Hey,

I am new to the forum but it looks like you guys have some great advice.

I just purchased my second Cherokee it's a 98 and of course I already got the itch to Mod it. Since its winter I am starting with the lights.

I just added a HID kit from dotcomracing. I installed it and everything works great until I turn the car off. My Jeep has a headlight delay which worked fine with the normal lights, however with the HID kit the HID's go into psycho mode and start flashing uncontrollably after about 30 seconds. This happens after the typical delay expires. After they go nuts for about 10 seconds they finally go off but I hear this persistent "clicking" sound from under the dash. Anybody have any experience with this issue? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

I'm not sure how the delay works but the HIDs use way less electricity than stock lights. They might not be pulling enough amps to make the delay work properly. My guess is that the delay needs a certain amount of impedance or electrical resistance to determine how long to keep the timer on for. Since the amount of electricity is significantly less, it can't measure accurately anymore. You might be able to find a resistor or compensator to recalibrate the delay timer. Check with who you ordered the lights from.

 

You have two options... There's a relay behind the panel in front of your knees and you can bend the pin on it to eliminate the delay. I know it's back there, but I have yet to find it. When you pull the key from the ignition you can hear it switch off after a little while. The other option, or at least what has worked for me until I find that relay, is to switch to high beams before you turn the key off.

 

alpine.adrenaline - your high beam suggestion worked perfectly! now I can stop disconnecting my battery at night... I am bringing it into the garage in a bit and I am gonna find the delay module. Hopefully I can just remove it. I think MachRanger is spot on with the problem. Just need to get it figured out. Appreciate your help guys, I'll let you know what I find tonight.

 

I use the high beam trick also. Please let us know if you find the delay switch relay. Out of all the hid kits i've installed only the xj has the weird problem of staying on when you turn off the ignition.

 

PROBLEM SOLVED!


So I felt around behind the dash and felt the delay relay going nuts when I turned off my lights.

After tearing apart the lower half of the driver side dash I found it. It is Located about 6 inches below and perhaps 4 inches to the left of the headlight switch. It was a pain to pull out and I had to remove the screw that held it in place before I could disconnect it from the harness. Here are the pics.








Here is the Gallery link http://min.us/mvggMB0#4 ... min.us is a pretty sweet picture sharing site.



After I removed it the lights go on and off with no problems. I never like the delay anyway, it always made me feel like I forgot to turn off the lights. thanks for all your help and I hope this helps.

 

you cam also buy a relay kit for them, thats what i did, but with that you lose a high beam cause it plugs into the existing light harness, im gonna go do this right now so i can have both high beams lol

 

so did you just remove it completely? i found the relay and unplugged it, i gotta disconnect the relay i put on the hids to begin with then it should work good

 

Theres an auto off relay located under the sterring wheel take offf the panel on thier and turn on your headlights and listen for the click whatever click is the relay disconnect it and your problem will be solved

 

will this also fix any issue im having with the right headlight HIGH beam not functioning??

I was installing HID's and had the right headlight mounted and working .When i began working on the left the right went out and I havent been able to get it to work since. I plugged a normal bulb into the power harness and low beam works, but it shuts off when i throw on the high beams.

Would pulling the auto relay fix my highbeam from not coming on??

 

So all I have to do is disconnect that? What exactly am I losing when it is disconnected?

 

Get a relay harness its much easier, as well as being safer on your sock wiring. It pulls straight from the battery instead of through your stock wiring

 

Trying to understand what you said...
Basically your jeep sounds fine. If lows come on and highs come on each independently then you are fine.

Stock high beams and low beams are 2 different filaments running on 2 different wires. The high beam shuts off the low beam when "clicked" on by the operator. Usually only Flash to pass leaves the lows on- the pull with with out the click. Some old chevy trucks and other vehicles use all 4 leads for high beams, but it is not the common way.

That would be around 20 amps of current draw total if all 4 were going. There could be long term consequences to that. Stock wires melting, contacts on switches and relays melting and failing, ticking off the alternator and/or battery.