2019 HD Tail lights in a 4th gen

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superjoe83

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In this thread I'm going to show how I swapped 2019 HD 2500-3500 tail lights into a 2018 3500 (2019 1500 LED Tails will NOT fit). I'm not sure how this will work with older BCM's but if someone with an older truck wants to do this go ahead and post in this thread and I will do what I can to help.

I got my lights from ebay, I'm assuming off of a wrecked or flooded truck since the seller cut off the wiring pigtails for me which is a big help, you can buy the repair pigtails from the dealer but they are over $60 per side. Both tail lights use the same connector and are wired identically

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The hardest part of this project was adding the wires for the rear turn signals to the BCM, there is not much room to work and depending on the radio you have you may have to unbolt the amp and move it out the way to get to the BCM. The amplifier is held on by three screws, the farthest one up you have to fully remove, but the two lower ones you just have to loosen, they are a 7mm bolt, it makes more sense once you get your head under there and take a look.

The BCM is located to the left of the steering column up against the firewall, the two connectors you are interested in are the large cam lock connectors in the center of the BCM, labled C5/E and C6/F

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On C5 pin 3 is the output pin for the left rear turn signal
On C6 pin 42 is the output pin for the right rear turn signal

I don't have the proper terminals for the BCM connector so I have a temporary solution until I can source the proper terminals.

I used some 1/8 female spade terminals with the plastic insulation removed.

View media item 28376
I soldered the wire to the terminal, then with the connector still connected to the BCM I inserted the terminal and wire into the backside of the BCM connector then used a 90 degree pick to push the terminal into the BCM pin. Its not ideal, but for now it works. Once I get the correct terminals I will post the part number and where to get them, I'm going to order a few different kinds and hopefully will get the correct ones.

I ran the two turn wires through the grommet in the fire wall that the shifter cable goes through and followed the main harness back to the rear of the truck and up to each tail light.

I then cut off the factory tail light plugs and soldered and used heat shrink to attach the 2019 pigtails, the wire colors do not match so you will have to refer to the connector views to wire it up correctly. You can go to http://connectors.dcctools.com/home.htm and look up your truck and find the tail light connector and pinouts, its a really good resource for stuff like this.

View media item 28372
If you notice there a three wires that are not hooked to anything, those are the CAN IHS wires and power for the blindspot sensor, which will be my next project to see if I can get it to work on these trucks, I have a good feeling that I can get it working.

All taped up

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and installed
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Now to the AlfaOBD BCM setup

In the BCM "Car configuration change" menu go to "CBC I/O Rear Turn Lamps Output Present" Change it to "Yes"
Then go to "CBC Features-Combined Rear Lighting Enable" and select "No"
Then go to "CBC Features-Single Element Tail Lamp" select "Yes"

That is all I did to the BCM and I have no bulb out messages and the brake light drops out on the side that has the turn signal on. The only thing weird with this is that the red brake lights will flash when you lock/unlock the truck with the FOB, and will flash red when the hazards are on, but will flash amber when the regular turn signals are used.

I will get some video later tonight showing them working.

I'm sure I missed something, so reply if you have any questions.
 
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SitKneelBend

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I knew it could be done...looks good!

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Jimmy07

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In this thread I'm going to show how I'm going to swap 2019 tail lights into a 2018 3500. I'm not sure how this will work with older BCM's but if someone with an older truck wants to do this go ahead and post in this thread and I will do what I can to help.

I got my lights from ebay, I'm assuming off of a wrecked or flooded truck since the seller cut off the wiring pigtails for me which is a big help, you can buy the repair pigtails from the dealer but they are over $60 per side. Both tail lights use the same connector and are wired identically

View media item 28370
View media item 28369View media item 28367
The hardest part of this project was adding the wires for the rear turn signals to the BCM, there is not much room to work and depending on the radio you have you may have to unbolt the amp and move it out the way to get to the BCM. The amplifier is held on by three screws, the farthest one up you have to fully remove, but the two lower ones you just have to loosen, they are a 7mm bolt, it makes more sense once you get your head under there and take a look.

The BCM is located to the left of the steering column up against the firewall, the two connectors you are interested in are the large cam lock connectors in the center of the BCM, labled C5/E and C6/F

View media item 28365View media item 28366
On C5 pin 3 is the output pin for the left rear turn signal
On C6 pin 42 is the output pin for the right rear turn signal

I don't have the proper terminals for the BCM connector so I have a temporary solution until I can source the proper terminals.

I used some 1/8 female spade terminals with the plastic insulation removed.

View media item 28376
I soldered the wire to the terminal, then with the connector still connected to the BCM I inserted the terminal and wire into the backside of the BCM connector then used a 90 degree pick to push the terminal into the BCM pin. Its not ideal, but for now it works. Once I get the correct terminals I will post the part number and where to get them, I'm going to order a few different kinds and hopefully will get the correct ones.

I ran the two turn wires through the grommet in the fire wall that the shifter cable goes through and followed the main harness back to the rear of the truck and up to each tail light.

I then cut off the factory tail light plugs and soldered and used heat shrink to attach the 2019 pigtails, the wire colors do not match so you will have to refer to the connector views to wire it up correctly. You can go to http://connectors.dcctools.com/home.htm and look up your truck and find the tail light connector and pinouts, its a really good resource for stuff like this.

View media item 28372
If you notice there a three wires that are not hooked to anything, those are the CAN IHS wires and power for the blindspot sensor, which will be my next project to see if I can get it to work on these trucks, I have a good feeling that I can get it working.

All taped up

View media item 28373
and installed
View media item 28374View media item 28375
Now to the AlfaOBD BCM setup

In the BCM "Car configuration change" menu go to "CBC I/O Rear Turn Lamps Output Present" Change it to "Yes"
Then go to "CBC Features-Combined Rear Lighting Enable" and select "No"
Then go to "CBC Features-Single Element Tail Lamp" select "Yes"

That is all I did to the BCM and I have no bulb out messages and the brake light drops out on the side that has the turn signal on. The only thing weird with this is that the red brake lights will flash when you lock/unlock the truck with the FOB, and will flash red when the hazards are on, but will flash amber when the regular turn signals are used.

I will get some video later tonight showing them working.

I'm sure I missed something, so reply if you have any questions.
One thing to note, in case anyone hasn’t seen the other thread, is the tail lights need to be from a 2019 ram HD, not the 5th gen 1500s. Do you have part numbers of the one you used to post up? Is your truck a factory LED tail light truck? I know you mentioned in the other thread, but did you end up grounding the wire under the PDC that disables bulb out detection, or are you getting no errors without it being grounded? (1500 trucks don’t have this wire to ground)

Here’s the terminals you need for the BCM connectors- https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetai...=sGAEpiMZZMs7eK6h2EBtKsvrPGN8QRd7fLfzUUDQTlM=

I ordered two different connectors that might possibly be for the tail lights, but it’ll be about 2 weeks before I get them to confirm the part number, then there’ll be no need to buy the expensive repair kits from mopar.

I’m going to enable the single element feature this weekend to see if that takes care of my turn signal hyperflash. If that doesn’t work, I’ll run the fault sense wires and enable those and see what happens (my truck is factory incandescent tails).
 
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superjoe83

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One thing to note, in case anyone hasn’t seen the other thread, is the tail lights need to be from a 2019 ram HD, not the 5th gen 1500s. Do you have part numbers of the one you used to post up? Is your truck a factory LED tail light truck? I know you mentioned in the other thread, but did you end up grounding the wire under the PDC that disables bulb out detection, or are you getting no errors without it being grounded? (1500 trucks don’t have this wire to ground)

Here’s the terminals you need for the BCM connectors- https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Kostal/22140492060050-L?qs=sGAEpiMZZMs7eK6h2EBtKsvrPGN8QRd7fLfzUUDQTlM=

I ordered two different connectors that might possibly be for the tail lights, but it’ll be about 2 weeks before I get them to confirm the part number, then there’ll be no need to buy the expensive repair kits from mopar.

I’m going to enable the single element feature this weekend to see if that takes care of my turn signal hyperflash. If that doesn’t work, I’ll run the fault sense wires and enable those and see what happens (my truck is factory incandescent tails).

Good point on the 1500 lights, I'll edit my post to reflect that
I did not have to ground the wire under the PDC or disable DTC's with AlfaOBD, the BCM is happy with the lights, I will double check to make sure no faults were set, but I drove it around town for about a half hour and never got any bulb out messages. My truck is a factory LED Laramie
 
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wellsj89

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do you know the part numbers for the lights? i have been looking for them but can only find part numbers for the 1500 lights

thanks
 

Roman217

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@superjoe83 Let me know when you start testing the blind spot monitoring. The door modules look to have the outputs for blind spot warnings, I haven't pulled my door panel to make sure they aren't being used because it shares the pins with the puddle lamp but on the mirror harness, the blindspot warning lights have their own pins. Instead of replacing mirrors, I think the best bet is to wire in an LED to test and if all works, find a good way to integrate into the sail panels.

The BCM looks to have all the setting required to turn them on as well. So it's a matter of the the sensors having the same CAN messages as what the BCM/door modules expect.

The PDC also looks to have pins available to power the modules. After I get back from vacation, I may flip the setting in the BCM and see if the PDC gets power at those pins with the engine running.
 

Jimmy07

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@superjoe83 Let me know when you start testing the blind spot monitoring. The door modules look to have the outputs for blind spot warnings, I haven't pulled my door panel to make sure they aren't being used because it shares the pins with the puddle lamp but on the mirror harness, the blindspot warning lights have their own pins. Instead of replacing mirrors, I think the best bet is to wire in an LED to test and if all works, find a good way to integrate into the sail panels.

The BCM looks to have all the setting required to turn them on as well. So it's a matter of the the sensors having the same CAN messages as what the BCM/door modules expect.

The PDC also looks to have pins available to power the modules. After I get back from vacation, I may flip the setting in the BCM and see if the PDC gets power at those pins with the engine running.
I did some testing on the blind spot this weekend, and the truck wasn’t happy with this at all. Keeping in mind I’m only running testing on one new tail light for now, so might have something to do with it, but I doubt it. I ran the can ihs circuits from the tail to an empty slot on the can ihs junction block, tapped a run relay control circuit, and grounded pins 5&8 on the tail. First setting I enabled was CustSetMenu blind spot alert CSM. No problems there, it showed up in the radio and I was able to select on (note: I have an aftermarket radio with maestro, so, I don’t know if the factory radio will automatically unselect it). Next, I enabled VehConfig 7 active blind spot present. Next key cycle, the cluster went nuts. 4x4 light, esc, tcs, abs, and brake lights on. Scanned for 8 “U” communication faults, mostly abs, and steering related. There was a B fault for mismatched feature detected on body control module. I cleared all those out, changed the blind spot settings back, and had to run abs initialization. I think at the very least, you need the 2019 door modules (to be able to set the doors- blind spot mirror present). 2019 modules have 7 connectors, while pre-2019 modules have 5 connectors. All the circuit functions are rearranged across those 7 connectors, including the added blind spot circuit. I’m not seeing anywhere on a 2017 door module where the blind spot circuit “would be”. Then, even with the 2019 modules with all the new connectors and rearranged circuits in place, we’d have to hope all the messages for all the regular mirror functions are still the same.


On a side note, I got rid of the hyperflash by enabling single element tail lamp.
 

Roman217

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Did you enable the blind spot modules in the cabin network too?
Programmed ECUs: Cabin Network:
RBSS Right Blind-Spot Sensor: Not set
LBSS Left Blind-Spot Sensor : Not set
 

Jimmy07

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Did you enable the blind spot modules in the cabin network too?
Programmed ECUs: Cabin Network:
RBSS Right Blind-Spot Sensor: Not set
LBSS Left Blind-Spot Sensor : Not set
Yes, only the right side, though since that’s the tail light I have.
 

Roman217

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Did the cluster keep freaking out until you disabled the blind-spot sensors or was it ok after you cleared the DTCs? I've seen similar behavior when I tried to connect to CAN network using the wrong baud rates.

Are you sure you connected to CAN IHS and not the CAN C?

CAN C has the cluster and ABS modules so I can see why those would flip out with the blindspot module on the network. CAN C and CAN IHS operate at different speeds so when a module using the wrong speed is introduced, it all freaks out.

EDIT: @Jimmy07 PM'd you CAN-C and CAN-IHS topology information. The PDFs where too big to attach to the thread.
 
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Jimmy07

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Did the cluster keep freaking out until you disabled the blind-spot sensors or was it ok after you cleared the DTCs? I've seen similar behavior when I tried to connect to CAN network using the wrong baud rates.

Are you sure you connected to CAN IHS and not the CAN C?

CAN C has the cluster and ABS modules so I can see why those would flip out with the blindspot module on the network. CAN C and CAN IHS operate at different speeds so when a module using the wrong speed is introduced, it all freaks out.

EDIT: @Jimmy07 PM'd you CAN-C and CAN-IHS topology information. The PDFs where too big to attach to the thread.
Answered your PM before I saw this. Yes, I was using IHS, which is the white junction block with green connectors next to the steering shaft. The DTCs would not clear (immediately returned) until I removed the blind spot settings.
 

Roman217

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Answered your PM before I saw this. Yes, I was using IHS, which is the white junction block with green connectors next to the steering shaft. The DTCs would not clear (immediately returned) until I removed the blind spot settings.
So it was fine with the modules connected and not set to active in the BCM but would starting throwing the DTCs the moment it was activated in the BCM?

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Jimmy07

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So it was fine with the modules connected and not set to active in the BCM but would starting throwing the DTCs the moment it was activated in the BCM?

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Yes, as soon as I enabled VehConfig 7 is when it happened. It’s possible the mismatched feature body fault came in to play when I enabled the blind spot sensor, but since b faults don’t set the check engine light, I had no reason to check when it popped up.
 

Roman217

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I'm guessing they are mislabeled. At some point I will compare them to the pin outs of the Grand Cherokees since they share the door modules. My sister's summit has pretty well all the same functionality as my mirror plus the blind spot warning. So theoretically, there are pins to handle the features. looking at the door module pin outs, it looks like some outputs are duplicated, so odds are they mislabeled some things in the diagram.

After I get back from my trip, I am going to do some testing with the blind spot monitors. Maybe if my sister lets me pull her Jeep apart, I'll pull the module, connect it, and see if it causes the can bus to freak out. The 2014 GC modules should be of the same "vintage" as my 2015 RAM so the CAN messages should hopefully be compatible. So I don't necessarily expect them to work as designed but it will be a good gauge to see if they are recognized. The BCMs between the GC and Rams are almost identical as well and the two platforms seem to share a lot of other modules, too.

Otherwise, I will also set all the BSM related settings in the BCM and see if it causes any errors. I still find it odd that it messed with your ABS and IPC modules as they should be on a different CAN network. I can see some module going into an error state and spamming the bus with messages and causing a DoS situation on the network but that shouldn't impact the CAN C network. Though if it is the BCM causing the message storm maybe it would spam the other network as well.

I think with alfaOBD you can see the raw CAN BUS traffic. If you are willing to try it, connect everything back up, set the codes in the BCM, then look at the raw output to see if something is spamming the network withe messages. It should all theoretically come from the same sender if its a single module that is erroring out.

On another note, I have a buddy that works as an engineer at FCA. Maybe I can convince him to look up the CAN DB for a 2014 and 2017 GCs and the 2019 RAM 1500/2500 to see if the messages are different and how different they are since the new RAMs have way more features for blind spot monitoring than the Jeeps.
 

Jimmy07

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I'm guessing they are mislabeled. At some point I will compare them to the pin outs of the Grand Cherokees since they share the door modules. My sister's summit has pretty well all the same functionality as my mirror plus the blind spot warning. So theoretically, there are pins to handle the features. looking at the door module pin outs, it looks like some outputs are duplicated, so odds are they mislabeled some things in the diagram.

After I get back from my trip, I am going to do some testing with the blind spot monitors. Maybe if my sister lets me pull her Jeep apart, I'll pull the module, connect it, and see if it causes the can bus to freak out. The 2014 GC modules should be of the same "vintage" as my 2015 RAM so the CAN messages should hopefully be compatible. So I don't necessarily expect them to work as designed but it will be a good gauge to see if they are recognized. The BCMs between the GC and Rams are almost identical as well and the two platforms seem to share a lot of other modules, too.

Otherwise, I will also set all the BSM related settings in the BCM and see if it causes any errors. I still find it odd that it messed with your ABS and IPC modules as they should be on a different CAN network. I can see some module going into an error state and spamming the bus with messages and causing a DoS situation on the network but that shouldn't impact the CAN C network. Though if it is the BCM causing the message storm maybe it would spam the other network as well.

I think with alfaOBD you can see the raw CAN BUS traffic. If you are willing to try it, connect everything back up, set the codes in the BCM, then look at the raw output to see if something is spamming the network withe messages. It should all theoretically come from the same sender if its a single module that is erroring out.

On another note, I have a buddy that works as an engineer at FCA. Maybe I can convince him to look up the CAN DB for a 2014 and 2017 GCs and the 2019 RAM 1500/2500 to see if the messages are different and how different they are since the new RAMs have way more features for blind spot monitoring than the Jeeps.
Could the BCM be redirecting messages because it’s the master node? We do know that the IPC comes into play on the 2019s for the cross path detection and audible chime.

I’m now seeing what you’re seeing with the door modules. While the Jeep GC and ram modules are completely different part numbers, they share the same connectors, and the features they do share are all in the correct pin locations. It looks like the approach light and blind spot indicator share the same return circuit, and the unused pin 3 on our C1 connector *SHOULD BE* the blind spot indicator driver if it’s enabled.

Hopefully @superjoe83 will give this a shot, since he’s got both tail lights installed, and that could make all the difference. I’m in a dilemma right now trying to find a left tail. I can find them without the sensor all day long for cheap, but not one with a sensor, and new they’re ~$500. If we can figure out that this’ll work, I’ll hold out until I find one with the sensor, but right now, there just aren’t enough wrecked HDs out there, I guess.
 

Roman217

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Check car-part, I found a few for right around $300 just not ready pull the trigger quite yet.

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superjoe83

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So, I have a update about the blind spot stuff, I ran two sets of twisted pair wires and a ignition power wire back to the tail lights and hooked them up. I enabled the right and left blind spot sensor modules in the BCM, but when I did this I immediately got a couple fault messages on my EVIC

View media item 28379View media item 28380
When I checked the BCM for faults I got a left blind spot module no communication fault. But it seemed like it was talking to the right sensor. Since these rams never came with blind spot monitoring, I had to select a different vehicle with alfa which did have blind spot sensors, in this case I chose a dodge charger, and went to the main module menu and chose "Object Detection" which has all of the blind spot modules listed

View media item 28381View media item 28382
I selected the right blind spot module and was able to connect to it, it had a code in it for loss of communication with the left blind spot module, I double checked my wiring and even connected the bus wires I had on the right tail light to the left one but I could never get communications with the left light. I don't know if I have a bad taillight or something else is not correct.
 

Jimmy07

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So, I have a update about the blind spot stuff, I ran two sets of twisted pair wires and a ignition power wire back to the tail lights and hooked them up. I enabled the right and left blind spot sensor modules in the BCM, but when I did this I immediately got a couple fault messages on my EVIC

View media item 28379View media item 28380
When I checked the BCM for faults I got a left blind spot module no communication fault. But it seemed like it was talking to the right sensor. Since these rams never came with blind spot monitoring, I had to select a different vehicle with alfa which did have blind spot sensors, in this case I chose a dodge charger, and went to the main module menu and chose "Object Detection" which has all of the blind spot modules listed

View media item 28381View media item 28382
I selected the right blind spot module and was able to connect to it, it had a code in it for loss of communication with the left blind spot module, I double checked my wiring and even connected the bus wires I had on the right tail light to the left one but I could never get communications with the left light. I don't know if I have a bad taillight or something else is not correct.
That’s a lot better result than I got, and at least we know that the cluster can display it. Did you also have VehConfig 7 active blind spot enabled?
 
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