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Head light switch wires

K

Khary23

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Brooklyn, NY and Worcester, MA
I have been having a problem with my head lights where they would randomly blink off. At first I thought it was because the switch was not properly anchored so I used some velcro and anchored it but the problem persisted. I then noticed that the wires directly behind the plug were really hot and that when I wiggled the wires the lights stayed on which leads me to believe that there is a short in one of the wires. My question is can I just replace that wiring harness and if so how hard of a job is it. Thanks
 
Last edited:
Vehicle, year, model, and why did it need velcro?
 
I'd be looking at the switch plug. Loose contact? Is the plastic beginning to melt?
The circuit breaker in the switch could have become weaker.

The fix for this is to add a headlight upgrade harness. Your headlights will be about 30% brighter. Your headlight switch will have very little current flowing through it.
Like I stated in an earlier post, there is a design flaw in the headlight wiring.

If you have foglights, you will have to remove the fuse for them to use the harness. There is a workaround so you can still use them but I don't have it at my fingertips right now.

http://www.eautoworks.com/Putco-H4--9003-Heavy-Duty-Headlight-Upgrade-Wiring-Harness-PRD7540.aspx
Cruiser’s Headlight Upgrade Harness Instructions
　
　
Absolutely plug and play. Remove grille and headlamp bulbs. I fed my harnesses from the passenger side starting between the battery and the back of the headlamp housing, over to the driver side. Plug the driver side bulb into the new harness. Attach the new harness's ground wire under one of the small bolts on the radiator support after scraping the paint off under it. Attach the harness to the existing harness behind the grille working toward the passenger side. . Plug the new harness plug into passenger headlamp. Plug original headlamp plug into receptacle on new harness. Attach the ground for the passenger side just like you did the driver side under a radiator support bolt. Attach relays with provided bracket on the passenger side inner fender. Connect power wires to battery.
 
It’s all about load, over time the wiring builds up resistance, so more amps run through the switch and the wiring and the switch over heats. IMO the Putco is a POS and it is why we designed our own version, but there is a much easier and better way, if you are not looking to upgrade your headlight brightness. Just swap out your tail running bulbs for the LED version, you could also do the dash ones as well. They both do the same thing that is drop the amp load at the switch but either way you are delaying the inevitable, if your wires have high resistance you are going to need to rebuild the harness someday, but you may get 5 to 10 years depending on how hot it is in your location.
 
Rush Power Systems said:
It’s all about load, over time the wiring builds up resistance, so more amps run through the switch and the wiring and the switch over heats. IMO the Putco is a POS and it is why we designed our own version, but there is a much easier and better way, if you are not looking to upgrade your headlight brightness. Just swap out your tail running bulbs for the LED version, you could also do the dash ones as well. They both do the same thing that is drop the amp load at the switch but either way you are delaying the inevitable, if your wires have high resistance you are going to need to rebuild the harness someday, but you may get 5 to 10 years depending on how hot it is in your location.
Click to expand...

Let's see something on your harness.
 
I think that is the one I used on two of my jeeps earlier this year. I had to troubleshoot them today.

I discovered the relays had filled up with water and shorted, they were eaten alive inside the relay box, which was not a good thing since they were NOT fused!

They are not water tight on the E-connector side, and they need to be mounted with the wires on the bottom side, not the top side, or they will collect water and corrode badly. I am also thinking they need some shielding from rain and splashing.......

Khary23 said:
The Putco reviews on Amazon are not very good

http://www.amazon.com/Putco-230004H...iewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending
Click to expand...
 
Rush Power Systems said:
just here to help, not here to sale, PM me if you want info or if ok with mods here is a link to an old hang out that is way lame in comparison to this forum;:NAXJA::thumbup:OK?

http://www.cherokeetalk.com/forum/f69/who-wants-brighter-head-lights-20432/
Click to expand...

Seriously... I just put that damn $100 ARB on... to replace my crappy:

Khary23 said:
The Putco reviews on Amazon are not very good

http://www.amazon.com/Putco-230004H...iewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending
Click to expand...


Stay away from that one! I had nothing but problems with mine.
 
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