headlight switchin'

'96 Cherokee here and I got a problem with my headlights going off for no reason that I believe may be coming from a headlight switch I got at O'Reiley's a few years ago. Just got another one from them to replace it and its by a company they said was top of the line called 'BWD - Engine Management Technology' on the box. Sticker on the box says made in Taiwan.

Is this switch probably ok or should I go to NAPA and get this part OEM?

I just replaced mine last week and the plug was melted. I pulled a new one from the JY and got a new switch from Oreily's. All fixed now.

Or perhaps check the headlights themselves for proper ground. Friend had that same issue of them flickering and such.

Cool I'll stick with this switch then.

2 problems I'm having with the headlights / switch...

The headlights only flash off in the high position, and only after they've been on for a half hour or so. They flash on and off fairly quickly and probably look to other people like I'm trying to signal them or something. While they're doing it I can keep pulled back on the turn signal lever and one set of lights stays on (hi or low I don't know) while the other beam continues to flash off and on. They'll do this for 3-4 minutes then stop. When it begins or when the lights flash on or off don't coordinate with any road jarring whatsoever so it seems like the source isn't a loose wire or anything. If I on/off the headlight switch like 20-40 times this seems to help it stop, or not.

Second problem is that when I rotate the headlight switch to turn on the interior lighting it blows the fuse that goes to the interior lighting, tail lights, and interior cluster illumination lights. No clue why. I believe this is why I switched out the headlight switch in the first place, which is somewhere around when the headlight on/off problem began.

Any ideas I'm all ears.
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There's way too much resistance in the stock wiring system for the headlights. Bad design. The switch has a circuit breaker in it that trips when the resistance gets too high. Install a supplemental headlight harness.

Across all XJ years?

Alaskan89XJ said:

Across all XJ years?

Click to expand...

84 to 96 for sure.

My '96 had a problem with the lights switching on and off as the OP has described, but with just the low beams.

Re-wiring the headlights to a relay system is my planned solution, but interestingly enough, my first step toward that solution seems to have solved the problem: I re-did my battery cables because they were a pathetic mess. I couldn't see trying to add a power source for relays out of the mess I had, so I started with new cables and terminals. That alone seems to have solved the problem.

The relays are still going in though, along with better headlights. It's just not as high of a priority at the moment.

Here's the harness kit in the link below. Takes about 1/2 hour to install. Lights will be about 35% brighter and headlight switch will no longer have the heavy load on it.

Personally, I'd rather install the harness than the headlight switch. As a matter of fact, I'd rather hit my thumb with a hammer than change that switch!!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CERAMIC-H4-...Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item4d05ffa39e

Man cruiser that sounds like a great simple little fix!

Is this harness essentially plug n play? It'll just plug into existing wiring?

I'm sure I can install this harness although I'm not entirely sure where it would go.

bradleyheathhays said:

Man cruiser that sounds like a great simple little fix! I'm sure I can install this harness although I'm not entirely sure where it would go.

Click to expand...

You HAD to ask, didn't ya?

http://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/hd-headlight-harness-write-up-11306/

He heeeeee! Thanks cruiser great link for me there!

Yep definitely XJs across the board have this silly way of wiring. Maybe I should stop being lazy and get that harness and fix the problem permanently.

Great link!

May have jumped the gun here but I just ordered the harness in the writeup. Will that one fit my '96 XJ or should I have gotten the one in the ebay link? Or are they the same?

bradleyheathhays said:

May have jumped the gun here but I just ordered the harness in the writeup. Will that one fit my '96 XJ or should I have gotten the one in the ebay link? Or are they the same?

Click to expand...

You're good to go.

My '96 is doing a similar thing. They just stay on if I am holding the lever back for high beams. As soon as I let go nothing and I am not getting any reg headlights. I checked the fuses and grounds. Just got a new lever from rock auto and the upgraded wire harness and still nothing. Any ideas?

I switched my lever out and had the same problem. I changed the switch and the headlights are on but no dash lights! Are there two plugs that plug into the switch? I could only find one but there are two plugs on the switch. I only unplugged one when uninstalling.