Brake lights & cargo brake light ON with truck OFF!?

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JJs98bart

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Princeton, Tx
Ram Year
1998
Engine
5.9L
SOS y'all! I've got a 98 Ram 1500 Laramie SLT quad cab (SB/5.9L /auto/2wd) & I love my Bart (Big Ass Red Truck), been driving it for about 14 yrs & am the 2nd owner of it. And have NOT had any major issues w/it, norm wear n tear stuff like battery, alternator, radiator & very recently, all 4 ball joints (upper & lower) on the front end.
Anyway, my issue is that even though truck is parked, not running or no key even in the ignition, the brake lights & the cargo (light) brake light are ON??!! But blinkers are NOT rapidly blinking to indicate a bulb out etc. It did this about 2yrs ago too, but that time it was brake lights & head lights & park lights, but at that time I was dating an ASE Mechanic & had to keep battery disconnected if truck was going 2 B sitting for a while until he was able to fix it (ugh), & I unfortunately don't recall what he replaced &/or did? I read another suggestion on a another site that said to replace cargo bulbs (guess the white ones on both sides of cargo brake light?) so I did & they were still on, also there was something about a plunger deal on steering column? Anyone have this happen &/or knows what I need to do? It's my only vehicle and I to work tomorrow am. Thanks everyone!! I guess dating an ASE Mechanic had it's perks!! Lol!!:p Oh, & I did try to disconnect my battery last pm but since I got new battery cables & ends too, I could NOT get cables even loose :893Chainsaw-Smilie- :banghead:
 

ThunderMug95

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First thing, go out and grab your brake pedal and yank it all around. Even money says your brake lights then go out...
There is a lil switch that gets depressed when you push the brake pedal that turns on your brake lights on most Chryslers. It was a very common thing to fail on my 96-98 Jeeps. It gets old and sticks. Hope this helps.
 

LouM

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Most vehicles the brake / brake lights and 4 way flashers will work without the key being on.
With it staying on it could be the brake light switch is bad or needs adjusting or the brake pedal is not returning completely.
You can try hooking your toe under the brake pedal and lifting to see if the lights go out.
You should get it fixed soon as if your brake lights are always on they will not warn other drivers when you are braking.
 
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JJs98bart

JJs98bart

Junior Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2019
Posts
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Location
Princeton, Tx
Ram Year
1998
Engine
5.9L
First thing, go out and grab your brake pedal and yank it all around. Even money says your brake lights then go out...
There is a lil switch that gets depressed when you push the brake pedal that turns on your brake lights on most Chryslers. It was a very common thing to fail on my 96-98 Jeeps. It gets old and sticks. Hope this helps.
Thanks ThunderMug95! Unfortunately my truck is now totally dead, from iy sitting w/the lights on like that for 4 hours yest while I was at work then last pm after 1:00am (last time I started it & was trying to loosen battery cables to disconnect the battery). And when I can find someone out here in the country to give me a jump I'm definitely going to try that. Thanks again!!
 
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JJs98bart

JJs98bart

Junior Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2019
Posts
5
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Location
Princeton, Tx
Ram Year
1998
Engine
5.9L
Most vehicles the brake / brake lights and 4 way flashers will work without the key being on.
With it staying on it could be the brake light switch is bad or needs adjusting or the brake pedal is not returning completely.
You can try hooking your toe under the brake pedal and lifting to see if the lights go out.
You should get it fixed soon as if your brake lights are always on they will not warn other drivers when you are braking.
Hey LouM, thank you for the advise, truck is totally dead right now but as soon as I can find someone to give me a jump, I'm going to give that a try, another member also suggested the same thing. Thanks again!
 
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