07-11-2013, 09:30 AM
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:
As well as a post on Jeepforum from a guy who was chasing a similar issue with his custom harness
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).
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).
Current: '20 Kia Stinger GT2 RWD | '20 Yamaha R3 | '04 Lexus IS300 SD
Past: '94 Mazda RX-7 | '04 Lexus IS300 (RIP) | '00 Jeep XJ | '99 Mazda 10AE Miata | '88 Toyota Supra Turbo
My MM Movies - Watch Them Here
Past: '94 Mazda RX-7 | '04 Lexus IS300 (RIP) | '00 Jeep XJ | '99 Mazda 10AE Miata | '88 Toyota Supra Turbo
My MM Movies - Watch Them Here
