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drove through some water, knocked out headlights

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Old Mar 4, 2011 | 09:02 AM
  #1  
2001XJWeekender's Avatar
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Year: 2001
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Default drove through some water, knocked out headlights

Was running some errands in a downpour, went through a pool of water 6" deep at about 40MPH. This knocked out my headlights for about an hour or so.

What can I do to waterproof whatever caused this?



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Old Mar 4, 2011 | 09:21 AM
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On the off chance it's the same connector I am having problems with right now, look under your air cleaner for a connector that ties the entire front lighting system back to the rest of the Jeep.

It should be water tight, in theory. Mine had a bunch of corrosion on it and will be getting replaced this weekend.

It might not be where your problem is, but it is for me.

As to how to waterproof it, I have had good luck with spray on rubber coating similar to this one:

http://www.yachtsofstuff.com/userPos...&cexs=pro-tect

Yes, it's designed for boats. Then again, what better way to keep out water than using boat stuffs?

Last edited by Dechion; Mar 4, 2011 at 09:22 AM. Reason: As usual, I fail at spelling.
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Old Mar 4, 2011 | 10:36 AM
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disconnect the wiring connectors, and slather some "dielectric grease" in there. You can find it in little packages at the auto parts store counter. It works as a water displacement agent so no moisture gets in.
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Old Apr 5, 2011 | 02:58 PM
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Pulled apart the connector on the drivers side fender. Cleaned it out, although it wasn't all that dirty or corroded. Slathered some dielectric grease on the terminals, and popped it back together. This was nice maintenance, but still had intermittent headlights.

Took the dash apart thinking it was the headlight switch. While the dash was apart, I pulled the instrument cluster out, cleaned it's terminals, and slathered dielectric grease on the connectors. I had the "no bus" message a few times, and smacking the dash to reconnect it was too ghetto.

Pulling the headlight switch out revealed a melted and burnt connector. There was a red plastic spacer piece that had goopep up and caused the connections to fail. I used a screwdriver and needle nose pliers to pop out the melted stuff. Slathered the connector with dielectric grease, plugged it all back together, and now my headlights are good. Bought a new switch from AutoZone, but will return it as the old one was fine after the procedure.



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Old Apr 5, 2011 | 03:00 PM
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did the same thing about a 2 years ago except it was my fog lights that went out. came back on about a month later and hasnt happened sence this is the firs ttime i even gave it a second though
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Old Apr 5, 2011 | 03:05 PM
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Originally Posted by 2001XJWeekender
Pulling the headlight switch out revealed a melted and burnt connector. There was a red plastic spacer piece that had goopep up and caused the connections to fail. I used a screwdriver and needle nose pliers to pop out the melted stuff. Slathered the connector with dielectric grease, plugged it all back together, and now my headlights are good. Bought a new switch from AutoZone, but will return it as the old one was fine after the procedure.
You're not going to want to leave the connector like that, and you need to fix the issue that caused it. Do you have upgraded headlights?

The connector can be bought (AIRTEX Part #1P1190) or salvaged from a JY.

The problem is caused by the switch being overloaded. EAutoworks sells a terrific (and cheap) headlight harness upgrade that installs in <15 minutes and takes all but a tiny fraction of load away from the dash switch, AND makes your headlights WAY brighter.
http://www.eautoworks.com/product-ea...com-189849.htm (use code "jeepforum" for 30%? off)
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Old Apr 5, 2011 | 03:38 PM
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I just ordered the kit, thanks. I assume ordering one kit takes care of the load issue?



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Old Apr 5, 2011 | 03:39 PM
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yessir
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