I'm still pretty new to Jeeps, so bear with me...

My headlights began to randomly turn off... I replaced the switch and lamps... Unfortunately, when I swapped the switch, three wires were melted... Not good... I'm assuming bad ground somewhere, bad fuse, or a relay has gone **** up... I'm going to be completely replacing the headlight harness(rather than chase a ghost in it and for safety reasons)...

Since replacing the headlight switch, my headlights absolutely will not go off... It is NOT the "light delay"... It literally happened right after I replaced the light switch... New switch in, lights come on and stay on. All. The. Time. Since I'm between paydays, I've been simply disconnecting the battery until I can replace the harness and whatever else might be the issue... That said, suggestions on what could cause this new symptom? I was thinking maybe the daylight relay thing(? I'm sure I butchered what it is called), but can't seem to find it on my jeep... I checked by/under the coolant res and no luck... I could just be missing it?

Just about everything I've found concerning this issue is on much 'newer' Jeeps...

Suggestions?

 

Melted wires? How did that occur? Unplugging one switch to plug in a new one, I don't get how a ground fault could be caused by swapping like switches. A condition of continuous power to the lights could be the contacts of the relay welded closed, or the relay coil is continuously energized because, well, melted wires? I'd substitute the headlight relay with another known serviceable relay. If the lights remain on with a substituted relay, then the wiring is the culprit.

 

I worded it wrong.. It's not the wires, but the connector itself.. The wires look OK... The connector that plugs into the headlight switch is 'melted'... Or warped... Maybe I should just take a pic... ?

 

Gotcha. The light switch receives electrical current and then, when switched, passes it out to the load (headlights) relay coil. If the plug's contacts for input and output are shorted (welded) together, or otherwise touching inside the (melted) plug before getting to the switch, then they are bypassing the switch altogether and creating a closed circuit to the relay coil. Pull the relay. If the lights go out then your headlight relay coil voltage is constantly supplied by what I'm guessing are welded contacts in the plug. If that's true then a plug change would remedy your problem.

 

I may be chasing a unicorn here, but I don't believe XJs HAVE headlight relays. All the power for the headlights goes thru the headlight switch. That's why they burn out. My 2000 doesn't, so why would an older one have relays. That's the whole purpose of an upgrade harness.