As long as it has H4 connectors and sufficient wiring length it will work (Note: if the wiring is long enough for a full-sized pick-up or van it won't be a problem with an XJ).

If you have factory fog lights you will have to make some modifications (this applies to all aftermarket harnesses) to prevent back-feed to the relays.

It will only show as "compatible" if the seller checked that box when making the listing and most don't list every vehicle that a product could possible work with.

I've seen some threads on here and other forums of others using these harnesses without any issues.

 

 

LOL !!

 

I have had my putco harness a year and no issues.
Had a close call when I put my 80/100 w bulbs in tho.
Ended up being a fuse issue,I did buy a spare relay from Oreilly.

The putco harness is a cheap one for sure I have a harness from GOS performance on my F250 it was 95 dollars you can see the differnces in quality. They both work tho. I used dielectric grease and made sure all my connections were good.

 

I've had the Putco harness with supplied relays for 1.5 years, no problems. All XJs use the same headlights and I only know of one harness. The harness plugs into the three-pronged plug that would otherwise go to the driver's side sealed beam. All XJs used sealed beam headlights and therefore, they all have the same plug.

 

There is another harness that will work but its 95 bucks.

 

Over two years on the original relays here. Don't over think easy things, just install it.

 

Ok, I'll stick with these from Ebay over the Putco

Just wondering, what exactly are the standards involved in this upgrade?
What are the old OEM style headlights called?
The new ones are called "H4".
This stands for Halogen and the bulb type 4?
But, how do you know an H4 harness will plug into the OEM Jeep harness?
What is the Jeep OEM style of plug that the new H4 harness plugs into called?

 

The plugs themselves are called H4, we use a sealed beam lamp model 6054 with H4 connectors. No idea what that stands for, probably Halogen type 4 or something generic like you suggested.

 

This is the one I bought

http://www.ebay.com/itm/330974040108...84.m1439.l2649

It looks like the same one you listed from the same seller. In the auction I listed it lists as compatible with the jeeps.

 

The Putco harness is dead simple to install and is all plug and play with a 98 XJ Sport. I know because I did it to mine. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt on the headlight screws-mine were pretty rusted too. Blast them with PB Blaster, make sure you have a good torx driver. T20, I believe.

 

Thanks for this link.
The part numbers are different from the other Ebay ad that looks similar,
so I am getting this one, just to be safe.

 

So, what happens to the original headlight wires and plugs?
They are just unused?
The new harness is just wired directly to the battery?

If so, why did I read something about the new harness plugging into the old harness?

 

The passenger side socket for the headlight gets a new plug which feeds the control side of the relays. The load side of the relays gets wired to the battery and new sockets for the headlights.

 

The new harness plugs into the h4 plug that comes off of the pass side headlight. The old h4 plug on the drivers side goes unused. I taped mine up and left it behind the headlight bucket. So, now with the new harness installed, the power from your headlight switch goes to activating the relays in the new harness which sends direct 12v from the battery to the headlights. Before, all the drain from the lights was going through the headlight switch which over time causes it to oveheat and melt causing problems. Now that circuit is just used to power a relay which is a very light load and not a problem for the switch. Also, by the time the 12v going through the switch got to the headlights it wasnt always 12v anymore. The new setup gives you direct battery voltage which is up to 14v when the car is running. Thats why the harness upgrade alone can brighten up even your stock bulbs. I hope that makes sense. Im sure theres a sticky somewhere that explains it all better.