[Mark_]

I've been lingering around for awhile but this is my first post after needing some help from you guys!
The headlights have always been two different colors on my 2017 Cherokee Limited Or Alpine (whichever one its called that day) and I attempted to replace them today so I could ease my OCD. The passenger side was easy with zero hiccups. Its was a standard 9005 Bulb with two prongs (#2 is the new LED
) with a standard looking black wiring harness. I replaced it with an Standard 9005 Two Prong LED Bulb and I went to the drivers side and found and found something completely different. This behemoth Xenon bulb that I understand also be OEM ( pictured in #1) . It has a completely different wiring harness than the passenger side and clearly a different bulb. The wiring is covered in wire mesh coating with a very different 3 prong connect.

What gives any idea? How screwed am I for trying to get the bulbs to match with having two completely different connections and wiring harness?
Maybe there is an adapter for the connection?
Any help appreciated.


View attachment 221626 View attachment 221629
View attachment 221627

Hi there and welcome to the board

Something is definitely wrong with your 2017's headlights. Did you buy it new ? Has it ever been in an accident with frontal damage ?

Your 2017 Limited should have two HID bulbs (D3S type) like in your #1 picture. The 9005 should not be in there. So what happened ?...

 

[Mark_]

Thank you! You know, it's never been in an accident with me. However, I am not the first owner. Come to think of it... when I purchased it from the dealership there was a little minor damage on that side. They sent it to the body shop to fix it before I picked it up, but it was real minor and I didn't notice anything with the headlight. Could have been from a previous owners accident though I suppose. You think they replaced the headlight equipment with the wrong set up?

Here's pictures of the passenger side to compare to the picture in my original post. You're right, after I went and re-examined the passenger sidem I am betting they replaced the headlight assembly with the wrong dang one at one point. Even the tabs holding the plastic covering on the wheel well wasn't quite as nice as the plastic on the drivers side.
Even the bulb housing inside is different. its black Plastic with a circle hole to lock into whereas the drivers side HID bulb has a metal housing. Geesh, lucky me! How hard is it to remove the assembly? I suppose I could just replace the entire thing.

View attachment 221630
View attachment 221631

Ok... definitely an aftermarket headlamp. That blue connector is not OEM. So they installed a 9005 headlamp :-(


Swapping out a headlamp is no simple task, the front bumper fascia needs to come off. You would also need the HID wiring and ballast, and I don't know how easy or difficult this would be to do, considering there have been unknown modifications done.

This is a head scratcher... and I don't have a magic bullet for this. One possible option would be to install half an HID kit on the passenger side : this would make both sides 'closer' in lighting power.
I'm not sure if going back to an OEM HID lamp is a doable DIY job... and would likely be quite expensive...

 

[Mark_]

OK, am I missing something, or does it actually have one halogen, and one HID???🤔😎

LOL. Yes, you are absolutely right.

It's a 2017 with factory HIDs. It was obviously in an accident, guessing damage to passenger front. Headlamp was replaced by some bozo, bozo installed a 9005 lamp instead of the correct but more expensive HID lamp. Bozo took out the ballast and D3S bulb wiring, then installed a halogen bulb harness (I think we call them H11 connectors). Bozo installed a halogen 9005 bulb, with a D3S xenon still in driver's side OEM lamp. Headlight output weird... Bozo needs a spanking... Guessing insurance company not involved in this repair...

So now OP wants to match both headlights right up. Not easy...

 

[Mark_]

2017? isn't that the same as 2014? fwiw - neither of those look like my 2014's 9012 bulbs
View attachment 221664

replaced right front headlight

cpl days ago got the dash msg that my headlight low beam needed replacement. interesting that the headlight bulb is not really a low/high beam bulb. There is a shutter which opens & closes to allow for beam adjustment. just ran down to the auto parts store for the mid-level quality #9012 bulb...

www.jeepcherokeeclub.com

A quick history of KL headlights :

• 2014, 2015 and very early 2016 builds have 9012 halogen bulbs. Except Limited trim with Luxury Group and Overland trim which both came with factory HIDs (D3S bulbs)
• Most 2016s (except very early builds) have 9005 halogen bulbs. Some rare 2016s rolled off the assembly line with one 9012 and one 9005 lamp (as they ran out of 9012 lamps, some got 'mixed up'). Again, Limited with Luxury and Overland trims got factory HIDs.
• 2017 : all except Sport trim without HID option got factory HIDs. Sport without HID option got 9005 lamps.
• 2018 : all factory HIDs.
• 2019+ : all LED headlights.

So... OP has a 2017 with factory HIDs. Previous owner had an accident, damage to at least front passenger side, unknown severity. Passenger side healamp needed to be replaced. So someone... I affectionately call 'bozo', repaired the Jeep and when it came time to replace the passenger side headlamp, decided to throw in a 9005 lamp instead of a D3S lamp. They both fit the same, look the same, except the projector and socket are different.
D3S lamp requires a ballast, so obviously this was yanked out. Factory headlight harness was also replaced (that blue H11 connector we see in the picture) to allow the use of a 9005 halogen bulb ; D3S connector is different.

So why did this happen ? Only 'bozo' can answer that, but my best guess is bozo wanted to save some money on the repair, or make money by claiming/billing HID hardware while installing cheaper halogen lamp and hardware...

typos edited