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Dash Electronics problem

J

jacobyj2

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Bellingham, WA
I've got an 88 xj whose headlight switch kills everything else on the dash, lights, radio, ect. I've already changed out the switch, with no improvement and am a little lost. The only thing I can think of right now is to simply re-wire the switch, which may not be that simple. Any help would be appreciated.
 
the engine always starts no matter what is on or off, the radio, dash lights and all other illumination only works when the lights are off, as soon as you pull out the light switch, to any possition, all of these things die, but come right back on if you turn the lights off.
 
Had the same problem after putting in a new light switch on my 1990 XJ and to fix the problem I replaced the radio/clock illumination relay and it stopped this from happening and returned everything to the way it should work. Hope this helps, btw mine is located behind the drivers side kick panel.
 
do u mean the radio does not work at all or it just doesnt illumintae any more ? Either way i would start by checking the headlights themselves and the switch wiring for any shorts.

pete
 
Did this just magically happen one day, or has it always been like this?

Did you buy the vehicle used?

Is there a non-OEM radio in there? Are there any splices/cuts at the deadlight switch, or ignition switch harnesses(harni for you purists)?

The power feed for the radio and illumination should be coming from the ignition switch, through a fuse, and then to the radio circuit.
 
It built its way up, at first it would quite right when the lights came on then start back up again, then it just started quiting all together. Yeah, I got it used from my Brother who had the initial problem of it quiting for a second as soon as he put in the non-OEM radio. I haven't been able to find any major cuts or splices, but that doesn't mean they aren't there. I have a feeling the ingition switch might help solve my problem, which I plan on replacing while dealing with another issue in the steering column.
 
Dan1990XJ said:
Had the same problem after putting in a new light switch on my 1990 XJ and to fix the problem I replaced the radio/clock illumination relay and it stopped this from happening and returned everything to the way it should work. Hope this helps, btw mine is located behind the drivers side kick panel.
Click to expand...

How many connections on this relay?

And, was yours white?
 
over2land said:
How many connections on this relay?

And, was yours white?
Click to expand...

I had five connections on mine and it was black, but the replacement one I got was greyish white. The diagram on the relay looked like this:
PICT0012.jpg

hope this helps.
-Dan
 
Last edited:
Sorry about the large pic, I tried to resize it through photoshop but had some problems with Photobucket not wanting it to be smaller.

Edit: It seems to have fixed itself
 
Last edited:
Ah, that's a normal bosch type 5 pole relay.

I have that one in mine, and I think it's working.

It's the oddball 3 connector one that doesn't work... or so I think.
 
Don't rewire the switch.

This sounds like a bad ground on the dash lights to me. To troubleshoot, put the + lead of a voltmeter (+12 volt range) on the - side of a light that doesn't work with the light switch on and the - lead of the meter connected to the chassis. To find the - side of the light, get the light so it is working and measure the voltage on each lead to the chassis, until you find the one with the lowest voltage reading. That is the - side. Now measure from this wire to the chassis.

You should see less than 0.5 volts on the meter when the light switch is turned on. I expect you will see this reading go up to near 12 volts. If you read over the 0.5 volts, look for a bad ground.
 
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