83 xj750 Overheating headlight fuse

I noticed my headlight flickering one night so I pulled over to check out the fuses. Most of the fuses seemed fine but the headlight fuse was scalding hot.

I mentioned this to my mechanic after I had new tires put on and he mentioned that there was most likely a short circuit somewhere on the connection between the box and the headlight. Unfortunately, he would have to sit down and look at all the wiring to get it checked out. He advised to not put a fuse in the box so I don't melt the wires/plastic. I ended up riding home to try to check it out myself.

Is this a fix I can do myself with little to no electrical training or should I take it back to my mechanic?

 

If you can follow a wiring diagram, you can likely fix it yourself. Plus, there is a lot of great knowledge here. Folks are incredibly willing to help.

 

Does it still have the original fusebox?

 

Yes it does.
Also, what exactly am I looking at as far as fixing the short circuit?

 

My first suspicion is that the fuse clips have oxidized, gotten brittle, and cracked. That could cause a short to ground or arcing, making the fuse hot. Honestly it should have blown before getting that hot. What value is it? It should be a 10 amp fuse.

Unhook the battery, remove the fusebox, and inspect the clips and solder joints. Most of (honestly it's probably all) us either replace the clips with new, or replace the fusebox with an ATC fusebox.

 

What k-moe said, replace with ATC. You wont regret it...

 

Thanks for the advice, the clips definitely look worn and the plastic casing holding the clips for the headlight fuse has melted a little bit so it's a loose connection as well. It is a 10 amp fuse.

I'll look into replacing it with a new ATC box. There is a forum post with a walk through with how to replace with an aftermarket box, is it safe to assume that I can follow that pretty closely?

 

Yes.

Gary H.

 

I had the same issue with my old fusebox. Inspect the cables and you might see that one of the cables has melted and is contacting either the fuse contact or another cable.