Hey guys,
I've got an electrical gremlin I can't figure out. Need all the help I can get diagnosing this. I've got a faint horn honk and light flash that goes off randomly like when you lock the doors but no locking and it's much faster- like only for a split second. It all started when I was towing my jeep with no top/doors/windshield in a crazy downpour. The headlights and horn came on and would not shut off until I disconnected the battery or the jeep dried out. The issue remained while driving it. Now I'm left with the faint honk/flash that's so brief you almost don't notice it.

2007 JK Rubi. everything has been modified and messed with in some way. It's an offroad only jeep nowadays so a lot of the streetable stuff has been hacked out.

Here's what I've tried so far:
-opened up my TIPM and found a burned out spot on the circuit board where a plug plugs in. figured that had to be it so I replaced the TIPM with a refurb, but the same issue remained.
-checked all fuses and relays
-swapped in a new panic control module. no change.
-unplugged/removed the remains of my clock spring, no change. At the time this started, I had a stock wheel with broken clock spring, but have since removed the guts and put in quick disconnect and removed the ribbon. kept the part of the clock spring the the column switches plug into. but I tried with this stuff all unplugged as well and no changes
-unplugged the headlight and turn signal switches, no change
-tried moving my key fobs far away from the jeep so the signal could not affect it
-leave battery on a charger. battery power seems solid but this gremlin is drawing power and will kill the battery eventually

questions:
-is there anything else related to the panic function aside from the module and key fob that I can check?
-is it possible I have a short somewhere and it also burned my new TIPM in the same spot? I didn't want to take it apart again. it's a PITA
-I don't have doors anymore so the plugs are open/exposed - could this be an issue?
-does the jeep have any kind of "alarm" to tell you there is a power draw and that's what this flash means? in other words the jeep is trying to tell me something?

I'm at a loss. I have no clue where to go from here and about to give up on the damn thing.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

 

I always sound like a broken record writing this but most of my electrical problems on my 08 were solved by cleaning every single ground on the vehicle and then adding the extra ground wire from the alternator bracket to the negative. Also making sure you have a reliable battery that can pass a load test is important before trying to dive into electrical. There are many grounds. Could be the fix for under $20 and about 2 hours of time. At least we would know there are not the issue once we go further into this.

 

Thanks for the reply. Can you give me a quick list of where all the grounds are? I know there are a bunch around the inner perimeter of the engine compartment and a few in the footwell and some under the center console. Are there more behind the dash that are hard to reach or easy to miss? Never heard of adding a ground from the alternator to the battery before. I'll have to look that up.

 

So, I did a parasitic draw test using a multimeter. (a suggestion from another forum). Found that I had a 52ma-1.16a pulsing draw coming from M13 fuse which is the stuff in the steering column. Took apart the column and disconnected the clock spring remnants and the multi switches and the wireless control module and still had the draw. Unplugged the instrument cluster and the draw completely disappeared. It's gotta be that. I don't have a windshield and there's a big gap that basically allows water to go straight behind the dash. The 3 plugs in the instrument cluster were perfectly aligned with this gap and I recall the dash lights doing crazy stuff before it dried out, so this makes a ton of sense now. Not what I expected it to be, but I'm pretty sure this is it. Will get a new cluster, fill up that gap with a plate and see what happens.

 

Glad you might have this solved. Look up the ground wire add. Super easy and helped out my 08.

 

Thanks. Yeah I saw this too. If the new cluster doesn't fix it completely, I'll do this too. Apparently swapping a cluster is a bit of a pain in the ass due to dealer cost $700-1000 or buying a used cluster and having the odometer and vin reconfigured to keep it legal. Buying a used one and will see if the computer will self adjust it. If not, I'll send it in to get reconfigured. Will cost about $200 this way.

 

Did you ever get this fixed? What was it? My 2009 is doing something similar...

 

The only reason I won't ever put a soft top on my Jeep - rain getting in! If it was an old CJ7 yessir it would have no top.