Question: hot to touch wires

[Dex]

dad rewired my cj5 77 end to end, but now the 2 wires at the brake light switch at the peddle get very hot, i do need a fix, he added a couple more lights to the back and all work but im worried about a melt down, any ideas??

[Dex]

what if i was to fuse the wire down going to the switch??

[LEVE]

A couple of questions:

• Does everything work correctly?
• Did your Dad depend on the chassis as a ground?

If you can answer YES to both questions... the first thing you do is run a ground from the battery back to all those lights. In fact, refurbish ALL the grounds:

• Battery to engine block
• Engine block to frame
• Frame to tub

You should not depend on chassis ground, as the frame and other components become rusted. That compromises the ground, and resistance forms. By running a seprate ground wire there is no return resistance.

If, after you run new grounds, the wires are still hot... then you've got to increse the size of the wires. The lights are pulling too many amps. Also, it may be a good idea to run them off relays. That will save the light switch in the dash from burning up...and failing.

[Dex]

as i look it seams to come off the fuse panel with a inline fuse wire to one side of the brake switch then out to the lights i guess?? its a fiberglas tub but ill check it all for ground or take off the other added brake lights he added, ...

[Dex]

took out a couple bulbs and switch cooled down, so i guess ill take out 2 lights rather than increase wire size. thanks...

[JeepDawg]

You might consider replacing a couple of those bulbs with LED lights....that way you keep the lights you want without the heavy load.