I hate electrical gremlins mostly because I hate electrical systems and suck at diagnosing them. I have a 2011 JKU. The following circuits don't work:

-Dome light (doesn't work with doors or just buttons)
-Cycle/Reset buttons on left side of steering wheel - these cycle through MPG, DTE, Temp, N/W/S/E, etc.
-ESP Button - ESP doesn't turn off period, even in 4Lo
-Hill Decent - Doesn't work in 4Lo as it should
-Horn - won't blow if I press it but does with remote door lock
-TPMS works off and on. I aired down a few weeks back and it took over 24 hours and multiple restarts for the TPMS light to go off after I aired back up

Electrically speaking, all I've done recently are:

- I added a Rotopax mount around the passenger rear roll bar. There was a "control wire" mounted along that bar when I removed the padding. I used the Rusty's Off Road mount that is basically a piece of machined aluminum that compresses around the roll bar. I installed this mount with the wire underneath. IDK if I got too much pressure on the wire and crimped it in two (inside the sheathing as it looks ok from outside).

- I added a 9500 lb Superwinch Tiger Shark to the front. During the initial spooling of the synthetic rope and setting the braid in it, I realized that my +3 year old battery was pretty well shot. The Jeep nearly died as current/voltage dropped too much but I was able to keep the engine running (it sputtered for a minute or two), finished the spooling, and went straight to O'Rielly's and replaced the battery. Winch was installed with the Superwinch-provided fuse block and has only had one light pull on it since installed.

Someone suggested that all of these issues could be related to a bad ground but the issues with the horn, ESP and controls have me thinking clock spring. Thoughts?

 

What year is the JK? There is a clock spring re-call you could look into. Also run the ground from the negative to alternator bracket and clean all of the other grounds. Good starting point.

 

It's a 2011 JKU. I thought the clock spring recall was only for 2007's and part of the '08's. I'll try running a negative back to the alternator and see if that helps. Thanks.

 

I had some of the same issues and it was a combination fo the multifunction switch for the turn signals and whispers for my dome light and the other was the buttons on the steering wheel. I took it to the dealer for the repair.

R/
Will

 

You are correct so the warranty will not work for your 2011. Def try the new ground and report back. Also have the battery load checked just to rule it out. Free at most places. I had a 2.5 sears AGM just go bad on me causing a bunch of electrical issues.

 

Thanks. Trying to avoid a mechanic (and definitely the dealer) but may have to break down and do that if the other tricks don't work.

 

The battery should be good as it's a higher end deep cycle from O'Rielly's and is less than a month old (see original post). If nothing else works, I'll stop by and have it tested. I'll try the ground but likely will be next week (or weekend) before I get to it as life is getting in the way. What did you use for a ground wire? It shouldn't take a heavy gauge wire I'm thinking.

Will keep you posted.

 

I just went to auto zone and got a battery negative cable. Look at your terminal for the battery. You may need to add something there in order to get a clean hook up. I have smaller terminal add ons for windshield bracket lights. Make sure the bolt on the alternator bracket fits through the terminal hole from autozone ect. Wire brush the areas of the grounds.

I know the battery is new but still do the load test. I went down this road with a friend and it turned out his battery was doing intermittent things on cold mornings. Defective brand new battery. The cold would set it off.