Canadian here. The day time running lights are required in Canada so my XJ has them. I installed a headlight relay kit a year or so ago. I replaced the relays a few months ago with new ones.

I've found our daytime running lights flicker.
Today our headlights (low beams) are sticking on.

Any ideas on how to fix the running lights?
I assume they are always on at low voltage, so I assume it might be flicking the headlight relay on/off constantly as voltage floats around?

Could that be the cause of my low beams sticking on? Are my daytime running lights failing the relay prematurely?

Thanks in advance

 

Ok. So I dug around and I think the cause of my issues is:

1. The day time running lights work by turning on the headlights at partial voltage in order to get dim lights as the running lights.
2. Reduced voltage is around the threshold for turning on the relays.
3. Relays are constantly turning on/ off which causes headlights to flicker, or dim, when on daytime running lights (DRL)
4. The flickering causes the relays to fail or stick on

I'm not 100% sure the relays are bad and not the DRL module, but I think it is because when I swapped relays last time it fixed this.

This problem happened today while running errands. I got around it by unplugging the headlight relays and driving with no headlights.

I found a handful of theads that I couldn't find until I changed how I searched. A number of these are missing details or are for 97+ so I need to weed through them and might have questions.

• https://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1008851
• https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f67/pu...lights-196496/
• https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/drl-trigger-172440/
• https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/day...lights-151738/
• https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/drl...arness-202329/
• https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f67/pr...ng-drl-220378/
• https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/hel...urn-off-45982/
• https://jeepkings.ca/forums/showthread.php?97185-Re-wiring-DRL-s-to-fogs&

From these posts I think I have a few options:

1. Unplug DRL module - this is illegal. But if I turn on low beams it would be difficult to get caught. However I read people having issues with other stuff when this is unplugged.
2. Replace relays with ones with lower switching voltage so the DRL module switches them on robustly
3. Disconnect module & jump some pins in the module - Disconnect the module and by connecting pins 1&4 in the harness the high beam instrument indicator work again.
4. Splice the power wire from the DRL module to the headlights directly (bypass relay) to avoid relays fluttering.
5. Splice the power wire from the DRL to dedicated LED daytime running lights (LED rings or similar). I thought of this myself. Instead of hacking into my putco-style harness I could just install dedicated DRLs like new cars often have. I don't want to replace my headlights but you can get H4 lenses with a dedicated LED strip built in as DRLs.

Some snaps of the wiring diagram.






So my questions:

1. Can anyone think of any problems (excluding legal ones) for unplugging the DRL module temporarily? I need a temporary solution that still let's me put on the low and high beams.
2. If I rewire to have the DRL bypass the relay, is it pin 1 that I want to use as power for DRLs? This post suggests as much (https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f67/putco-headlight-harness-daytime-running-lights-196496/) but I'm not certain that will do everything I want. Anything else I need to do?

 

As a fellow Canadian and had the same issue.. its the DRL failing, i disconnected mine and have not replaced it, its very common with the Canadian Jeeps.

 

Thanks. I'm going to try disconnecting it today. I double checked the schematics and links I summarized and the only issue I can see is the high beam indicator won't turn on with the high beams. Asking my wife now and she doesn't even know if it turns on normally so that's not a priority for me to worry about I guess.

I kinda want it to work. I might still wire it in to the headlights past the relay harness and replace the module.

Did you have difficulties finding a replacement or did you just not think it's worth it? I see prices ranging between $70-$130 - seems expensive.

 

It seems to me, being old school, that you could build your own module with a relay connected to an ignition source, a large wirewound resistor, and a high capacity diode wired into the harness after the Putco relays. That way the headlights would get a reduced voltage when the ignition was on, yet work normally when you pull on the headlights. The diode would stop the 12v from feeding back thru the resistor and relay. You could actually do it with a second relay instead of the diode to break the reduced voltage supply, but now we're getting weird. It would cost much less that a new module.

 

Thanks for the thoughts. I get this and I could totally do it.

Also, I happened to find that I could also buy an IP67 and high temp rated voltage reducer to cut and regulate the voltage for me for like $15. I know a hard wired resister and proper circuit design would be cheap but for $15 the cost is still competitive to get a plug and play module.

Although I'm keen to keep it as stock as possible, this entire idea is appealing to me.

In the meantime I will:

1. Disconnect the module at least for the week so we can continue to drive. New relays are coming Monday since I'll use my spares today (and I'd rather not assume the relays that were flaking out yesterday are still good).
2. If any issues with indicator lights I'll temporarily connect pin 1 and pin 4 on the harness to send the headlight highbeam signal to the indicator.
3. After our camping trip next weekend, I'll wire a jumper between the headlight relay socket and relay so I can temporarily tap the DRL into the harness on the power side (instead of the switching signal side like it is now). Basically I'll just wire a new mini harness that extends the relay harness between the relay sockets and relays and taps into the high beam power. When doing this I'll need to connect to pin 1 on the module which means there will be a new power wire between the DRL and headlight. I'll make that wire removable for now.
4. If the DRL module works with new harness bypassing the relays then I'll make the jumper more permanent and keep it. And not buy a new module.
5. If the DRL is indeed dead or dying I'll decide either to replace it or wire in a new circuit instead of the DRL module. That'll go down to a trade of between time and cost.

 

Module unplugged and relays reinstalled.
I ended up having two mismatched spare relays - which will work but won't fit nicely. So I tested the relays and quickly found the failed one and replaced that one with my spare.

Everything works great.

Turns out the high beam indicator is part of the dash lights that sometimes flake out so my wife is not worried about it for now. Problem is the stupid conductor film on the back has too much resistance in spots (corroded in spots) and with the voltage drop won't drive the LEDs.

I have ordered a few more relay sockets to use in my jumper. For under $15 I figured it was worth the effort saved.

I'll update when I test the module to see next steps in getting the DRL working again.