what the "F" headlight wiring...HELP !!! HJ60 (1 Viewer)

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Aug 13, 2004
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Normandy Park Wa. ........now in San Diego Ca.
Ok...Ive been chasing gremlins around my HJ60 24v headlight wiring....so I cut off the OEM headlight pig tails and wired in new/aftermarket ones.. but am still having BIG problems...
when I rewired the RT (passengers) headlight and pluged in the bulb, I heard a a relay inside the cab click....strange..the key and lights are off??? but light worked both low and high beams
then I rewired the LT (drivers) headlight wiring...to find out the bulb was blown..installed new bulb and now when I connect the beam wire the lights come on and stay with the key off and switch off....WTF??
I ended up disconnecting the low beam on that side...now on low....only the RT side works, high the both work.....

The wiring for plugs (from back of plug)

LEFT SIDE
....................red w/green(top)
white w/black(lt) ................ red w/yellow(rt)

RIGHT SIDE
.............. red w/green(top)
red w/blue(lt)................ red w/white(rt)

Ideas??? bad relay? HELP ME>>>>>:bang:
 
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Sounds like ground issues... I'm not too familiar with center tap stuff, but for lights to come on when the truck is off sounds like grounding and backfeeding issues.

K
 
did you happen to put aftermarket lights in? i had a similar problem once with a mitsubishi truck that had the separate lights for high and low. it turns out that the bosch lights had a metal frame which held the lens to the reflector, this metal frame would ground out on the headlight bucket, resulting in strange inexplicable problems. the factory-type sealed beams are all glass, hence no grounding. i ended up wrapping the metal edge in a bit of cold-shrink tape, and problem solved.
 
running H4s.............. ..they do have metal edges...I'll break out the tape tomorrow

Thanks Chris
 
Good call. Had the same thing happen on Petra's HJ61 when I changed out one set of lights in the 4 rectangular headlight system. Double coat of electrical tape on all corners fixed the weirdness.

gb
 
sorry to say....The easy fix did not work...taped up the lights everywhere they made contact...still as soon as I connedt the low beam wire on drivers side....both headlights come on...with key and switch off..
Has anyone rewired the center tap...to run 24v bulbs?? I would LOVE to loose that center tap (bad) idea
 
that sucks.

failing that, bad relay or bad ground is where i'd start next. what do you mean by "centre tap"?
 
that sucks.

failing that, bad relay or bad ground is where i'd start next. what do you mean by "centre tap"?

Pulling 12v out of a 24v source...not sure how its done here, Ive seen both... pulling each headlight off each battery or pulling the power 12v from between the 2 batteries...I think the later in this case
 
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why not just use 24V lamps? the 12V tap off the 24V system might be the root of your problems. then again it might not. but whenever i have any weird problems with anything modified, i try to put it back to the stock configuration, at least then you have a better baseline to work from if the problem persists.

these guys stock 24V gear: Susquehanna MotorSports - High Performance Vehicle Lighting and Competition Accessories


i'm just guessing that this is a stock 24V unit that has been re-wired by the p.o. to run 12V lamps? if that's the case, i'd put money on it that something is s***-rigged somewhere, like a suitcase connector or the like. suitcase connector = giant red flag.
 
If your lights are on with the switch off, I would suspect that you welded your contacts in the relay. 24V will weld copper quite nicely (happened with my glow plug relay once).

It would happen if I 'flicked' the key switch too fast. Maybe this happened when you plugged your new pigtails in.

Have a look (if possible) at your relay.

The center tap is evil....
 
sorry to say....The easy fix did not work...taped up the lights everywhere they made contact...still as soon as I connedt the low beam wire on drivers side....both headlights come on...with key and switch off..
Has anyone rewired the center tap...to run 24v bulbs?? I would LOVE to loose that center tap (bad) idea

Bummer.

Does that other thread with the wire color codes and what should be showing at what pin help at all? https://forum.ih8mud.com/diesel-tec...ing-batteries-different-rate.html#post6730297

This is a 2 headlight Cdn spec HJ60, not a converted FJ62 (4 headlights)?

gb
 
The problem is that you're dealing with a Canadian HJ60 and the wiring is a little odd if you don't pay careful attention to how it's set up.

The lights are normally powered, and the ground sides are switched. With the 12V lamps in a 24V system system, you have the unusual situation where the ground (-) for one side is the power (+) for the other side... and you have to wire things up accordingly. There is also a 12V headlight switching relay that controls all of this inside the vehicle...

Also, odd things can happen if one of the headlight fuses burns out or the filament from a bulb drops and falls across another terminal in the lamp.

~John
 
I think you may need to realize that you have live wires to the lights, and the switch completes the circuit to ground everything. that is why lights with metal cases will stay on with the switch off. At least that is the way it is on my hj61. I have never had issues with my bj70, but I am guessing it is the same. wires are hot and the switch grounds out the system so if you have something grounding or are trying to hook up to a hot lead it is not completeing the circuit.
 

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