I had a short under my dashboard so we removed the dash and unwrapped the wires and found that over the years some of the wires started rubbing against the under side of the steering column and grounded themselves out. So my buddy re ran the wires that were cooked up. As we put things back together we were checking the wires with the headlamps on etc. We found this section to get pretty warm when the headlamps are turned on. Is this normal? My friend works in the automotive electrical field and he's pretty confident he's traced all the bad wires and fixed them. Any help on if this little section gets warm would be greatly appreciated.

BTW, I've tried two switches and they both seem to get warm.

 

No it is not normal, looks like the wire can not handle the currant your light are drawing. what watts are your globes, it can also be caused by a bad contact some where.

 

I'm using an H4 Conversion with some H4 super white bulbs. I don't remember the wattage. Had this setup for about 3 years now. Sorry I didn't mention that earlier.

I also have the PIAA 400's up front replacing my fogs. I was testing the wires with the foglights off though.

55watt=110watt Xtreme White driving, 5watt XTreme White marker, 55watt=85watt Plasm Ion low beam auxillary, and 5watt Plasma Ion marker

 

cars are fitted with 60 Watt high beam lamps as standard and this means, the current through the switch is of the order of 5 to 6 Amp per headlight. The problem is far worse if we fit the modern 100 Watt lamps that are so popular today. The current is then about 8.5 Amp per headlight. This is far above the design rating of most headlight switches and will lead to an early failure of the switch. Or wire damage.

 

Another problem brought about by switching high currents directly with light switches is voltage drop along the wires. Thick wires must be used to carry the high currents and even then there will be some voltage drop between the battery and the lights. If the wires go through plugs and sockets, or use spade lugs on the switches, fuse blocks and lights, these all add to the voltage drop, reducing the light output and causing heating at every point where voltage drop is produced by resistance.
Modern cars use relays for many electrical circuits to cut down the current being switched by the switch, and to save the cost of heavy wires running to and from switches. A relay requires only about 0.1 Amp to operate and so the switch has little chance of ever being damaged, even when it's contact pressure has fallen quite a bit with age. The low current means we get an insignificant voltage drop over the wires supplying the relay.
We can protect our headlight and high/low beam switches, and restore the light output, by installing headlight relays as close to the headlights as possible. The power for the lights should then be taken directly from the battery supply point in a heavy conductor, capable of supplying the 15 to 20 Amp that may be required by the headlights. If your car has an Amp Meter, you should take the power from the alternator/generator side of the meter, not the battery side. The meter will then show if the charging circuit is not keeping up with the current demand of the lights. If you take the power for the lights to the relays directly from the battery supply point, the Amp Meter will not show the current used by the lights.
Fitting higher wattage headlights and/or driving/fog lights
This brings up another important point. If you fit higher power headlights and/or driving/fog lights, the conductor between the battery supply and the Amp Meter (usually from the back of the starter motor) must be replaced with a conductor capable of carrying the increased current. This then opens up a complete can of worms.
The electrical system in most older automobiles was designed to carry the current used by the standard equipment, and increasing the current demand on the system by fitting higher wattage headlights and/or driving/fog lights, may mean fitting a larger alternator or generator, and a higher amperage Amp Meter. An easy and cheaper way around the Amp Meter problem may be to fit a Volt Meter in its place, if a suitable looking one is available. Be careful, the Volt Meter goes between the power lead and ground, and the leads that went to each side of the Amp Meter, are joined together. When I do this I use an insulated bolt assembly that is supplied with the fusible links I use. This makes sure the wires are held safe and secure and joined firmly.
Driving lights
When fitting driving lights it is good practice to wire them up via the power to the high beam lights so these lights are switched off when low beam is selected. Take the power for the relay from the high beam lights to a suitable "driving light" switch and then to a relay to control the power to the driving lights. Use one of the relays that has a built in fuse and get the power for the lights directly from the back of the starter motor, or other suitable supply point, not from the existing fuse box. I have seen fuse boxes in older cars burnt almost beyond recognition

 

But a headlight harness from Iceshark and eliminate the issue altogether.

 

Are you sure the problem was with wires rubbing somewhere? Given enough time, the situation you've described with the headlight wires could also cause a fire. You need to either get the Iceshark harness or get standard size bulbs, check with Iceshark about the bulbs, IIRC he has some standard watt bulbs that put out as much light as some of the higher watt "gimick" bulbs.

 

Your initial problem may have been your headlight wires heating up adjacent wires and deteriorating the insulation. Not rubbing as you stated. Just speculation from where I sit. Good information Tasdevil. Do a search on Iceshark. He has several posts about lighting on 944s. definitely you cannot run 100w bulbs on the standard wires.