[WeBeRockin]

I'm building an 07 Rubicon into what I believe will be a reasonably stout rock crawler, but my build has been side tracked by a serious electrical issue.

It started during installation of a custom sport cage and boatsider rocker guards.

Here's what we did:

Cage:
1. Mounted front pillars to floor and through bolted. Did not contact any wires.
2. Removed plastic dash ends and replaced with 1/4" plate.
3. Through bolted plate into door frame in addition to floor mounts.
4. Lower dash bars do not contact any wiring.
5. Cut u-shapes into sound bar to mount rear center extenders and welded to bracket connected to center bar.

Boat Siders:
1. 11 nut serts per side into panels just below door openings front to rear.
2. Frame mounted in numerous holes, some stock, but no wiring inside frame rails we can see.

Here's what happens:

1. Battery goes down in a few hours after either running or full charge (with positive vehicle cable disconnected.
2. Battery will not fully charge with wiring connected.
3. No interior lights will work, either by door opening or column switch.
4. No codes or warning lights are activated.


Here's what I've looked at:
1. Battery and alternator have both been tested and are at full capacity for creating and holding a charge.
2. Disconnected sound bar plug in case we grazed a wire with the dremel, made no difference in the battery dieing.
3. Disconnected both front door wiring plugs. Made no difference in battery dieing.
4. Removed fuses to door nodes, sound system, courtesy lights. battery still dies.
5. Doorjamb courtesy light switches. (I can't find any).


What I, as a complete electrical ignoramous, think:
1. Because I cannot locate any courtesy light switches, and because the courtesy lights not working is the only physical manifestation of the issue, I think there must be some kind of circuit running through the doors with wires at each end.
2. That I may have run a drill bit or a nutsert through said wiring circuit in the installation of the rockers through the rocker panels and lower fender panel.
3. That I'm an idiot for not having an expert do the install.
4. That taking it to a stealership for repair is the death knell for my build.

So, does anyone know where the door wiring circuits run, and what alternative answers might there be to this extremely irritating problem?

I have NOT removed the nutserts (love me some nutserts) because there are so many and i have no idea where the problem might be.

Thank you in advance for any advice. This forum rocks!

 

[BeerMonkeY]

follow the door wiring from the door to where it plugs in, look for where you ran drill bit into wires, OR pull up plastic along door opening (inside jeep) look for where you drilled thru wire harness.

im guessing you nicked a wire somewhere in those areas, the dome lights are activated by the door latch ( i think) there no external push button switch like most cars have. im guessing its along the door area moreso than by the harness going from the door to the jeep

 

[WeBeRockin]

follow the door wiring from the door to where it plugs in, look for where you ran drill bit into wires, OR pull up plastic along door opening (inside jeep) look for where you drilled thru wire harness.

im guessing you nicked a wire somewhere in those areas, the dome lights are activated by the door latch ( i think) there no external push button switch like most cars have. im guessing its along the door area moreso than by the harness going from the door to the jeep

Hi Beer Monkey! No damage to wiring harnesses coming out of doors. pulled up plastic and carpet last night, no drill throughs on floorboard. There is about a 2 inch cavity between body panels and interior panel along floorboard so no penetration there. Also looked inside fender panels and could not see anything. Looks like no wiring running forward other than along edges of floorboard.
Did find where an imprecise cut with a saw in the sound bar had damaged three wires badly. spliced those and wrapped the entire section and replaced in sound bar. Got the speakers back but still no interior lights front or rear, and battery still dying.
I may be too hung up on the lights not working and am not seeing something else.
I'm going to replace the front bulb tonight, but the rear is a brand new unit I bought Saturday due to careless removal and destruction of tabs. The more I dig into this the less impressed I am with the builder.
Also had front bumper and rear tire carrier work done, so I may expand my search.
Is there any kind of a diagnosis tool that can identify battery drain from the fuse box perhaps?
Thanks for your help! I am seriously electonically challenged.

 

[chrisholm]

There is also a set of wires for the tailgate (which also has a door-ajar sensor and probably controls interior lights) that runs along the passenger side. It starts at about the upper hinge on the tailgate, runs forward right under the rim that the hard tops sits on, drops down at the door and runs right through the door threshold. The plastic trim between the threshold and the seat covers it up. It then comes up near where a passenger's right foot would be and goes into one of the larger connectors in the passenger footwell.

 

[WeBeRockin]

OOPS, it is a 5 door!!!

There is also a set of wires for the tailgate (which also has a door-ajar sensor and probably controls interior lights) that runs along the passenger side. It starts at about the upper hinge on the tailgate, runs forward right under the rim that the hard tops sits on, drops down at the door and runs right through the door threshold. The plastic trim between the threshold and the seat covers it up. It then comes up near where a passenger's right foot would be and goes into one of the larger connectors in the passenger footwell.

Hi Chris, Excellent point, these are five doors. Perhaps the tire carrier work got into the wiring. Gives me a whole new avenue to check out.

Thanks much!

 

[WeBeRockin]

Ok. I'm back.

Ok, I found the wires in the sound bar were cut during modification. Fixed them but lights still wouldn't work, found that fuse was blown, so now interior lights work fine. so much for that theory.
Battery is still crashing when left connected, and drops to 10.7 volts even when unplugged.
Last night I charged the battery to 11.9 amps as measured on my multimeter, then disconnected battery cables and charger. Battery began discharging at a rate of 1/100th of of an amp about every 5 seconds. Is that normal or could it be drawn off by the multimeter?
A friend said when his cage was welded in it shorted a switch in his ac that created a parasitic loss in his system. My ac seems fine. My sound system seems fine.
Any ideas? Anybody?
Thanks for any ideas.

 

[bobbywhite51]

I'm building an 07 Rubicon into what I believe will be a reasonably stout rock crawler, but my build has been side tracked by a serious electrical issue.

It started during installation of a custom sport cage and boatsider rocker guards.

Here's what we did:

Cage:
1. Mounted front pillars to floor and through bolted. Did not contact any wires.
2. Removed plastic dash ends and replaced with 1/4" plate.
3. Through bolted plate into door frame in addition to floor mounts.
4. Lower dash bars do not contact any wiring.
5. Cut u-shapes into sound bar to mount rear center extenders and welded to bracket connected to center bar.

Boat Siders:
1. 11 nut serts per side into panels just below door openings front to rear.
2. Frame mounted in numerous holes, some stock, but no wiring inside frame rails we can see.

Here's what happens:

1. Battery goes down in a few hours after either running or full charge (with positive vehicle cable disconnected.
2. Battery will not fully charge with wiring connected.
3. No interior lights will work, either by door opening or column switch.
4. No codes or warning lights are activated.


Here's what I've looked at:
1. Battery and alternator have both been tested and are at full capacity for creating and holding a charge.
2. Disconnected sound bar plug in case we grazed a wire with the dremel, made no difference in the battery dieing.
3. Disconnected both front door wiring plugs. Made no difference in battery dieing.
4. Removed fuses to door nodes, sound system, courtesy lights. battery still dies.
5. Doorjamb courtesy light switches. (I can't find any).


What I, as a complete electrical ignoramous, think:
1. Because I cannot locate any courtesy light switches, and because the courtesy lights not working is the only physical manifestation of the issue, I think there must be some kind of circuit running through the doors with wires at each end.
2. That I may have run a drill bit or a nutsert through said wiring circuit in the installation of the rockers through the rocker panels and lower fender panel.
3. That I'm an idiot for not having an expert do the install.
4. That taking it to a stealership for repair is the death knell for my build.

So, does anyone know where the door wiring circuits run, and what alternative answers might there be to this extremely irritating problem?

I have NOT removed the nutserts (love me some nutserts) because there are so many and i have no idea where the problem might be.

Thank you in advance for any advice. This forum rocks!

I am also facing similar issue "Battery goes down in a few hours after either running or full charge (with positive vehicle cable disconnected. "
Any Permanent Solution For This.

 

[coilrod]

I am also facing similar issue "Battery goes down in a few hours after either running or full charge (with positive vehicle cable disconnected. "
Any Permanent Solution For This.

Any details?