Headlight woes...

I searched and couldn't find the answer to my problems, so here goes...
When I pull my headlight switch on, the left and right turnsignals (on the dash) both light up and the high beam indicator lights up, however; my headlights don't come on. When I attempt to change from high to low beam lights, the high beam indicator changes intensity(brightness) but doesn't go off to signal that low beams are on. With the headlight switch in the "off" position, I get the high beam indicator and both dash turnsignals, but no lights. This problem started recently(1-2wks ago) in the form of the headlights taking a few seconds to come on, then a few more to achieve full brightness. When I would change from high to low,(or vice versa) the same delay would occur. It got worse last night with there being a few seconds of total darkness btw switching. I went into a friends house and came out to find them in the current state. Are there any relays or fuses that I should check? Does anyone have any experience with this problem?
Thanks,
Bryan

Start by looking at the ground for the headlight circuit. There's a big multi-wire connector behind the driver's side headlight that sometimes causes problems. I'd suggest accessing that, opening it up and cleaning the contacts, then tracing the ground wire back from there to the grounded connection and making sure that all lights have a good ground.

I ran some tests with my Jeep. Here's what happened.
With the headlights off: The rear turnsignals work correctly. The front ts that is actived works correctly and on the opposite side the upper/outside ts blinks dimly. The lights flash slower than they did before the problem occured.
With the headlights in either position: The rear turnsignals light up, but don't blink. No light is generated by the front ts.
The emergency flashers work correctly and when the flashers are turned off with the vehicle off, the front ts stay dimly lit but don't blink. When you turn the vehicle back on, the front ts turn off.
Eagle-I'll check my Jeep out and report back.
Thanks,
Bryan
1990 XJ Limited, AW4/242, D30/D35, 2.5" lift.

I cleaned up the headlight connector. I noticed that one area of the connector had a melted spot on it. It was the part that surrounded the black wire. I don't have a wiring diagram but I assume that this wire is the ground, since there is also a large red wire in the connector. Am I correct? I went for a drive and the lights worked for a mile or so, then went out. I jiggled the connector and they came back on. I'm going to by-pass the connector for the black wire only and hope it works.