Electric problem

[Rob4]

My 05 dodge ram 1500 hemi I think might have a short but would like to see what everyone thinks. My auto power window only works sometimes on driverside my wipers will be off but when I turn the truck on they turn on and when I do turn them on they work at different times and different about of swipes and I can only get my cruise control to work sometimes

 

[xb1230]

For the Power Windows, I can definitely say it is the harness from the body to the door that is acting up. remove your door trim, pull back the rubber cover in between the door and frame, disconnect the harness and bring it back through the door.

You will see the wires have gotten brittle and have severed in one or more area. Splice and repair with crimps, and put back the rubber cover, reconnect and voilà! I personally add some length of new wire, and if you are comfortable enough and the plug state permits you can even restore the plug directly on the new wires preventing from having to push crimps into the rubber cover.

What happens is with time, heat/cold cycles, door open/close movements the wires get bent back and forth and end up braking. The crimps provide a simpler and better mechanical repair than soldering. Adding a length of wire makes it so that it is new wiring being submitted with the Door open/close stress, making it for a longer lasting repair.

As for you Wipers, I would open up the Steering Column housing and look for wires that have been exposed by friction from steering shaft turning or even cracked up wires showing similar fatigue to the ones in the door.

As for the Cruise control, the Wiper suggestion also applies, but additionally, it could be the clock spring wires behind the air bags, or any wiring harness feeding the Cruise Control system located under the battery tray (under the hood driver side).

While you are at it, check your ground wires.

 

[Rob4]

Ohhh thank you very much I will have to look at that. I wasn't sure if it was something a small as just new fuses

 

[crash68]

The crimps provide a simpler and better mechanical repair than soldering.

Crimps are easier but not better than soldering wires together. Correctly soldering wiring and using using a good heat shrink tubing is far superior than using crimp butt splices.

 

[Ceri]

He made a good point about using splices instead of solder. The splices leave slack and wiggle that a solder joint won't. Normally that's a bad thing, but in this case I agree. The current draw on these wires is negligible. A good electrical connection isn't worth the cost of the solder cracking with vibrations. Just my opinion.

 

[justin13703]

He made a good point about using splices instead of solder. The splices leave slack and wiggle that a solder joint won't. Normally that's a bad thing, but in this case I agree. The current draw on these wires is negligible. A good electrical connection isn't worth the cost of the solder cracking with vibrations. Just my opinion.

I agree with this. About the only time I worry with soldering wires is when I'm doing a remote start. Other than that, crimp connectors will be more than solid enough and will pass more than enough current through. If they're crimped with a real set of crimpers (Kleins) and not pliers like most people like to do. Soldering in tight areas can create issues if you melt the insulation off of another wire by accident.