be sensitive to the lower voltage requirement of a LED bulb. It’s also possible that your cousin used CANBUS ready bulbs therefore no adapter was required. You asked why it melted again, did your cousin or their mechanic specifically state that the assembly was replaced due to a melted socket or the assembly was replaced for some other reason. I ask because the assembly and the socket are two different parts. The bulb sits in a socket that attaches to the the truck wiring and then that socket gets placed into the headlight housing. You’d almost need a fire to melt the bulb socket into the headlight assembly. I bring this up because if the mechanic is telling you that you need new headlight assemblies I’d be skeptical and get a second opinion. Socket replacement yes, whole headlight assembly, not likely.

I haven't taken it out yet, but I will update when I do it in the next couple of days. What it looks like is that the reflector on the headlight assembly melted. My cousin replaced them because they melted the first time. I'm not sure on the type of bulb but on the right side the reflector is melted onto the bulb but it still works and on the left side the reflector is also melted onto the bulb but the bulb burned out. However, I don't think the reflector really impacts the headlight function too much. When I open it up to I will see if the socked is melted in which case I will replace it. I had actually purchased some rock auto bulbs that are 3059 CP but haven't put them in yet. Are those ok to use?

 

[Atcer2018]

I haven't taken it out yet, but I will update when I do it in the next couple of days. What it looks like is that the reflector on the headlight assembly melted. My cousin replaced them because they melted the first time. I'm not sure on the type of bulb but on the right side the reflector is melted onto the bulb but it still works and on the left side the reflector is also melted onto the bulb but the bulb burned out. However, I don't think the reflector really impacts the headlight function too much. When I open it up to I will see if the socked is melted in which case I will replace it. I had actually purchased some rock auto bulbs that are 3059 CP but haven't put them in yet. Are those ok to use?

I’m confused, you originally stated that the turn signal bulb melted a portion of the headlight housing. Your last post states the bulb melted the reflector. I’m no expert so for clarification when you say the reflector do you mean the shiny silver reflective panel around the headlight bulbs? I believe that silver angular panel is the reflector but in fairness the amber colored plastic covering on the turn signal does resemble a plastic reflector that is used to mark driveways and roadways at night. If your turn signal bulb is melting that silver reflector around the headlight bulb then something is really wrong! The bulb doesn’t actually touch the headlight plastic on the inside so neither an incandescent or LED bulb should be getting hot enough to melt plastic. Unless it’s a really poor aftermarket headlight assembly. The bulb on the turn signal sits in a socket so any heat generated by the bulb would directly contact the socket not the assembly. I have a 4th Gen truck so I’m not intimately familiar with the model number bulb your truck uses, I’m not familiar with a 3059 bulb. Could it be a 3057? A 3057 bulb only puts out 26 watts at full brightness which would be the turn signals and about 8 watts on low which would be marker or running lights. Those power figures should not generate enough heat to melt the reflector/lens/housing. When you pull the headlight out to investigate please post back what you find. I’m interested in what’s going on with that bulb.

 

[GTyankee]

Maybe you can take some pix, once the headlight is out

headlight removal video

Dodge Ram 1500 - HEADLIGHT REPLACEMENT / REMOVAL (2002 - 2008)

Step-by-step guide on how to replace / remove front headlights (headlamps) and front headlight light bulbs on Dodge Ram 1500 truck ( 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 200...

www.youtube.com

use a paper towel to handle any bulbs
the oil in your fingers will cause the bulb to burn out much faster than normal

 

[Justthebutler]

Are you sure they are LED and not HID? A friend of mine installed HID and they got so hot they melted the reflector