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+--- Thread: Good place in NOVA for Jeep Electrical Work? (/showthread.php?tid=10385)
Good place in NOVA for Jeep Electrical Work? - Goodspeed - 07-11-2013
I'm at my wits end with a headlight problem on my XJ and all signs are pointing towards it needing some routine, yet "custom" work to be fixed. I am by no means an electrician, so I'm hoping to find a good shop or individual local Jeep Jedi that can build a new harness for me for not too much $$$. If this were earlier in the summer I could likely tackle it myself, but I'm working on summer coursework now and don't have the time or energy to go through all this again.
Backstory
The XJ Cherokee is well known to have a deficient headlight system from the factory - the wiring harness is subpar (too thin a guage) leading to ultra-dim lights. I replaced mine with a Putco H4 HD Harness and a set of Autopal H4 E-Code Housings, with Sylvania Silverstar H4/9003 bulbs. The harness simply draws power from the factory headlight harness and relays it to each headlight through heavier guage wiring; each socket has a ground wire going to the body.
Long story short, within about 6 months of the install my driver's side headlight started to dim well below even the factory crappy level. Some steps I took:
- I replaced the bulb from the supplied Autopal bulb to the Sylvania, no change.
- I moved the power source for the harness from the battery to the fuse box so that it is more protected, no change.
- I re-worked the grounds - re-sanded their mounting points on the body to remove some corrosion, cleaned them up, remounted them and surrounded them with a top coat of paint to keep out further corrosion (I worried this could affect the grounds but read from a few sources that this is OK to do (?)), no change.
- The relays/sockets were tested with a multimeter and showed they were getting ~12V, at least at the time they were checked.
- Finally, I replaced the driver's side housing with a new Autopal unit, figuring there might be some corrosion on the metal part of the housing itself where the bulb clips in and replaced the bulb - this actually fixed it for a few weeks until today, leading me to believe that it isn't a ground or current issue, rather a faulty hardware issue.
So, I've done everything I know how to do and still I'm without properly functioning headlights :? A little more reading lead me to this Amazon review for the Putco harness, seen in the above link:
Quote:I purchased this harness to utilize a better power path to my bulbs directly from my car's battery. At first glance, it looks well made, the wiring is of decent quality as is the jacket holding it all together.
The relays are in a word, garbage. The relays used are similar to those found here: Pilot PL-RY1 Auxiliary Lighting Accessory Remember this when you need to replace them, and you WILL need to replace them within a few months. The relays are similar to those used in some Hondas as fuel pump relays.
The connectors for the bulbs are also of questionable quality. No weather seals and the terminals are made of very low quality metal. Just going over a bump is enough to have the bulbs flicker on and off which will only shorten the lifespan of the bulbs as well as cause an unsafe driving experience.
After a few months of dealing with this (and after replacing both relays with those I listed above) I needed to cut into the wiring harness and I soldered in Bosch relays and pigtails IMC Audio 10 Pack 30/40 AMP Relay Harness Spdt 12v Bosch Style and some new H4 sockets with 12ga wiring (purchased elsewhere) Since then, the bulbs have been working fine.
As well as a post on Jeepforum from a guy who was chasing a similar issue with his custom harness
Quote:I had a very frustrating day when I decided to fix this one. I ended up with 4 relays (one for high beams, one for lows on each light) and still had the problem so I took it all out and put it back in and so on. It ended up being a bad relay - the one for the high-beams! The relay wouldn't ground correctly unless the high-beams were on. Since it wasn't grounded correctly it somehow affected the low-beam to shine less bright.
I figured it out when I was blind with anger and randomly testing wires. With the high-beam relay disconnected from the + battery I ran a wire directly from the light's high-beam wire to the negative battery terminal and whaddya-know, the low beam brightened right up. It just meant that there was a loss of connection between the relay and the grounding wire when the relay wasn't switched on. I never would have thought that a bad high-beam relay ground would affect the light output of the low-beams.
So with a properly operating relay, the original set up works great
It seems that in one way or another, my store bought solution is failing me and the only solution is to have a custom harness fabbed up with quality components, something like this:
http://jeep-xj.info/HowtoHeadlightLoom.htm
Do we have anyone in MM who'd like to tackle an electrical project for a reasonable fee, or who knows of a good shop or individual in this area that can do weird stuff like this on the side? I contacted a reputable local 4x4 shop and they wanted something like $150 just to look at the car, which I understand as electrical gremlins aren't anybody's idea of fun, but I'd rather pay that to have someone make a new setup from scratch.
(Jeff - if you see this and are able to help, LMK - I might be able to come out your way before the start of the fall semester at some point).
Re: Good place in NOVA for Jeep Electrical Work? - JustinG - 07-11-2013
I made the harness for my jeep and it never had an issue. Put on your big boy pants, get a good pair of crimping pliers and go for it.
Shouldnt need any soldering. Just wire, some headlight connectors, 2 relays, and a couple fuse holders.
Re: Good place in NOVA for Jeep Electrical Work? - Goodspeed - 07-11-2013
Sigh...I might have to. I just wouldn't have a whole lot of time (read: every one of my projects takes 2x as long and I'll break something) to do it for at least a few weeks. I left the world of fixing broken shit behind, or so I thought, to focus on other things so I'd much rather give someone money/pizza/beer/HJ to fix or at least help me fix it.
Oh, and my frequently-required horn sounds like a baby seal being clubbed, so I'm not sure where to start there :lol:
Re: Good place in NOVA for Jeep Electrical Work? - JustinG - 07-11-2013
Don't the headlight switches crap out on these things too?
Multimeter to check the voltage at the headlight plug? getting 12v? if not I would assume a relay is crapping out.
Re: Good place in NOVA for Jeep Electrical Work? - V1GiLaNtE - 07-11-2013
JustinG Wrote:Don't the headlight switches crap out on these things too?
Multimeter to check the voltage at the headlight plug? getting 12v? if not I would assume a relay is crapping out.
Justin,
A LOT of switches crap out on these things. The lighting ones mainly due to poor wiring or lack of relay (fog light switch for example).
Goodspeed,
I think I have an extra relay kicking around if you want to test. Otherwise you're welcome to pull the relays from my harness to see if that fixes the issue. If you're willing to try it one last time I'd go with the harness from LMC Truck.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/hd-headlight-harness-write-up-11306/">http://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/hd-hea ... -up-11306/</a><!-- m -->
Little more but I think it's a different manufacturer.
Re: Good place in NOVA for Jeep Electrical Work? - Goodspeed - 07-11-2013
JustinG Wrote:Don't the headlight switches crap out on these things too?
Multimeter to check the voltage at the headlight plug? getting 12v? if not I would assume a relay is crapping out.
Hadn't heard about the headlight switches, you're probably right on the relay. I might swap those out with some Bosch ones to see if that helps.
Come to think of it, I remember I found a while back that if the drivers side started acting up, if I just pushed the housing inwards (like 1mm of play), it would brighten momentarily. It doesn't do that anymore, but maybe that points to bad contacts in the socket.
Re: Good place in NOVA for Jeep Electrical Work? - Goodspeed - 07-11-2013
V1GiLaNtE Wrote:Goodspeed,
I think I have an extra relay kicking around if you want to test. Otherwise you're welcome to pull the relays from my harness to see if that fixes the issue. If you're willing to try it one last time I'd go with the harness from LMC Truck.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/hd-headlight-harness-write-up-11306/">http://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/hd-hea ... -up-11306/</a><!-- m -->
Little more but I think it's a different manufacturer.
Thanks - that is actually the same one I have, I actually used that post to help me with the install. Is that what you have or did you build yours? It seems like these pre-built harnesses were getting awesome reviews when I bought, now they're getting panned...
Re: Good place in NOVA for Jeep Electrical Work? - V1GiLaNtE - 07-11-2013
I bought mine. Not the LMC one but from some no name company. It was in the last XJ and hasn't had any issues in this one. My only problem was I have fog lights and the relay for that would screw with my harness. If I turned the highs on, they wouldn't come off unless I turned the lights all the way off and then back on or sometimes just the running lights would come one. Just had to bend a pin out of the fog relay.
BTW.. in reading that article about building your own have you checked to see if you have a DRL relay? That may be a source for issues..
Re: Good place in NOVA for Jeep Electrical Work? - Goodspeed - 07-11-2013
I'm sure its down to the QC being sporadic at best - I installed the same setup in my brother's Jeep at the same time and it works just fine. I don't have any daytime running lights, nope.
Re: Good place in NOVA for Jeep Electrical Work? - V1GiLaNtE - 07-11-2013
Goodspeed Wrote:I installed the same setup in my brother's Jeep at the same time and it works just fine.
Buy a new harness /thread? :dunno:
Re: Good place in NOVA for Jeep Electrical Work? - Goodspeed - 07-11-2013
I thought about it, but I might just be tumbling down the rabbit hole there - what if the next one is crap? Better to fix whats broken with brand name parts, methinks.
Re: Good place in NOVA for Jeep Electrical Work? - V1GiLaNtE - 07-11-2013
Goodspeed Wrote:I thought about it, but I might just be tumbling down the rabbit hole there - what if the next one is crap? Better to fix whats broken with brand name parts, methinks.
At the expense of time & money.. The former of which you don't seem to have right now for such a mission critical component. Seems like so far 2/3 harnesses make Jeep light worky. One of which is an identical setup to yours. And mine has been passed along from on XJ to another.. :thumbup:
Just my .02
Re: Good place in NOVA for Jeep Electrical Work? - Goodspeed - 07-11-2013
^ a little more reading - it looks like I'll probably just buy an ARB-brand harness from Quadratec or Jeepin Outfitters. More money, but much higher quality, and worth it so I don't have to fux with making my own. Tons of people reporting issues with the Putco it seems, so keep your fingers crossed :|
Re: Good place in NOVA for Jeep Electrical Work? - ViPER1313 - 07-11-2013
Just do a wiggle test of the harness. Clean all the connections with electric parts cleaner and put back together with dielectric grease. I think there is only a single relay for both sides (1 low 1 high) on the harness so if one side is bright it's not the relay. I bet if you take the harness off the headlight, bend all the contacts on the bulb housing outward a bit so that the plug fits more snugly and reassemble your problem disappears.
Edit: Also just want to chime in on the Putco harnesses, the one on my Mustang has been working great for a little over a year... I mean seriously, it's 12ga wire and 2 relays, how poorly can you assemble it?
Re: Good place in NOVA for Jeep Electrical Work? - Jeff - 07-12-2013
I'll fix it for you sweet cheeks. I bet I can have her figured in an afternoon. Haul your ass down here and bring the astroglyde. I have a few oem relays and harnesses laying around here I'm sure.
Re: Good place in NOVA for Jeep Electrical Work? - BLAIR - 07-12-2013
Didn't bother reading all this but talk to Paul! Come over one night and I'm sure he can knock it out for way less than any shop! He is a wiring guru and awesome harness fabricator!
Re: Good place in NOVA for Jeep Electrical Work? - Goodspeed - 07-12-2013
Thanks guys - I'll read a bit more and start scrounging parts and perhaps pay one of y'all a visit. Appreciate all the tips/ideas so far!
Re: Good place in NOVA for Jeep Electrical Work? - xvxax - 07-12-2013
That how to not only has specific part numbers and descriptions but also all of the steps including pictures edited with diagrams on how to make your own harness. That is the most detailed how-to I have seen in quite some time.
For the love of all that is Jeep, just do that.
Re: Good place in NOVA for Jeep Electrical Work? - Goodspeed - 07-12-2013
Oh I/we will likely follow that guide for sure. Speak of the devil, were you driving on the Ffx Co. Parkway yesterday? If not I saw your cars twin.