Ambient lighting partially stopped working...

[James Cole]

took it to the dealership, they are clueless and no codes stored.

 

[James Cole]

Hello guys, anybody else had this happen to them?

 

[silver64]

took it to the dealership, they are clueless and no codes stored.

Clueless or not you have to hold the dealership accountable. They are obligated to get this fixed and regardless of whether they have the expertise on hand or not they need to honor the warranty. They have resources they can use direct with FCA to trouble shoot the issue.

 

[James Cole]

Clueless or not you have to hold the dealership accountable. They are obligated to get this fixed and regardless of whether they have the expertise on hand or not they need to honor the warranty. They have resources they can use direct with FCA to trouble shoot the issue.

Yes Silver you are right, but trying to find out if its maybe something I can fix myself, if I let them do it I know I will get back a pretty scratched interior.

 

[James Cole]

Hello guys, just wanted to post an update.

The problem was fixed, it was a short caused by not tucking the rear passenger right door wires correctly when inserting door card screws, the wires got sandwiched together and peeled causing a short, this also caused a high pitch whine coming from the rear headliner speakers when turning on the ambient lights.

fixed the harness and added insulation to avoid a short and now all the lights work perfectly and no noise.

Thanks!
JC

 

[duke2001]

Hello guys, just wanted to post an update.

The problem was fixed, it was a short caused by not tucking the rear passenger right door wires correctly when inserting door card screws, the wires got sandwiched together and peeled causing a short, this also caused a high pitch whine coming from the rear headliner speakers when turning on the ambient lights.

fixed the harness and added insulation to avoid a short and now all the lights work perfectly and no noise.

Thanks!
JC

So was this a factory manufacturer error that just took a long time to show up or was it caused by other work after the vehicle was purchased?

 

[James Cole]

Manufacturer Error.

 

[superlubricity]

JC, do you happen to know which door screws cause the problem? I am going to try to look myself before taking it in. I have the same symptoms including that high pitched whine from above.

 

[ponypride]

Does anyone know if the Laramie model has ambient lighting. I’ve never seen it in my vehicle and I’m wondering if it doesn’t work or if it just does it come with that piece of equipment.

 

[ponypride]

You guys are great. I never had ambient lighting working in my truck and I thought it was just a feature it didn’t come with. After reading this thread I turned down take the lighting on the instrument cluster and turned up the ambient llighting and it looks great! Thank you everybody for passing on the information.

 

[RamCares]

JC, do you happen to know which door screws cause the problem? I am going to try to look myself before taking it in. I have the same symptoms including that high pitched whine from above.

Hi superlubricity,

Sorry to hear you are also experiencing this concern. If you decide to address it with your dealer, we'd be more than happy to provide you with an additional layer of assistance during that process. Our team is just a PM away.

Mark
Ram Social Care Specialist

 

[superlubricity]

Ponypride, is yours working everywhere?

I haven't been able to find a complete list of where all the interior ambient lighting is located. Here is what I know from my initial investigation.

I have a 2019 Laramie Sport. When the headlights are on and the truck is in "Run" with the doors shut . . .

Mine works in the:

1. Front doors: Behind the door handles, below the armrest, and in the storage compartment.
2. Overhead console: To light up the center console

Mine doesn't work in the:

1. Rear doors: Nothing lights up
2. Over upper glove box: Nothing lights up
3. Over push button start: Nothing lights up
4. Trim piece to the left of the instrument cluster (matches area over glove box and where push button start is): Nothing lights up
5. Footwells: The bright LED lights up when the doors are open but I'm guessing the smaller rectangle lens is where the ambient light is: Nothing lights up

I also get the high-pitched whine in the rear overhead speakers when any of the ambient lighting is on in the truck.

Are there any other locations where the lighting is supposed to be when the rest of the interior lights are off?

 

[James Cole]

Ponypride, is yours working everywhere?

I haven't been able to find a complete list of where all the interior ambient lighting is located. Here is what I know from my initial investigation.

I have a 2019 Laramie Sport. When the headlights are on and the truck is in "Run" with the doors shut . . .

Mine works in the:

1. Front doors: Behind the door handles, below the armrest, and in the storage compartment.
2. Overhead console: To light up the center console

Mine doesn't work in the:

1. Rear doors: Nothing lights up
2. Over upper glove box: Nothing lights up
3. Over push button start: Nothing lights up
4. Trim piece to the left of the instrument cluster (matches area over glove box and where push button start is): Nothing lights up
5. Footwells: The bright LED lights up when the doors are open but I'm guessing the smaller rectangle lens is where the ambient light is: Nothing lights up

I also get the high-pitched whine in the rear overhead speakers when any of the ambient lighting is on in the truck.

Are there any other locations where the lighting is supposed to be when the rest of the interior lights are off?

One of the rear doors has a short... look on the screw behind the door handle

 

[superlubricity]

Thanks, JC. It is at service now. I shared your experience with the service advisor in hopes of it helping them quickly diagnose and fix.

 

[Repsol69]

Does this feature come standard on the 2019 Bighorn?? I have both dimmer knobs and footwell lights but the footwell lights do not work??

 

[superlubricity]

One of the rear doors has a short... look on the screw behind the door handle

Big thank you to James Cole! We had the exact same problem and his post (this thread), fix, and detailed explanation helped me get my truck back in 2-days. Just like James, I had a pinched wire in the left (drivers side) rear door that was to blame. All lights are functioning as expected now and no more annoying high pitched whine.

I bet there are more instances of this issue out there and owner's don't even know there is a problem. Laramie/Limited owners, if the only ambient lights you have are in the front doors and overhead console you likely have this same issue!

Thanks again, JC!

 

[Ram4779]

I just realized tonight I only have the front door lights and overhead light. It’s pretty bad that a 70k Limited has stupid issues like this. I’ve also the last couple days been hearing a buzzing noise first time I heard it I thought there was a wasp or a bee in my truck.

 

[TBurton]

One of the rear doors has a short... look on the screw behind the door handle

Thanks James
I just bought a 2020 Laramie and it had the same problem. Rear door ambient lights, under seats, floor board and ambient dash lights also did not work. I pulled the small panel and bolt by the rear door handle and could see part of the harness thru the clip holes on the left rear door. I removed the door panel and found the harness smashed. Cut away the tape and insulated the wiring, plugged the panel back in and all the lights worked. All fixed in about 30 minutes.

You saved me a trip to the dealership.

 

[Rick J]

The only problem I've had with my Limited is the ambient lighting not working as described in this thread. Haven't taken it to the dealer because it is such a minor problem I thought I'd wait until something else went wrong. After seeing the common fix that many are finding I decided to give it a go. Took off the left passenger door panel. Couldn't see any crushed or damaged wires but when I unplug the left door lights the others all work. Plug the left door back in an the others go out. I don't want to rip all the harness apart so I put it back together and will let the dealer figure it out.

 

[Rick J]

The only problem I've had with my Limited is the ambient lighting not working as described in this thread. Haven't taken it to the dealer because it is such a minor problem I thought I'd wait until something else went wrong. After seeing the common fix that many are finding I decided to give it a go. Took off the left passenger door panel. Couldn't see any crushed or damaged wires but when I unplug the left door lights the others all work. Plug the left door back in an the others go out. I don't want to rip all the harness apart so I put it back together and will let the dealer figure it out.

Well, the more I thought about this the more it irritated me that I didn't fix it when I had the panel off. So, I took it off again and started stripping the cover off the wire harness starting at the switch. Went about 4 inches and found where the wires were shorted together. Separated and insulated them and now everything works as it is supposed to. It is amazing to me how many of us have this same exact problem and it is still happening with the 2020's. I would think enough dealers would have seen this problem by now that the factory would fix their assembly problem. @RamCares , I know your here as a customer advocate but I'm curious if you ever report back to the factory on the common problems that come up on the forum.