[wingedmare]

Good evening Gentlemen! I am in need of your assistance. This evening I made the mistake of letting my dear Hubby drive My baby girl. He went to click on the high beams and *POOF!* lights out, just headlights though. Well, we snuck home and managed not to get pulled over and I pulled up my dimmer switch and lo and behold it's done! Ok, So no Prob, I can get a new one at AutoZone or Napa. PROBLEM the plug that attaches to it is all Melted. I can't find one online to order. Please help me find one or instruct me on a way to replace it.

Guess I won't be taking her to the drive in tomorrow night for my Birthday! LOL Tnx in advance.

Ps. The irony of this is that we were driving home to start working on the sloppy steering issue....silly Jeep has a sense of humor.

[only in a jeep cj]

Yeahhh, I've seen them melted before. They get a little corroded and the small contact area heats due to the amps passing throught it. What you do is a quick fix now (so you can drive it tomorrow), then search for a replacement plug from a donor. Keep the order of the three wires correct and use new female wire ends. They even make them with build in heat shrink. You may have to cut back the bad section by an inch or two, but it should be fine if you wire it right and have good connections.

[keith460]

While replacing the switch and plug is in order, check for corroded ground terminals for the headlight system and possible loose or corroded terminals on the headlight low/high beam floor mounted switch. Excessive amp draw will occur because of this and melt wires and contacts in the switch itself. Do you have Halogen lamps perhaps? They too will draw more amps then conventional headlights and rewiring for a headlamp relay would need to be done.

[JeepHammer]

Here are TWO tips for you...

The plug is available at Advanced Auto, and Auto Zone.

There is an UPGRADE available for your Lights...
If you jumper the Center Power Wire to the LOW BEAMS wire,
The LOW BEAMS will stay 'ON' when the high beams are on.
This gives you MUCH WIDER field of light so you can see much better.

Takes about two inches of wire and some solder/insulation while you are changing the plug.

[wingedmare]

Once again, you guys are GREAT! After investigating the switch last night I followed wires around (only got stuck under the dash once ) and they all are in dandy shape. I then took a closer look at the dead switch. And I mean DEAD dead, as in it fell into three pieces when I took it off the floor LOL. I didn't see any corrosion, but it did have debree inside the switch it's self. I have a feeling it was on it's way out for a while as it is the original switch.

As I've been delving deeper into working on my girl I'm finding more and more that she is mostly original and VERY well taken care of. Other than my steering being sloppy I'm finding that I'm just doing basic upkeep on her. I keep looking for things to be wrong and just find things that are normal needs like plugs and wires, etc. I have to say I think I stumbled on a great Jeep Find! AND I never realized how much just taking her down to Jack in the Box would perk up my day!

Well, Headed to Napa to get my parts and pieces....our AutoZone is under new management and I'm pretty sure after swinging in last night to grab a few things they hired the cast from Idiocracy.

[wingedmare]

OK, I got the plug and the switch will be here tomorrow. I am trying to put the plug in and I cut back the electrical tape around the wires, this has apparently been replaced before??, to find 4 wires going to the plug. Two are running in the left side. My brain is mush here; electrical isn't my strong suite! the plug I purchased only has 3 wires...I'm gonna go change my oil and plugs and wires while I wait for an answer...I really don't wanna fry anything else!

[kakai81]

Your plug is probably original. A lot of electrical tape, and even duct tape, was used at the factory.

[kakai81]

Hey JeepHammer,
With the headlight upgrade. Do you not have to worry about drawing too much current to the lights and possibly causing a fire with old wiring? I just asked because a buddy installed much brighter lights on his old Honda and burned up the front end because of the lights. (They were not HID, before someone suggests that.) If there's no chance of fire, I'll do this today.

[JeepHammer]

Originally Posted by wingedmare

OK, I got the plug and the switch will be here tomorrow. I am trying to put the plug in and I cut back the electrical tape around the wires, this has apparently been replaced before??, to find 4 wires going to the plug. Two are running in the left side. My brain is mush here; electrical isn't my strong suite! the plug I purchased only has 3 wires...I'm gonna go change my oil and plugs and wires while I wait for an answer...I really don't wanna fry anything else!

One of the three terminals will have TWO wires,
One goes to the BRIGHT headlights, One goes to the bright light indicator on your speedo cluster.

The center one is power 'IN' from the headlight switch the dimmer switch decides which line it goes 'OUT' to the high or low beams,

The single side wire is your 'LOW' beams.

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Originally Posted by kakai81

Hey JeepHammer,
With the headlight upgrade. Do you not have to worry about drawing too much current to the lights and possibly causing a fire with old wiring? I just asked because a buddy installed much brighter lights on his old Honda and burned up the front end because of the lights. (They were not HID, before someone suggests that.) If there's no chance of fire, I'll do this today.

NOPE, not with stock incandescent bulbs.
I've done it many times with no problems what so ever.

If you switch to Halogens, then you might draw too much and trip the breaker built into the head light switch...
The headlight switch has circuit protection built into it, it's a self resetting circuit breaker.

If you want to go Halogen, then you really should install relays at the head lights themselves and power up the halogens with a dedicated supply line.

[kakai81]

Okay, I did go with halogens, so I'll hold off on the upgrade.

That was a good call on the wire going to the bright lights indicator light.

[JeepHammer]

Originally Posted by kakai81

Okay, I did go with halogens, so I'll hold off on the upgrade.

That was a good call on the wire going to the bright lights indicator light.

Naw...
I've done this once or twice before...

Had to unwrap the harness to figure it out the first time!
Not smart enough to read the wiring diagram then, now I save myself some grief and consult the wiring diagram first!

[Boodyrider]

Originally Posted by kakai81

Hey JeepHammer,
With the headlight upgrade. Do you not have to worry about drawing too much current to the lights and possibly causing a fire with old wiring? I just asked because a buddy installed much brighter lights on his old Honda and burned up the front end because of the lights. (They were not HID, before someone suggests that.) If there's no chance of fire, I'll do this today.

Two things make that irrelevant:
1) It's a Honda, not a Jeep. Jeep harnesses tend to have sufficient wire gauge to allow for up to 130 watt low beams, 100 watt highs without any real need to upgrade harness or add a relay.
2) I've seen a LOT of hack jobs called kits for the import crowd.

Brightness of lighting doesn't necesarily mean the bulb draw more power; for example, halogens or Xenon, contrary to the other post, do NOT by definition draw more current. They are simply more efficient at the SAME wattage. Same power draw, more light output.

However: the 'upgrade' Jeephammer refers to WILL draw far more current when the high beams are on. I'd avoid it myself.


Short story...
With round headlights, an outstanding upgrade that is still well within the safe zone for harness current capacity is this: Hella E-code housings with Hella white H4 bulbs in 100 watt low/80 watt high. Max current draw is 100 watts each, LESS than the 55 + 65 that Jeephammer's suggestion brings, and light output is really outstanding. The E-code housings have a far better beam pattern than DOT sealed beam bulbs or housings, with a VERY sharp upper cutoff. The high watt bulbs have much better than stock light output, yet you will NOT get flashed for blinding headlights if they are aimed correctly.
Total cost to my door for this setup was right around a huindred bucks from Rallylights.com. The ONLY catch with this is they are not technically legal... but you'll likely NEVER have an issue with this as the beam pattern is so good. Of course, both high and low on at once is not legal, nor are HID bulbs in vehicles that didn't come with 'em, and you''ll see those touted as great options too, even though the beam pattern sucks so bad you'll blind oncoming traffic and get stopped because of it.

Don't order the H4 housings from Qtec or Ebay. The only two good brands I've seen are the Hella and one other far more expensive brand. Don't get the DOT housings, as the beam pattern has far more glare.

[wingedmare]

Ok, I'm sure you guys may think I'm silly here but I FIXED 'EM!!!! All by my little girly self! In FACT it took me longer to track down the right socket than to actualy replace the parts.

I also changed her oil and filter, tracked down and changed the fuel filter (sneaky little suckers on these Jeeps!), and plugs and wires. Man she's running like a BEAST now! One of the plugs crumbled as I removed it, poor girl was trying so hard and just didn't have the goods to give it to me, but all fixed up now.

Next on my list would normaly be tranny fluid change, but since the transmition was JUST rebuilt 100 miles ago I can probably wait on that.

Tnx again guys for all your help.

Oh, and I KNOW IT'S off topic from my original light question, BUT Just have to say that after I got all this done I took her out and really wheeled her in 4-wheel for the first time, I can't belive the torque that little 4-banger has to it! Pulled me all over this desert like no bodys bussines!