Chrysler Repair: 95 dodge caravan headlights, dodge caravan, high beams

Question
Sir, I am unable to turn off the headlights on a 95 Dodge caravan.  Lights stay on high beam continuously and override the on/off switch.  Even with the headlight bulbs disconnected the hi beam indicator on the dash stays illuminated. Thanks for your help, Bill  

Answer
Hi Bill,
I have the wiring diagrams for the 93 van but I believe that they would apply because things electrical didn't change much until 96. What you have going on there is that the optical horn (the switch function that allows you to flash the brights whether the headlamps are in use or not) is stuck in the 'on' position (usually it is a spring loaded lever that you have to apply pressure to in order to make the brights go on for as long as you hold it in that position). Perhaps the return spring is broken or the contacts that the lever activates are fused together. So try wiggling the high/low lever in all directions to see if you can turn off the high beams that way. You would need to remove the steering column covers to get access to the optical horn/high/low beam-multifunction switch that has this feature as part of it. There may be a separate 4 pin unit that can be replaced without replacing the entire multifunction switch, so look for a 4-wire plug and a 24-wire plug at that location. The switch that is attached to the 4-wire plug is the one that is causing your problem. If the optical horn switch were operating the way it was supposed to it would not have continuity between those two pin connected to the light green/white and the red/orange wires at the four pin plug unless you had pulled on the spring loaded portion of the high/low beam lever.
If this is true, the choices you have are to buy a new optical horn/high/low beam switch (if it separable from the main multifunction switch) or simply cut the light green/white wire and cover its cut ends with tape to prevent shorting, which would disable the optical horn without disabling the high/low beam function of the headlights. I don't believe the optical horn is a legal requirement but check with the highway patrol/vehicle inspection on that point.
Before doing any of this electrical continuity testing/disconnection/wire cutting be sure to disconnect the - post of the battery so as to avoid any short ciruits and fuse blowing or wiring burnouts.
Let me know if this isn't what is going on with this situation. But I believe that is your problem.
Roland