Electrical Grelim Issue

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madrock

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Hi all. My 2012 Ram 1500 has been acting weirdly over the last week. I’ll be driving along when I hear a chime, the service tire system error pops up, and then changes to the driver unbuckled error. All the while, several dash lights are on, my low beam turn on themselves, my wiper blades turn on themselves, and the radio reboots. I have searched for this but haven’t had any luck finding a resolution. I changed my battery and alternator at the beginning of the year, but like I mentioned, this started in the last week. Battery connections are good, and the radio harness is good. Any thoughts?
 

smoothee

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I'm having similar issues with my '11 but it seems to be when I hit a bump and I lose my speedo/rpm as well. I'm away working so I haven't been able to dig into it yet. I'm running a new battery too. Are you pulling any codes? I made a thread on here not too long ago with a few screenshots of my codes but nobody chimed in. The main one that jumped out was ecu reset/recovery so I'm thinking a loose connection somewhere along the way, may be a similar situation going on in your case
 

NJMOPAR

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Open the TIPM and press down on all the fuses & relays, they have a tendency to 'walk' up out of their slots due to vibration.
There's also a major electrical connector behind the rear of the left front wheelwell liner, could check that & the PCM connections on the firewall.
 
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madrock

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I'm having similar issues with my '11 but it seems to be when I hit a bump and I lose my speedo/rpm as well. I'm away working so I haven't been able to dig into it yet. I'm running a new battery too. Are you pulling any codes? I made a thread on here not too long ago with a few screenshots of my codes but nobody chimed in. The main one that jumped out was ecu reset/recovery so I'm thinking a loose connection somewhere along the way, may be a similar situation going on in your case
That’s a good point. The CEL doesn’t stay lit up so I didn’t bother checking, but it does pull 8 codes. Four codes are for lost comms, but the other 4 codes are regarding my headlight bulbs. The odd thing is that as soon as I turn on my high beam, it shuts off.

B1638 - Right Hi Beam Control Circuit High
B1634 - Left Hi Beam Control Circuit High
B1630 - Right Low Beam Control Circuit High
B1632C - Left Low Beam Control Circuit High
 
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madrock

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It’s too late now, but I am going to check the headlight relays in the morning. I sure hope it’s not the TIPM.
 
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madrock

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Update: I had the battery, alternator, and starter tested. All came back as normal. All relays and fuses were firmly seated. Visual checks of the harnesses and grounding locations look good. It’s too hot to climb under and check them right now. I’m thinking more and more that it is a TIPM error. Every time I clear the codes, both low beam codes come right back.
 

jws123

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Update: I had the battery, alternator, and starter tested. All came back as normal. All relays and fuses were firmly seated. Visual checks of the harnesses and grounding locations look good. It’s too hot to climb under and check them right now. I’m thinking more and more that it is a TIPM error. Every time I clear the codes, both low beam codes come right back.
Maybe something in the low beam wire/circuit is shorting out making everything go nutz does your truck have stock headlights? or aftermarket led ect.
 
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madrock

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Maybe something in the low beam wire/circuit is shorting out making everything go nutz does your truck have stock headlights? or aftermarket led ect.
I have the Tyco projectors with led bulbs. I’ve had this setup since last October though.
 

jws123

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I have the Tyco projectors with led bulbs. I’ve had this setup since last October though.
Un plug one headlight at a time and see if the issue goes away one of them could have a issue. I have never had luck with aftermarket LED headlights they dont last have seen all kinds of funky things caused by them.
 
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madrock

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I unplugged both headlights, but the gremlin is still present. At one point, the gear indicator even changed color with a new error message.

The truck was in park, but it was reading as if it was in reverse. It caused my head unit to show the backup camera screen.
 

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jws123

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I unplugged both headlights, but the gremlin is still present. At one point, the gear indicator even changed color with a new error message.

The truck was in park, but it was reading as if it was in reverse. It caused my head unit to show the backup camera screen.
You for sure have something shorting out somewhere you need someone with a good scan tool to read codes not your cheap autozone one either. Is the head unit aftermarket? If so just like you ruled headlights out Un plug it I have seen plenty of hack job installs on aftermarket head units.
 

jawzs2

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I had a very similar experience with my 2010 right after I installed a PAC Nu-CHY2 for nav in motion. Intermittently, all gauges in the cluster would go to zero, wipers and headlights came on by themselves, chimes dinging constantly. When I took it back apart, one of the pins to the radio, was bent not making good contact, straightened it out and all my issues went away. I caught you mentioned you already checked the radio connection, just curious what prompted you to go that route, any previous work in that area? May not hurt to double check.
 

weldguy

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We had a Charger cruiser that had chimes, gauges and headlights that flickered at will. New battery and alternator didn't help. We finally found a tech who was more than a parts swapper who found a loose ground. Problem solved!!!
 

20IndyRam

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Ignition switch?

Had a problem with my '06 Chrysler "re-booting". Auto headlamps would turn off, dash would re-boot, radio would re-boot. Would not set codes. Started happening consistently on my drive to/from work (concrete roads).

Turned out it was a bad internal connection on the ignition switch (dash mounted). The weight of the keyring combined with rough roads would cause an intermittent and reboot the BCM. Took me forever to find. I troubleshot the problem by removing everything from the key - reboots disappeared.

Replaced the switch and haven't had a problem for ~6 years.
 

KansasArt

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Might have to get a wiring diagram and check for a good positive & ground before and after each item on your headlight circuit. Very, very time consuming.
 

Dusty

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We had a Charger cruiser that had chimes, gauges and headlights that flickered at will. New battery and alternator didn't help. We finally found a tech who was more than a parts swapper who found a loose ground. Problem solved!!!
Good suggestion. Because of the nature of this problem and not directly related circuits, a poor connection at a common ground point could be the problem, especially on an older vehicle.

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33-gallon fuel tank, factory dual exhaust, 18” wheels. Build date: 3 June 2018. Now at 78455 miles
 

RamDiver

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We had a Charger cruiser that had chimes, gauges and headlights that flickered at will. New battery and alternator didn't help. We finally found a tech who was more than a parts swapper who found a loose ground. Problem solved!!!

^^^^^^
This was my first thought when I started reading this thread. The voltage supply & ground are the only common items with all these different systems that are misbehaving.

First, clean the battery terminals and clamps, and add a thin coating of dielectric grease. One of these cleaning tools is dirt cheap from Amazon or your local auto parts dealer and always useful to have. I try to clean mine annually at the very least.

battery post cleaner.jpg

Verify there's no battery voltage drop happening on the positive or negative side of the battery. Obviously, a ground fault will appear on the negative side. This video describes the basic methods used for testing for a voltage drop on either the positive or negative side.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX5djxG24oI

In the video demo, he tests for the potential difference between the negative battery terminal and the alternator housing. You can also test for a potential difference anywhere between a ground block or connection and the alternator housing.

Sometimes older ground blocks get dirty and develop a resistive condition that will result in a voltage drop. Clean them up and problem solved.

.
 
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