2014 Warning Lights and Dead Battery/Won't Start

H

Hagatha

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Joined
Nov 22, 2022
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7
Location
Granite Falls, Wa
Hi Everyone,

I am new to owning a jeep and have a 2014 JK Rubicon Unlimited. I am hoping some of you can give me some help with what might be going on with my Jeep. List of events....

I had the uconnect system replaced at cartoys with an apple carplay deck. Worked fine.
About a month later i bought some ditch lights and spot lights and a switch panel and was driving back to cartoys to have them installed and all of a sudden my air bag light started going on and off.
I still went to cartoys and had them install all the lights, a switch panel, and a backup camera.
The airbag light has continued to go on and off, staying on most of the time. I did some research and it sounds like i need to have the clockspring replaced.

We went on a 4 hour drive and i turned the jeep off at our motel. I tried to start it about 5 minutes later and it was completely dead. We had to use a jump pack to get it started again. Then no problems for about a week. That next weekend i had to be jumped again to get it started. Then jumped again when i went to the gas station. We were out on a trail and all of a sudden all of my warning lights turned on and were flashing, traction control, sway bar, battery light, etc. You get the picture. I barely limped it home.

Can the clockspring drain your battery and cause all these problems or is there possibly a wiring issue from when they installed everything? I have a battery charger/maintaining it on right now or it drains it right away. My battery is brand new.

The dealership is scheduling almost a month out. I tried to run the codes by turning it back and forth three times (like it shows online) but it just says "done." and doesn't read any codes. Is there a way for me to test if the stereo/lights is draining the battery and causing these problems or to check the clockspring? Help!
 
Double check to make sure your battery connections are tight and clean. As far as codes. You can buy iCarPro dongle and JScan. It will cost ya about $60 and you will be able to change parameters on the Jeep and read codes and old stored codes.
 
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I did a bit of googling . I quote;

Problems with the airbag clock spring occur when the wires inside the clock spring become fatigued over time and break. This can cause an open circuit or a short circuit in one or more of the systems connected by the clock spring. The clock spring can also become damaged if the driver's airbag is deployed in a crash. The airbag (or SRS) warning light will usually come on when the clock spring is damaged. The horn, radio, cruise control, or any other component that is operated through the steering wheel may also stop working, or may work intermittently. Fuses may blow with a short circuit in the clock spring, and in some cases, electric arcing and smoke can come from the steering wheel.

The battery issue may very well be related to the clock spring .
As what is written above it can c ause a short circuit
A shorted circuit can cause a parasitic drain on the battery
and if in the right place cause many other issues.
I would most def get the clockspring replaced first . As it's also a safety issue .
 
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Sounds like they might not have installed the accessories incorrectly or your battery is getting weak.

I would suggest disconnecting the power to the things that they installed for a while if your battery checks out ok just to see if they did something wrong.
 
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Battery cables and grounds are always the first thing to check.

I recently had problems with all the warning lights in my 2015 coming on and it turned out to be a bit of corrosion on one of the fuse box connectors.

While researching that problem I did read a forum post somewhere of a Jeep having a power drain that went away after replacing the clockspring. I'm on my third clockspring.
 
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BLACKJKU said:
Sounds like they might not have installed the accessories incorrectly or your battery is getting weak.

I would suggest disconnecting the power to the things that they installed for a while if your battery checks out ok just to see if they did something wrong.
Click to expand...

I was kinda thinking the same thing at first but the OP mentioned a month had passed since stereo install and warning light coming on .
It would be a good idea to disconnect the new lights just to rule them out as a possible contributor to near limp mode . LED’ EMI can be an issue. If you have an clock spring short the addition of LED’s could be wreaking havoc .
 
Speartip said:
I was kinda thinking the same thing at first but the OP mentioned a month had passed since stereo install and warning light coming on .
It would be a good idea to disconnect the new lights just to rule them out as a possible contributor to near limp mode . LED’ EMI can be an issue. If you have an clock spring short the addition of LED’s could be wreaking havoc .
Click to expand...


I understood it as he had the Uconnect replaced then a month later the lights installed then started having the problem.
 
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Hagatha said:
Hi Everyone,

I am new to owning a jeep and have a 2014 JK Rubicon Unlimited. I am hoping some of you can give me some help with what might be going on with my Jeep. List of events....

I had the uconnect system replaced at cartoys with an apple carplay deck. Worked fine.
About a month later i bought some ditch lights and spot lights and a switch panel and was driving back to cartoys to have them installed and all of a sudden my air bag light started going on and off.
I still went to cartoys and had them install all the lights, a switch panel, and a backup camera.
The airbag light has continued to go on and off, staying on most of the time. I did some research and it sounds like i need to have the clockspring replaced.

We went on a 4 hour drive and i turned the jeep off at our motel. I tried to start it about 5 minutes later and it was completely dead. We had to use a jump pack to get it started again. Then no problems for about a week. That next weekend i had to be jumped again to get it started. Then jumped again when i went to the gas station. We were out on a trail and all of a sudden all of my warning lights turned on and were flashing, traction control, sway bar, battery light, etc. You get the picture. I barely limped it home.

Can the clockspring drain your battery and cause all these problems or is there possibly a wiring issue from when they installed everything? I have a battery charger/maintaining it on right now or it drains it right away. My battery is brand new.

The dealership is scheduling almost a month out. I tried to run the codes by turning it back and forth three times (like it shows online) but it just says "done." and doesn't read any codes. Is there a way for me to test if the stereo/lights is draining the battery and causing these problems or to check the clockspring? Help!
Click to expand...


About a year ago I bought a new Optima red top and it was junk, they don't make batteries as good as they used to anymore.
 
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BLACKJKU said:
I understood it as he had the Uconnect replaced then a month later the lights installed then started having the problem.
Click to expand...
Reading the original post again . Looks like
1. Stereo install
2. Month later airbag light
3, Light install
4. Things got worse
So the airbag light went on before light install .
Maybe OP can clarify chain of events cause in this case it’s possible light install made things worse . Think would be wise to disconnect lights until clock spring is inspected or repaired.
 
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BLACKJKU said:
About a year ago I bought a new Optima red top and it was junk, they don't make batteries as good as they used to anymore.
Click to expand...
I was wanting to get a yellow top when I purchase a winch .
Doing some research it looks like Optima batteries are now made in Mexico . Others have said since the move south quality has taken a hit .
 
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Thanks everyone. Here is the exact order of events. About 2 months ago
1. I had the unconnect system replaced with a new Apple CarPlay radio. They had to take out one of my cigarette lighters to turn into my spot to plug in my phone for the CarPlay.
2. About 1 month later I was driving (to car toys) and the airbag light started going on and off intermittently as I was driving.
3. The same day I had some ditch lights, front spot lights and a back up camera installed.
4. Air bag light has continued to be a problem.
5. Two weeks later I had my battery replaced when I got an oil change because they said it was going bad.
6. Jeep would be dead every time I would go to start but this didn’t start happening until about two weeks after I got the lights installed. It did not happen right away.
7. New radio started to take longer to turn on once the rig was running (45+ seconds to even register it being on)
8. Last week we went out on the trails and this is when all the dash lights started freaking out and didn’t stop until I got home. Wasn’t running rough though.
9. Now I have had a charger on it continuously and I can’t even get it to start. It just clicks. I unplugged the battery this morning and am charging it to make sure it holds a charge. I couldn’t even get it to start with the jump start feature on my charger. Just clicks.
 
When you would turn the key to run would your dash lights light up like normal?

I would still have the new battery checked.
 
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JeepJeezy said:
Double check to make sure your battery connections are tight and clean. As far as codes. You can buy iCarPro dongle and JScan. It will cost ya about $60 and you will be able to change parameters on the Jeep and read codes and old stored codes.
Click to expand...
Where do I buy this from? Are they model specific?
BLACKJKU said:
When you would turn the key to run would your dash lights light up like normal?

I would still have the new battery checked.
Click to expand...
yes. Lights come on. Door chimes. Everything seems normal but it just clicks once and won’t start.
 
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Hagatha said:
Where do I buy this from? Are they model specific?

yes. Lights come on. Door chimes. Everything seems normal but it just clicks once and won’t start.
Click to expand...

You didn't say that, could be a problem with the battery cable at the starter or the starter is bad. Check your volts at the starter's battery cable and see if they are the same as at the battery.
 
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