Electrical Gremlin - lights and interior turn on while vehicle is off - gremlins?

G

geberhard

Douchebag
We picked up recently a 2008 Rubicon 4 doors in very clean shape, never wheeled yada yada :) It does have some mall crawling mods like 3 rows of LEd lights in the front, and a reverse 20" led light.

I noticed the battery going down a week ago (harder start) and left the battery charging overnight. No issues starting next day, battery was amping up and starting good. Saturday I tried to start the car and battery is drained... While I am working on my other Jeep, I noticed the headlights\markers and interior lights come on a few hours later. I thought, did I hit the key fob or anything? Nope.

But I went, locked the car again (was already locked), and then noticed it momentarily was on later on again, then turned off. It mimics the behavior of opening the car using the fob key.

Anyone experience this and or has any recommendations before I start on a Gremlin hunt :D? So far from what I searched there were some comments online on bad rear tailight receptacles corroding and shorting over time (some Wranglers and some Grand Cherokees), bad ground wire and also BCM (Body Control Module).

I will start by disconnecting all the LED's in case that is part of the issue.

Appreciate the help and any tips thanks!
 
First thing I would check is the battery terminals; make sure their good and tight, with no corrosion. Second, I'd test the battery itself. If both of those are good, I would then disconnect the battery for a few hours, which I "think" would reset the TIPM (I've been told before that it would... but I do not know this for sure; I at least know it wouldn't hurt to try - beyond perhaps having to re-input your radio presets and what not).

Would also of course check and see how those LED lights are wired in. Though if power is directly from the battery, they're probably not the culprit; assuming their otherwise working and not popping fuses (also assuming the power wire was fused); but if they're pulling power from another source, or relay/switch power from another source, then it becomes slightly more probable. Especially if they have the rear light tied into the reverse light circuit.

Last thing I could think to check right off hand is the wiring harness connections for the doors - make sure their not loose or corroded. As in, the jeep might think a door is still off, or being taken off/put back on.
 
Do you know how to use a Voltmeter. If so, get the battery recharged. Then insert the meter inline to read CURRENT. With the Alarm Disarmed it should read about 80mA and with the Alarm on 160mA. Anything higher then that I would start disconnectign fuses to see who's doing the high current draw.
 
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