Alright people get ready for this one. I hope some one can guide me in the right direction to getting my lights working because right now I'm about to rewire all the jeeps lights.

89 XJ Limited, 4.0L, AW4...yada yada

So about a month ago I pulled out the headlight switch and the lights didn't turn on for a second or two. Delayed action. This happened randomly a few times after the first time.

One time the light's didn't turn on, I drove about 5 minutes and parked the jeep for a few hours, when I came back out, all was fine.

About a week ago I went to drive to work and I lost all lights except for the break lights. No turn signal, headlights, or marker lights.

When I parked the jeep and played with the lights, I pulled out the headlight switch and the front marker lights came on (not the rear), the fog light switch illuminated like it was on (but the switch was not on, nor were the fog lights), and the high beam and both turn signal lights lit up solid and stayed on until I hit the fog light switch, with the key in the off position and the headlight switch "in". Talk about bizarre.

Further inspection showed the marker light fuse was blow and if I replace it and turn pull out the headlight switch it melts. It does not pop. It melts the plastic. This occurs with different brands of 10 amp fuses so...?

Also the turn signal fuse is popped and when I replace it, with the key off, the radio comes on. When I replace it with the key on, the turn signals work until I turn off the jeep and the fuse pops.

CRAZY!

First thing I did was change the headlight switch. No difference.

Next thing was to unplug the trailer wiring harness. I have LED tail lights I made and they are wired off of the trailer wiring harness, and I pulled the regular tail light wiring into the back quarter panels of the jeep and left it sit there with the only the turn signal bulbs in so the resistance of the turn signal circuits wouldn't be screwed up by the LEDs. That made no difference and I checked the wiring of the old tail lights and nothing appears screwed up.

Also I swapped on a wagoneer cherokee front clip with the dual headlights, but the wiring used the same main connector under the hood, so that should not be an issue.

The jeep has the delayed light turn off feature from the factory, so I suspect this could be an issue.

Next thing I'm considering is the turn signal switch, but I might just say the hell with it and make my own light wiring harness with switches mounted on top of the dash or something.

 

Weird things can happen when your turn signal switch is bad, but in this case I am not sure. Do you have a wiring diagram?

Edit: The fact that replacing the switch and your radio coming on points to a major wiring problem in my opinion.

 

if you cant figure the problem out then go buy some baja lights from walmart and put them on your bumper/replace stock foggers. Just wire to a switch and put the switch under the drivers edge of the front of the center console, holds in not cutting/gluing required. That way you will at least still have some lights to drive with at night. Believe me, ive had to use them once before.

 

There is a connector under your air box that might be corroded. Unplug, and clean both ends with contact cleaner, plug them back together and see if your lights are working.
I recently had this problem, I bought a new switch, still had the same problem. Did some research on the internet, and found this solution.
It worked for me, and I got my money back for the switch, which I didn't need.
Mac

 

I removed the headlight delay module and fixed a few broken connections on my rear light harness and all is good now.