Door locks weirdness

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Renedave

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This past week, with the engine off and the keys out of range, the door locks on the KJ started lock cycling themselves every few seconds. After double-checking to make sure the keys weren't triggering the locks somehow by pulling the batteries, I started and shut down the Jeep to see if that would reset things. That helped stop the random auto-locking, but now unlocking the door with the driver's side switch causes them to unlock and immediately lock once, but after that locking no longer works with the door switch. You can unlock with the switch and lock and unlock with the key all day long.

Any thoughts? Bad switch? BCM connectors? Door wiring?
 

LibertyTC

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Check to make sure that the battery cables/termianls are clean& tight / free from any corrosion.
Get the battery load tested as well, just to be on the safe side.
Any voltage drops / parasitic drains? What is the voltage in the AM reading?
You could try removing both battery cables and bolt them together or use a jumper wire to connect them both together for 10 minutes, that may re-set it?
Otherwise it could be a bad ground or switch/ electrical problemo.
I had a cycling problem on the rear gate lock once, dealer flashed new firmware to BCM and that stopped it.
 

Renedave

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Thanks, that's close to my to-do list for today if the rain lets up. The KJ has had a history of battery/voltage problems (see below), so the wife is well practiced at helping me do battery voltage and load tests on it. Thinking about it more I remember that the lift glass had opened itself randomly overnight last week, which leads me more down the lines of the BCM being scrambled and needs a flashing.

Since new the Liberty has has weird issues with a parasitic drain if the tailgate was used without the engine being started/stopped to reset things. Not a big drain, but enough to kill the battery over several days. Of course, the place you find this out is in the airport parking lot on the way back from a trip.
 

LibertyTC

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Airport fun eh..not good.
What equipment do you have at home to do a load test? An electronic version like a Midtronics is best.
If it is a hot switch to heater coil one LOL..make sure you disconnect both battery terminals and apply the manual load test to only the battery posts, dont want to see any damaged diodes.
AGM battery is best, no corrosion, more powerful, but you got to find that parasitic drain, & keep your battery charged up, & before the load test...
edit & if you can just leave a trickle charger on, and see if the stops the weirdness....I have a C-tek MUS 4.3 that's waterproof and awesome.
Just make sure you leave an unplug reminder on seat, so you dont drive off with it plugged in..ask me how I know LOL..
Oh & BTW see this link to kill power-remove the storage fuse post 8 re fuse #15... Link: http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/f196/parasitic-battery-drain-63466/
 
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Renedave

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Thanks for the link on the battery drain, I'll check it out. I have a Battery Tender Jr that I usually hook up if I'm going to be out of town for a while, and the heavy duty charger for when the battery does get drawn down. Since we spend a lot of time offroad I also picked up a Micro-Start XP10 that lives in the Liberty but gets tossed in the truck or "big" Jeep as needed. I've actually had a battery in the Liberty drain to the point where I had to manually activate the Micro-Start to get it to realize it was attached.

My load tester is a cheap-o analog jobbie - nothing fancy but I'm not sure I'd know what to do with more. I didn't dig it out today with the rain, but multimeter testing looked good: 12.5V at rest, charging at 14.2V, down to 11.somethingV while cranking.

Cleaned the terminals, grounded positive for several minutes to drain the capacitors, and cleaned and greased the PCM connectors. Reconnected the battery and the doors immediately locked. Found out I could actually get the door unlock switch (both sides) to work if I locked and unlocked the doors with the key fob first. Weird. Also noticed that the doors would automatically lock as soon as the engine was stopped. Checked and reset the settings in the EVIC, no change.

Looks like I'm scheduling a re-flash tomorrow. I'd rather take a kick to the groin than take the Jeep to the dealership.
 

Renedave

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Oh, cool, out on a grocery run and discovered I can lock the doors by turning off the radio. Computers are fun.

If it comes down to it, how do I figure out what the correct BCM part number is for my '06 4WD gasser Liberty Renegade? Looking on eBay and used parts stores I've seen 5179637A(x) and 5026037A(x) listed as compatible.
 

CzarKJ

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Oh, cool, out on a grocery run and discovered I can lock the doors by turning off the radio. Computers are fun.

If it comes down to it, how do I figure out what the correct BCM part number is for my '06 4WD gasser Liberty Renegade? Looking on eBay and used parts stores I've seen 5179637A(x) and 5026037A(x) listed as compatible.

Fun. Pull the radio and try to isolate it would be my suggestion.
 

Renedave

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Fun. Pull the radio and try to isolate it would be my suggestion.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't pulling the radio fuse should effectively do the same thing? Pulled the radio and EVIC fuses today, no change.
 

turblediesel

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Combined ground?

Low, dying, weak cell battery can cause weird window activity. Battery might seem ok off the charger but onr bad cell can drink the others down; then weird voltages make the bcm do odd things it does.
 
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Renedave

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Combined ground?

Low, dying, weak cell battery can cause weird window activity. Battery might seem ok off the charger but onr bad cell can drink the others down; then weird voltages make the bcm do odd things it does.

I'm all for checking grounds, just not sure where to start. The c301 and c303 door connectors maybe? I'm not 100% familiar with how bus signals work with the KJ's hybrid system, but a bad or noisy ground sure seems like it could cause this sort of problem.

The battery's fairly new and checks out under cranking load, and the Scangauge II is showing 14V+ while driving. I'm willing to take my lumps if this is an "I told you so" moment, but dang if I haven't convinced myself that the battery's not the problem - that was at the top of my list of things to check out.
 

03Libertyruss

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My 03 liberty just started with this problem about a month ago. April 2018. I was driving and hit the power button off on the radio and it cycled the door locks only off. Next it started randomly locking while driving and doing it over and over. A few days later we would open the door and the alarm would go off without the doors locked. It also will lock too without key, no doors open randomly. I am not sure Renedave if you figured out your problem but I am looking at the SKIM Module or the BCM. any help would be great!
 
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profdlp

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Back when I was new to these forums I noticed that a lot of people who were having random electrical-related issues had them disappear when they got a new battery. I'd get mine thoroughly tested, and not just the voltage test. I'd also be looking very closely at grounds, assuming the battery checks out OK.
 

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