Problems with 2012 RAM 1500 EXTERIOR LIGHTING

Instrument cluster lights flicker when stationary and in motion.

For years now, while driving, some of my dashboard lights would be off, but not all of the time. now all of the dashboard lights are off except for the speedometer. i can't see the gas gage or tachometer or temperature readings. this doesn't matter if i am stopped or moving.

Passenger side high and low beam headlights will go out at any time. was told the problem is the tcim. major safety issue if they go out when driving down the road in the dark. it is my understanding that the tcim is very expensive and may only solve the problem temporarily.

Headlights are not working. was told it is a failed tipm. was headed home from the store at dusk. turned the light switch and no lights. had to drive home with flashers.

When i turned on the hi beams (vehicle was stationary), the headlights flickered, all the dash light cut in and out, all the warning lights lit up, and the door ajar/lights on warning bells went off. i dimmed the headlights and it stopped. the dealer first said the alternator was bad, and it was only charging at 12 volts, so they replaced it, but that didn't solve the problem. then they said it was the tipm. 17 days and $1351 later, i have my truck back.

Passenger side mirror, cover around seam dry rotted, plastic cover then chrome cover blew off.

The third brake light allows water to enter the rear seat area when vehicle is stationary or in motion. the issue occurs during rain and when the vehicle is being washed.

Drivers side headlights, both high beam and low beam , will not work. i have replaced 3 times in 6 months, reset the tipm once, and will have to again. this is a chronic issue with ram tipm. (google it, pages of results) i am driving without a headlight half the time now, keeping bulbs in my truck, but it is not easy access to change bulbs on the fly along the highway.

Headlight flickering while driving at night on way home from work dealer said was faulty tipm module

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ram 1500. the contact stated that he repeatedly experienced a failure with the exterior lighting. when the low beams cut off, it disabled the high beam light on the passenger side. the contact replaced the headlight bulbs a couple of times, but each time the failure recurred within two weeks. the vehicle was taken to the dealer (humes chrysler in waterford, pa, 814-796-2666) where it was diagnosed that the wiring harness needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the failure was not repaired. the failure mileage was approximately 58,000. the vin was not provided. updated 11/01/17*lj updated 7/19/18*jb

Driving at night with headlight switch in auto position, weather was cold, had for lights also enabled, heater was in defrost position with fan on high speed, headlights and fog lights suddenly went out without warning and the street had no street lights, almost hit a mailbox and went off the winding road before i was able to make a complete stop, this has occurred 3 more times since first occurrence about a month ago. i have talked to the electrical engineer at auburn hills, mi. and was told he is not aware of this problem. i see other complaints with same issue on this website, obviously there is a problem which involves a safety issue. *tr

Took truck through car wash. noticed water all over back seat and the drivers side rear corner of the headliner. took to dealer. they said it was the third break light that was leaking. it's going to cost me $70 for them to replace the seal.

The head lights stopped working on the driver side of the truck high and low beams do not work took it to the dealer they said the bulbs were not burned out the truck only has 35000 miles on it i have seen on ram forum .com that a lot of trucks have the same problem

Several months ago the passenger headlight (low and high beams) not working intermittently.

Right or left headlight gos out and on well driving. tipm ???? wire harness has been replaced, did not fix

My headlights on my 2012 ram 1500 st are horrible. my fog lights are brighter then the low beam on the vehicle which makes it dangerous to drive at night. i almost got into an accident because the headlights, both low and high are not bright enough to see past 10 feet.

Passenger headlight low and high beams not working intermittently. remove power from tipm and wait 12 hours them reconnect will work for a little while.

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 dodge ram 1500. the contact stated that water was leaking from the brake light into the vehicle. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. the failure mileage was 47,000. ...updated 02/08/16 *bf *tr

Headlights will unexpectedly go out while driving. has happened on numerous occasions. replaced both bulbs and was ok for about a week, but started doing it again. sometimes if hood is slammed, lights will come back on. dealer claims there is not a connection/electrical problem. very dangerous. many owners have complained of the same problem. recall should have been issued already.

When steering at any speed the steering wheel seems to stud-er or get sticky at times as you turn left or right. dealer said there was no recall on the steering but they greased the front end, seems to be better. when at low or high highway speeds and applying the brakes normally not in a emergency stopping situation, the front end and steering wheel shake violently. stated around 30,000 miles the driver side parking lights or running lights front and rear are off and not working, directional and brake lights seem fine.

During 2014/2015 the 2012 dodge ram 1500 would fail to start intermittently especially on colder days. during january of 2015 the problem became more common on a daily basis and would take 10-15 times to start the vehicle. the vehicle was take to dodge under warranty for repair multiple times and according to dodge the starter was replaced and the vehicle would start. after obtaining the vehicle from the dodge repair shop the left head light began to go on and off intermittently. the vehicle was again taking to the dodge service shop for repair under warranty. dodge indicated that it was a faulty tipm and that it was replaced and that the left headlight should work appropriately. after obtaining the truck once again the check engine light came on and returned to the dodge shop where they indicated that it was the transmission sensor which was replaced. several months later the driver's headlight began to go on and off intermittently while driving and sitting still. the dodge was returned to the dodge repair shop who stated that the previous repair was done under warranty and since the vehicle is no longer under warranty they would not cover any repairs even thought they have a 24 month part policy for repairs paid for by the customer. suspected to be a tipm issue.

My 2012 ram 1500 has been in the shop seven times in the past year for electrical problems. the original problems were related to the pcm which would short out and cause my vehicle to operate in only one gear. this problem was fixed finally by replacing the pcm and various other parts. my truck recently had the engine temperature sensor, right headlight, and fuel pump control go out all around the same time which made it difficult for my truck to start and when it did start it sounded anemic and would often have alerts going off. the dealership claimed that the tipm was the cause of the fuel pump problems and now i am wondering if it is the route of all the other problems. this most recent repair cost me $1000 dollars and well over $100 in alternative transportation arrangements. my truck is only two and a half years old with 50k miles on it. i should not be having this many problems with this new of a vehicle. chrysler and ram have a well documented history of recent problems with the tipm across various vehicles and an investigation needs to be conducted and customers need to be compensated for the problems this part has caused.

The driver's side headlight would go off and on in intervals and then finally went out completely. i purchased a stock bulb from a dodge dealership and had the bulb installed by a different dodge dealership. after having the bulb changed at field's chrysler dodge jeep, they pulled my truck around for me to pick up and i noticed that it still wasn't working, so they took it back into the shop and worked on it some more and finally got the headlight working. within a few days after the bulb replacement, the light stopped working again. i took the truck back to the dealership and they told me there was a part that they had to order, but used a security tie for this part to keep continuity until the new part arrived. when the part arrived, i took my truck back to the dealership to have the part replaced. i rented a vehicle for the day and picked up my truck the following day. about 5 days after this repair, the headlight went out again. now, i have to take the truck back to the dealership yet again and spend more money, time, missed work due to their defective part and design. i have had so many other problems with this truck that it is mind boggling. i was just pulled over by the police last night for the light being out. i constantly worry about getting pulled over when driving at night and this has been extremely aggravating and stressful. this has limited my driving at night significantly. i have performed an internet search for this issue with this truck and apparently this is a common safety defect. thus far, i have incurred at least $400.00 in expenses but does not account for my time and missed work. please help. *tr

Factory headlamps are extremely dim and, in my personal opinion, pose a safety concern. please look into this as a quick internet search revealed that there are countless others concerned about this flaw as well. thank you. *js

The headlights turn off and stay off indefinitely. toggling the headlight switch can sometimes get them to come back on, but not always. *tr

I had both the high and low beam on the passenger side out on may 9th. i took it to the dealer and told them that it seemed strange both bulbs would go out at the same time. the dealer pulled the front end apart and changed both bulbs on the passenger side and told me they were burned out and are now fixed. may 10th at 6:30am i got up and started my truck and once again the passenger side high and low beam light was out. the dealer told me the technician actually made sure it was only the bulb no wiring or connection problem and does not know why it is out again. it is very dangerous and also a violation to be driving with a headlight out in the state of maryland. several other people have reported this problem with the faulty electrical connection to the headlights and something should be done before their is an accident or worse. it is now in the same dealer again to see what excuse other than a bulb issue they can come up with to charge me again. i would highly recommend dodge look into this and fix it immediately. *tr

2012 laramie longhorn ram 1500 4x4. normal headlights do not illuminate sufficiently. owner has nearly hit a deer three times, at appropriate highway traveling speeds. in order to drive at night, in the country where the owner lives, the owner has to use both fog lights, and headlights. brights do not illuminate the road on their own. headlights do not meet safe driving requirements. *tr

I purchased a 2012 dodge ram 1500 from a used dealer on january 21, 2012. this vehicle has by far the worst headlights of any vehicle i have ever driven. on the low beams with the fog lights off the light from my headlamps illuminates the road only about 30 to 40 feet in front of me. there is also a very dark area from the bumper out to about 20 feet. the high beams do not cast light much further but are wider. however with this wider light pattern the overall brightness is even worse. the only thing that makes this vehicle drive-able at night are the fog lights that at least fill in the dark area immediately in front of the vehicle that exists with the low beams. in the almost two months that i have owned my vehicle i have only used the high beams a handful of times. i have contacted chrysler group llc. and they have advised me that this is not an issue that they plan to address even though it is a safety issue. i work third shift and do the majority of my driving in rural areas at night and during low light conditions in the mornings. i simple internet search will show that this is not an isolated issue and many owners of 4th generation rams (2009-2014) feel that the headlights on these vehicles are less than adequate. my vehicle is a 390hp 4700lb vehicle, my fear is that it is only a matter of time till these headlight cause me to have an accident be cause i simply could not clearly see what was in front of me. *tr

Automatic headlights go out while riding down the highway. occurs in cold weather more than warm weather dealership cannot find problem never happens when taken in.

The right headlight on my 2012 dodge ram 1500 failed while driving. the vehicle uses separate low and high beam bulbs. test showed that both low and high beam were affected on the failed side. i had recently purchased the truck used. when i called the previous owner he informed me that he had experienced the same problem at different times with each headlight. he had simply unplugged and replugged the headlight connectors to "fix" the problem. i removed the failed right headlight assembly. test showed that manipulating the wires (push, pull, stress to one side or the other) coming into the male side of the connector could cause the headlight work or fail. i performed a similar test on the (working) left side headlight with the same results - i could force failure at will, even though the connector was fully assembled and locked. upon inspection of the connectors, both appeared clean inside. i sprayed each with contact cleaner anyway, and reassembled only to find the same problem. manipulating the pins on the female side of the connector in effort to increase contact pressure resulted in no improvement when the connector was replugged. as a former failure analysis engineer i can tell you that there is a design / application problem with the headlight connectors used on this truck. short of contact plating analysis, it appears there is insufficient contact area and / or contact pressure on the small pins used. as a work-around, i used long nose pliers to reach inside the male connector body, and twisted the small, flat, male pins approximately 45 degrees to increase contact pressure. after reassembling both connectors in this manner, i can no longer force failure on either side. the stock headlight connectors used on this truck present a serious design flaw and safety issue since as designed, headlight failure may occur at any time. *js

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 dodge ram 1500. the contact stated both headlights on the vehicle failed. the vehicle was taken to the dealer who replaced the headlights and stated the wiring for the headlights was loose. the failure recurred on the right headlight and the vehicle will be taken to the dealer for another inspection. the manufacturer was not notified of the defect. the failure mileage was 23,000 and the current mileage was 26, 516.

I've had the truck for a while but last friday was the first time i drove it at night. i had no idea the headlights were so bad on this thing. it was an adventure getting home. no light to the sides to see to turn and both dim and high beams were extremely anemic. i've been driving for more than 50 years and never driven one with lights as bad as these, even when some others have had only one working headlight for a little while. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 dodge ram 1500. the contact stated that while driving approximately 35 mph, the headlights failed to illuminate with adequate brightness. the failure recurred whenever the headlights were in activation. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer twice where both headlight bulbs were replaced but to no avail. the manufacturer was notified of the recurring problem. the approximate failure mileage was 300. ..updated 12-05-13 *bf

The headlights, both high and low beams, are so poor as to be a serious safety hazard. on low beam, the road is lighted for only 100 or so feet. on high beams, almost nothing ahead is visible. similar experiences have been expressed by other ram pickup owners. these headlights are so poor, i'm shocked they have been approved for public sale. i have missed side roads and driveways due to the poor headlights. i'm forced to spend several hundred dollars on upgraded bulbs and after market driving lights. the truck is a serious safety hazard at night. there should be a recall to remedy such a significant deficiency in a $30k+ vehicle. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 dodge ram 1500. the contact stated that while driving at night, visibility was reduced due to the headlights being too dim. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where the headlight bulbs were replaced but the contact stated that the visibility barely improved. the manufacturer was contacted about the failure. the failure and current mileage was 707.

The headlights on this vehicle are very dim. it is hard to see when driving at night. dealer claims there is no problem with the lights in these vehicles, but will then state the problems were fixed in the 2013 model.

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 dodge ram 1500. the contact was driving approximately 55 mph with the headlights activated and noticed the headlights illuminated inadequately. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who stated the headlights functioned as designed by the manufacturer. the contact tested other model year vehicles and the same model year and the headlight illumination was brighter. the manufacturer was notified of the problem. updated 12/20/12 *bf the consumer stated there was no head light failure. it was the lack of brightness of the low and high beams.

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 dodge ram 1500. the contact stated that upon inspection, the high beam head lamps failed to illuminate normally. the contact also mentioned that when driving at night the high beams were very dim. the failure was not diagnosed nor was the vehicle repaired. the manufacturer was not notified. the failure mileage was 100. the current mileage was 13,000. the vin was not available.

The inadequate lighting prevented driver of seeing deer on shoulder of road and as deer walked out into lane truck hit the animal with left front corner of pickup. having driven dodge pickups since 07 there headlights are horrible for driving at night. they need recalled and especially upto 2014. they have slightly improved but are no where near safe.

Poor lighting under any conditions. lighting is not focused and has little or no effect on illuminating the drive path. a standard flash light produces more lighting. this is very unsafe for night driving. all dodge ram owners of this year have the same complaint. *tr

I have owned 4 dodge ram pickups, all the same, and all 4 trucks have the same poor lighting, the headlights are extremely poor and for each truck i have to buy the higher end headlights, i am sure if these trucks were tested for night vision they would not pass, please check this issue out and make dodge repair or replace them, they are extremely dangerous as they provide poor lighting in night traveling so imagine how poor they are in poor visibility conditions. *tr