Parking light nightmare

I own a 2004 Dodge Durango. Thank God it's my wife's car and we got a killer deal on it because I despise this vehicle to the depths of my soul and I think it knows. The fit and finish, or rather the lack of it, is despicable, the front end rattles as though it were going to fall to pieces at any second even though it passed a suspension and alignment check with no issues, the 3.7L V6 sounds like a diesel for the first 5 minutes after you start it, the transmission shudders under acceleration at highway speed, the torque converter is like nothing I've ever driven (locking up tight at 1500 revs under acceleration), and to top it all off if I sit up straight I'm looking through the tint at the top of the windshield. The only time I drive it is when I'm towing the boat...which it does poorly.

Now for the parking light saga. One evening I borrowed my Dad's utility trailer. I hooked up the hitch and attached the trailer wiring harness to the vehicle and did my usual walk around. The drivers side parking lights weren't on. No big deal, I thought. Probably something wrong with the trailer wires. The brake lights and turn signals work so I'll go straight home and fix it in the morning.

The next morning I unhooked the trailer wires and the parking lights on the drivers side still wouldn't work so I started the testing. Fuse checked out fine. I removed the tail light assembly and tested every light. All working fine. I tested the light assembly. Fine. Checked the wires for voltage...no juice. I removed the trailer wiring kit. Still no voltage. Bought a new relay and installed. Nope. I pulled the entire dash out to replace the $50 unreturnable headlight switch that I had to special order. Still no parking lights on the drivers side. I disassembled a large portion of the interior and traced every wire as well as I could to check for breakage. They were fine. Then I did everything again just for good measure. Still not working. I popped the hood and checked the relays again. Fine. Then I noticed three little unlabeled fuses adjacent to the relays. Better check them for good measure, I thought. 10A fuse blown. I replaced the fuse and the drivers side parking lights came back on. There's 3 seperate fuses for the parking lights on this vehicle, one for all of them in the cabin and two under the hood (one for each side) in the fuse box that the owners manual FAILED TO MENTION.

For years I've wondered if manufacturers do things like this on purpose so "Joe Average" will have to take the vehicle to the dealer and they, in turn, make more money.

[/RANT]

Re: Parking light nightmare

I know what you mean Bubba but I've done everything from change my oil to a complete engine and transaxle rebuild in the driveway and never needed more than torque specs from a manual. I definitely didn't think I'd need one for a fuse!!!!

Re: Parking light nightmare

Chilton's is hardly a shop manual. I always get factory manuals for my cars. I would rather spend a few hundred dollars than go with the aftermarket ones. Takes one blown weekend to pay for the right manual.

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Wife's low beam headlight just blew on her 2007 GMC Acadia. I think, no problem, get the headlamp and do the quick replacement. Pulled the owners manual to see what bulb they required before heading in town to buy it ... Owner's manual says, "not a serviceable item, see your dealer for replacement."

Really??? A headlamp is not a serviceable item???? Only bulb they say is serviceable is the license plate light!!!! Google the headlamp replacement ... I am supposed to take the front wheel off before removing the wheel well cover and then the headlamp cover so I can reach the back of the headlamp assembly!!!!! What doped up genius thought of this configuration????

Re: Parking light nightmare

In some random meeting room at Chrysler head quarters in early 2003, when they were finalizing plans for the new Durango....

One very observant person (probably the guy that runs to get the coffee) said "what about the parking lights?", to some engineers who had already spent months designing the electrical system, that the bean counters had already approved, and the owners manuals had already been printed for...



You have now witnessed their answer...

Re: Parking light nightmare

aspeck said:

Wife's low beam headlight just blew on her 2007 GMC Acadia. I think, no problem, get the headlamp and do the quick replacement. Pulled the owners manual to see what bulb they required before heading in town to buy it ... Owner's manual says, "not a serviceable item, see your dealer for replacement."

Really??? A headlamp is not a serviceable item???? Only bulb they say is serviceable is the license plate light!!!! Google the headlamp replacement ... I am supposed to take the front wheel off before removing the wheel well cover and then the headlamp cover so I can reach the back of the headlamp assembly!!!!! What doped up genius thought of this configuration????

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One of my coworkers has a 2010 Terrain and the passenger wiper is a special order item. $50 for the sucker. What a scam.

Re: Parking light nightmare

The flat rate book is good also.....calls for 3 hrs to change light....well guess what your tearing half the thing apart to repair it .....small cars big scars

Re: Parking light nightmare

07 and up malibus and 2010 and up buick lucerne. The bumper and grill have to come out to replace the headlight.

Re: Parking light nightmare

Hey guys, this is what engineers do, they take a simple issue and make it a complicated solution, they have been doing that since the beginning of time!

LOL

Re: Parking light nightmare

MTboatguy said:

Hey guys, this is what engineers do, they take a simple issue and make it a complicated solution, they have been doing that since the beginning of time!

LOL

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Yep. Engineers and MBAs have really got things screwed up.

Re: Parking light nightmare

aspeck said:

I am supposed to take the front wheel off before removing the wheel well cover and then the headlamp cover so I can reach the back of the headlamp assembly!!!!! What doped up genius thought of this configuration????

Click to expand...

Last year our '05 Grand Cherokee had a marker bulb out at inspection time. I said go ahead and replace it. When I went to pick it up, they said forget that, it's like over an hour of book time to replace it. Fortunately my local Firestone was cool and passed me anyway. I tackled the bulb situation at home and had to remove half the front clip. :facepalm:

Re: Parking light nightmare

I have run into a random fuse in behind the glove box in my automotive adventures that know one could explain.

My boss has an Escalad with a head light out. He told more that it was going to cost him $350 just for the bulb. Thats just nuts.

Re: Parking light nightmare

BlkY2k said:

07 and up malibus and 2010 and up buick lucerne. The bumper and grill have to come out to replace the headlight.

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That is absurd. A guy would think that the engineers would take maintainence into consideration. Just because it slaps together 2 seconds quicker at the assembly plant doesn't mean it's a good decision.

That is, unless you can charge $400 for headlight replacement at the dealership instead of the owner fix it in their driveway....

Re: Parking light nightmare

Really??? A headlamp is not a serviceable item???? Only bulb they say is serviceable is the license plate light!!!! Google the headlamp replacement ... I am supposed to take the front wheel off before removing the wheel well cover and then the headlamp cover so I can reach the back of the headlamp assembly!!!!! What doped up genius thought of this configuration????

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I would guess its the same idot who thinks its a good idea to put the battery in the front bumper.

Re: Parking light nightmare

Removing lots of parts and pieces is now a normal routine on many cars. The new plastic front bumpers (and rear) normally come right off with push pins and a few random bolts. The hardest part is for the new vehicles which we are not used to......... once we are used to it ........ no problem.

Sadly the new shop manuals are all on computer only and paper copies have gone by the wayside.

Re: Parking light nightmare

When I worked for the transit authority, we recieved new cutaway Ford vans with the 6.0 liter diesel. It didn't take long for one to break a serpentine belt. Talk about fun, we had to remove the radiator just to change the belt.

Re: Parking light nightmare

I feel your pain. Had a girlfriend years ago who had a "new" VW Beetle. She had flat tire by the side of the road just down from the house one night, so I figured I'd save the day in about 15 minutes. Get down there and start taking the tire off only to find VW doesn't have studs like a regular car. They have bolts that screw into the hub. Not a real problem until you go to put the new tire on...and there's nothing to hold it in place while you get the bolts started. Talk about bass ackwards! Replacing the battery is another ordeal. You damn near have to hoist the engine out to replace the battery in those things.

Re: Parking light nightmare

'07 Ford Focus.

Not a single engine component that isn't buries under some sort of cover or cowling. Battery looks like a normal change.

Car comes with a 100,000 mile air filter system but when it needs to be replaced you have to remove the wheel, wheel well, and a few other things. The replacement is easily a couple hundred bucks. When that time comes I'll be putting in one of those after market cold air intakes that the tuner crowd likes for sure.

I am scared to ask what the bill will be when I need to do the timing belt.

Re: Parking light nightmare

I ran into problems installing my electric brake controller in my 03 silverado. I bought the "plug n play" harness thinking "Great I can just plug it in and don't have to splice wires it shouldn't take any time at all. Well the harness had instructions about changing the power wire to the correct location on my model vehicle. Not so hard I put it in there and boom it works. I hook up my trailer and the thing quits nothing on the readout or anything. The brakes still worked but I couldn't adjust them or anything. I replaced it under warrany and the same thing happened. At this point I assumed it had to be the truck and started trouble shooting. Well my model truck had to have 2 wires moved which was noted no where in the instructions or by anything online. It now works perfectly after I spent an hour trouble shooting it when it was supposed to be "plug n play". BOGUS

Re: Parking light nightmare

Chas0218 said:

I ran into problems installing my electric brake controller in my 03 silverado.

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That was the brake controller's fault, not Chevrolet's fault.

Lot of bitching and moaning here for stuff that doesn't sound that bad to me.