electrical problems....can't solve after at least 10 hours, very frustrated!!

having some electrical problems on my 93 that i have worked on for the past 10 hours or so and cannot solve...

basically can't get my instrument panel lights to work nor my parking lights. heres the deal: when i pull out the headlight switch 1 notch (which should turn on the parking lights and instrument panel lights) they do not work. however, if i pull the switch out to the second notch (for the headlights) they do work, but parking lights still do not work, nor instrument panel lights. brights also work as well.

heres the weird part. if i pull out the switch very slowly right before it gets to the first notch there is a certain point which will turn on the parking lights and the instrument panel lights! but it is only at a certain point at which you have to just fiddle with the switch in order to find it! with that in mind i was sure that the problem would be the headlight switch, but after replacing the switch (from the junkyard) the same results were found (only worked at the certain point after fiddling with the position). to me this concluded that the switch was not the problem, even thought the *new* one was used, but because it yeilded the exact same results.

so after tracing wires for hours and not being able to find anything wrong, i am at a loss. i did go ahead and check fuses and found nothing wrong with any of them (although i didnt really think this would be the problem because it will work at that certain point).

i have heard that there is a healight/illumination relay so i figured that maybe could be the problem....so after a trip to the auto parts store i found a new one, but although kinda stupid i havent been able to find its location yet? also wasnt sure if the realy would cause my symptoms of headlights working, but not parking lights and instrument panel lights (unless the 'magic spot' is found).

anybody have any ideas? i really need to get this fixed so i can drive (especially at night) and i am really really mad and frustrated! thanks for any help and sorry about the long post just wanted to get all the info in.

Having somewhat the same problem maybe this will help check it out.

lights

if you hold the swtch at the in between setting do the lights stay on? If hey stay on and don't pop a fuse then I'd say it's the switch. Who's to say the junkyard switch hasn't corroded or was broken when it went the the yard?
A new switch is about $20 at advance auto, I'd try that, or you can jump the wires at the switch and see if the lights stay on. If they do then I'd say it's definitly the switch.

87manche said:

if you hold the swtch at the in between setting do the lights stay on? If hey stay on and don't pop a fuse then I'd say it's the switch. Who's to say the junkyard switch hasn't corroded or was broken when it went the the yard?
A new switch is about $20 at advance auto, I'd try that, or you can jump the wires at the switch and see if the lights stay on. If they do then I'd say it's definitly the switch.

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nope, not the switch....got a new one from auto store and have the same results. only works during that 'magic spot.' although i kinda doubt its the problem, anyone know where the headlight relay, or maybe its called the illumination relay, is located and what it controls? if that relay is not the problem i have no idea where to go next.

I had pretty much the same problem with my 91 XJ. Ended up taking it to an auto electric place.

They ended up grounding the parking lights at all 4 corners to fix the problem. Just find which wire is ground at each corner, tap into it and make a new ground to the body.

Good luck.

Rick

Many times when the switch gos bad it will heat the connector in the plug causing poor contact.

langer1 said:

Many times when the switch gos bad it will heat the connector in the plug causing poor contact.

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that's a good tip, I had a sundance that did that. It just didn't occur to me.

Did this happen was a result of something you might have done, or did it happen on its own?

Turn signals, and side markers still working?

Park/tail lamp fuse ok?

Inst lamp fuse ok?

Clock, radio working?

i have this same problem on my '90 xj. The panel lights only work if i turn my knob all the way to the left(not all the way so that the overhead lights come on, but almost to that point.) Then the panel comes on and stays on.

Lou said:

Did this happen was a result of something you might have done, or did it happen on its own?

Turn signals, and side markers still working?

Park/tail lamp fuse ok?

Inst lamp fuse ok?

Clock, radio working?

Click to expand...

well it may or may not have happened from something i did. i was installing a CB (cobra 75 that has the small box/brain) so i was working some under the dash a little bit in order to mount the 'brain' piece. however i have not done anything w/ the wiring for the CB yet so its not from that.

the next time i drove the jeep is when i noticed the problem.....so i definately figured it could have been from something i did under the dash (perhaps knocked a wire loose, maybe accidently drilled into a wire, etc) but i have definately looked over the wiring around that area numerous times and cannot find anything wrong.

to answer the questions:

Turn signals, and side markers still working? yes, turn signals and side markers (when used as turn signals, not running lights) still work

Park/tail lamp fuse ok? yes

Inst lamp fuse ok? yes

Clock, radio working? yes

check every connection you can find. more than likely something is getting good contact. take a look at your ignition switch, play with the wires on it some. if that fails there's a connection right behind the drivers side headlight. that connection deals with the parking/signal/heads. the connection on that may need to be cleaned.

87manche said:

if you hold the swtch at the in between setting do the lights stay on? If hey stay on and don't pop a fuse then I'd say it's the switch. Who's to say the junkyard switch hasn't corroded or was broken when it went the the yard?
A new switch is about $20 at advance auto, I'd try that, or you can jump the wires at the switch and see if the lights stay on. If they do then I'd say it's definitly the switch.

Click to expand...

Take a multimeter with ya when pulling electrical parts.

My headlight switch turns on and off my radio. So does my ignition. Now thats weird. And when I turn off my headlights, the parking lights stay on till I turn the heep off. You think you have problems.................

Ive got a similar problem on my 94. it started when the motor wouldn't stop running after turning off the ignition. i ended up pulling one of the fuses, i think it was the inst. dimmer/ taillight fuse. same thing with the light switch and the dimmer. it worked only when turned all the way to the left. so now, i can only shut the truck off if i got the fuse out OR if it pops. so i figured something is shorting out the fuse. all between the ingition, taillights, parking lights, dimmer. it actually starts to smoke form behind the dash board if i turn the lights on and the dimmer while running. i talked this kid that i know works at a jeep dealership, he recommended checkin the wires and harnesses. he said to take off the whole dash board, and there is a tube that runs across the dash on top where he saw wires get split and melt other wires, that's whats causing all this. i started taking it apart and just ran out of time, but that would be my guess.

just incase anyone was wondering what happened, cuz they might have a similiar problem.....i ended up taking the jeep to the dealership :gag:

figured they may have experienced a similiar problem before and would probably be the best bet for this issue....so ended up costing me 2 hours labor but they figured it out....basically they said that there was "a few" connections that were loose and getting poor contact which was causing the problem. they couldnt pinpoint it to one wire because they said they fixed a few problem areas.

i would have liked to have reasearched it a little more instead of spending the money but simply didnt have enought time right now to mess w/ it....