Help Please!!!!!

[stinkyXJ]

Well. Tonight I was driving down the highway just a little bit ago, minding my own business when my headlights all of a sudden shut off. confused I tried to finger it out why. I messed with the dimmer switch a little and nothing happened except what is supposed to happen (dim the interiors, duh!!) my exit came up and I drove about a mile blind (that was fun) I pulled up to my house and tried to find out what the heck was going on. That's when I pulled on the turn signal thingy that turns the brights on and off. and that's when my lights came on (when i turned OFF my brights... I run with them on at all times (that may have something to do with what happened)) so my lights are on now. I pull again (brights ON) and they go off. Ok... so that's fine I roughly fingered it out. I'm fine with that.... what I'm not fine with is what happens next. I start to notice that thick foul smelling smoke started pouring out of my defrost vents. I shut everything off and grab my flashlight and hop under the dash. What I find was something a little less than disconcerting. I look to see that the yellow wire going into the small harness on the driver side of the steering column was still bubbling and the copper was completely exposed. So... I'll ask again... HELP PLEASE!!!!! what would cause this, how can it be fixed, is it a big deal (or can I get away with driving around during the day only ) any help would be greatly appreciated (assuming it's correct help ) thank you for your time and sorry this what so long.

Thanks Again,

stinkyXJ

 

[GSequoia]

Could be the headlight switch. They tend to go out with smoke.

You're going to have to change out that wiring, and possibly change the plug onto the headlight switch (visit to the bone yard)

Here's a recent thread about changing the headlight swtich..too lazy to type it out

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11580

Sequoia

 

[Eagle]

The headlight switch is in the dashboard, directly behind that knob you pull to turn the headlights on. The dimmer switch, however, is on the steering column. The dimmer handle tou pull is not the switch, it connects to the switch through a linkage and a rod that runs down the column.

Sounds like your dimmer switch has self-destructed. I think this has been discussed before, so maybe you can find a discussion by searching. In summery, you'll need a new dimmer switch, and you will probably need to clip off the melted wires and do a bit of creative splicing to get everything together again.

BTW -- Why do you run with your brights on all the time? You never see other vehicles where you drive? And do you have auxiliary lights wired into your headlight circuit?

 

[stinkyXJ]

thank you much for your replies. in answer to your questions, I run with my brights on cuz my regular lights point pretty much at the ground so in order to see where I'm going i need the high beams on. I had the stock fog lights on there but they went bye bye long time ago... could the wiring from them be grounding some where and causing a problem?

again thanks for the help

stinkyXJ

 

[CheapXJ]

yellow = ign power.

take care of this wire IMMEDIATELY, before you even DRIVE it again.

if it shorts to ANYTHING, and the fuselink for it blows in the engine compartment, you will NOT be going ANYWHERE!!!

 

[CaptTrev]

1)
i 100% agree with CHEAPXJ!!

you HAVE to fix this IMMEDIATELY!!
and dont just "snip" out the little bit of bad stuff---trace it all out and replace END TO END (with equal or larger gauge wire(smaller #=bigger size))--otherwise you are putting yourself at risk for another disaster like this!

2)
um, yeah...if you feel that your regular headlights are aimed too far down....uhhh...why don't you maybe ADJUST them UP to a better level?? instead of driving around with your brights on all the time!!!

CaptTrev