High beam / low beam problem

bornhunter

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Jan 29, 2019
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2006 LJ. Just got this lj and driving at night for the first time. Driving on low beam and all of a sudden its on high beam and switch would not change it back to Lbeam. Driving along and on its own it switches back to Lbeam?? Haunted or no surprise to some of you lj owners?
 
Sounds like maybe either a bad ground or loose connection. Take the headlight out and inspect the wiring harness to see if you notice anything off or tampered with. Put some dielectric grease on the connections as well.

If it's not that, it could be the MFS, which is a common point of failure on these things as well.
 
Certain LED and HID lights have one bulb but inside is a shutter that redirects where the light goes ( alters the beam spread) instead of the traditional high/low bulbs and switch back and forth between the bulbs, so my question is does your high beam indicator on the dash also come on and off in sync w the headlights switching back and forth? If not my guess would be the aftermarket relay that controls the shutter/ bulb control is defective or possibly loose connection. This could also ring true if it has separate bulbs that are high powered enough that they also have a relay that the manufacturer sent with the kit since some of these lights require a relay because they exceed what the factory setup can handle.

So step1 if it was me, does dash indicator match what's happening? If not problem is most likely in the after market relay or control box or loose wire.

Step 2 find brand of lights and look up their troubleshooting guide or schematics, find the relay and replace it or test it.

Step 3 if you have the OE lights or can borrow some re install them and see if problem persists, if no then mostly likely the problem is with aftermarket system, if yes then problem is most likely the OE switch.

I had an aftermarket HID system in my one Duramax truck and every so often it would hiccup, once was the relay, once was actually so simple it eluded me for months, the inline blade fuse was in the terminal on one end, but between the terminal and the plastic housing on the other, this caused the lights to not fire once in awhile, simply turning them off then back on usually did the trick, then one day nothing.... which is when I finally found the issue, none the less the sytem always scared me even though it usually worked well, so much so I kept the OE bulbs in plastic protectors in the glove box just incase.
 
Jeeps are known for undersized wiring to the headlights, further, all of that current goes through the headlight switch. There are a few threads (or jeep sites) that can tell you how to wire in relays with new, larger, wiring (that greatly reduces the amount of current through the switch). I just did mine and it was frazzled.

That said, if the PO put in different headlights that draw even more current, it's only going to make things worse, quickly. Like said above, try one or both stock bulbs. Then I'd move on to replacing the switch stalk and/or checking the bulb sockets and wiring. Because it seemed to happen to both, at the same time, I'd go with the stalk first...
 
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Sounds like maybe either a bad ground or loose connection. Take the headlight out and inspect the wiring harness to see if you notice anything off or tampered with. Put some dielectric grease on the connections as well.

If it's not that, it could be the MFS, which is a common point of failure on these things as well.
LED or high wattage incandescents?
High wattage
 
Certain LED and HID lights have one bulb but inside is a shutter that redirects where the light goes ( alters the beam spread) instead of the traditional high/low bulbs and switch back and forth between the bulbs, so my question is does your high beam indicator on the dash also come on and off in sync w the headlights switching back and forth? If not my guess would be the aftermarket relay that controls the shutter/ bulb control is defective or possibly loose connection. This could also ring true if it has separate bulbs that are high powered enough that they also have a relay that the manufacturer sent with the kit since some of these lights require a relay because they exceed what the factory setup can handle.

So step1 if it was me, does dash indicator match what's happening? If not problem is most likely in the after market relay or control box or loose wire.

Step 2 find brand of lights and look up their troubleshooting guide or schematics, find the relay and replace it or test it.

Step 3 if you have the OE lights or can borrow some re install them and see if problem persists, if no then mostly likely the problem is with aftermarket system, if yes then problem is most likely the OE switch.

I had an aftermarket HID system in my one Duramax truck and every so often it would hiccup, once was the relay, once was actually so simple it eluded me for months, the inline blade fuse was in the terminal on one end, but between the terminal and the plastic housing on the other, this caused the lights to not fire once in awhile, simply turning them off then back on usually did the trick, then one day nothing.... which is when I finally found the issue, none the less the sytem always scared me even though it usually worked well, so much so I kept the OE bulbs in plastic protectors in the glove box just incase.
Wow. Thanks a bunch. The lights do sync with HB indicator light. I dont like the lights so I think I will just replace them with OE and see if that solves the problem.
 
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Wow. Thanks a bunch. The lights do sync with HB indicator light. I dont like the lights so I think I will just replace them with OE and see if that solves the problem.

OE lights kinda suck, but they are tried and true, since indicator lights are matching up I would be more inclined to say switch on your stalk is suspect. as mentioned by someone above higher power lights on factory wires is ify... I would verify that the fuse is the correct size, I have seen guys go up a few amps to get by w factory wires, and this may hold up but this is definitely putting more juice through the switch. I would run new wires from the battery to the lights via a relay, then only current going through the stalk switch is just enough to activate the relay.

You have several options though that should be relatively easy.

One possibility could be installing a floor mounted foot HI/LO switch, I've luckily not had to do a stalk switch in these jeeps so others would be more help to you on the difficulty level on that, but my one trucks had a bad stalk switch, I simply ran wires to the floor and installed a good floor switch like cars used to be, and most people who drove it loved it and wondered why they ever went away from them. Just a thought....
 
OE lights kinda suck, but they are tried and true, since indicator lights are matching up I would be more inclined to say switch on your stalk is suspect. as mentioned by someone above higher power lights on factory wires is ify... I would verify that the fuse is the correct size, I have seen guys go up a few amps to get by w factory wires, and this may hold up but this is definitely putting more juice through the switch. I would run new wires from the battery to the lights via a relay, then only current going through the stalk switch is just enough to activate the relay.

You have several options though that should be relatively easy.

One possibility could be installing a floor mounted foot HI/LO switch, I've luckily not had to do a stalk switch in these jeeps so others would be more help to you on the difficulty level on that, but my one trucks had a bad stalk switch, I simply ran wires to the floor and installed a good floor switch like cars used to be, and most people who drove it loved it and wondered why they ever went away from them. Just a thought....
That's actually a great idea. Thanks.
 
The column switch is prone to get dirty contacts. I’ve not had the Hi/Lo beam issue, but my emergency flashers/turn signals were’n working properly. You can find replacement switches, but I was successful and improving the issues with CRC Electronics Cleaner.
 
High wattage
If they are conventional incandescent (has a filament) high-wattage bulbs and there's no aftermarket relay-controlled wiring harness providing the additional required amperage, odds are good the contacts inside the multi-function switch are toasted. A new MFS would be needed together with an aftermarket relay controlled wiring harness. The wiring harness is easily installed, it just plugs into the OE headlight connectors, the headlights then plug into it, with a new power wire that gets connected to the battery.
 
Check the ground behind the grill and also the socket on the lamp itself. I have had the same problem and it was due to a bad ground feeding back into the loom
 
No need for the aftermarket relay then. My $$$ is on a bad multi-function switch if the black ground wires coming out of each headlight connector are securely attached to the tub next to the headlight opening.
Do you have to get deep into the column to replace that switch?
 
Do you have to get deep into the column to replace that switch?
No. If you can handle a phillips head screwdriver, you can replace that switch in under 5 minutes. Remove the plastic protective clamshells that surround the steering column by removing the two screws in the bottom cover. The switch is only held on by a couple more phillips head screws. It just plugs in.
 
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