NHTSA Complaint #713665 — 1997 DODGE RAM

HEADIGHTS ON LOW BEAM HEADLIGHTS BECAME INOPERATIVE UPON TILTING STEERING WHEEL DOWNWARD. RAISING TILT WHEEL, THE HEADLIGHTS BECAME OPERATIVE. POSITION OF STEERING WHEEL DID NOT EFFECT HIGHBEAMS, ONLY THE LOWBEAMS. UPON REMOVAL OF THE STEERING WHEEL COLUMN COWL, IT BECAME APPARENT THAT THE LOWBEAM WIRE TO THE DIMMING SWITCH HAD BECOME CHAFFED BY THE MOVEMENT OF THE TILT ASSEMBLY, MELTING THE WIRE INSULATION, AND CREATING A HIGH RESISTANCE CONNECTION TO THE STEERING COLUMN, STRONG ENOUGH FOR THE WIRE TO PART BUT NOT ALLOWING THE AMOUNT OF CURRENT FLOW NEEDED TO BLOW THE FUSE TO THE LIGHTING CIRCUIT OVERCURRENT DEVICE. BECAUSE THE VEHICLE IS 12,000 MILES PAST WARRANTY ( 36 MONTHS/36,000 MILES) THE SELLING DEALER REFUSED TO TREAT THE PROBLEM AS FACTORY DEFECT AND STATED OVER THE TELEPHONE THAT THE PROBLEM WAS MINE AND THAT I WOULD MOST LIKELY BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE REPAIR. IT IS MY POSITION THAT WIRING HARNESSES IN SUCH A LIMITED AMOUNT OF TIME SHOULD NEVER SHORT-OUT OR BECOME SO DANGEROUSLY DEFECTIVE, CREATING A POSSIBLE FIRE HAZARD, HEADLIGHT FAILURE, AND WORST CASE AIR BAG DEPLOYMENT WHILE DRIVING. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME...MARSHALL SEARLES