Instrument panel going on and off when car is off

[dkwrnr]

Had a total battery failure. Replaced it. Now observed the instrument panel lights going on and off seemingly at random. While the car is shut off!

my fear is that its going to kill this new battery!

What is going on ??

[Dean H]

First go over all the battery connections.

 

Follow my thread linked below-

 

https://www.dodgejourneyforum.com/topic/18210-electrical-system-fyi-battery/

 

 

 

[5rebel9]

2 hours ago, dkwrnr said:

Had a total battery failure. Replaced it. Now observed the instrument panel lights going on and off seemingly at random. While the car is shut off!

my fear is that its going to kill this new battery!

What is going on ??

Need some background info from you, as there are a number of POSSIBILITIES as to cause of your problem. I take it this is a 3.6 but what trim and what size infotainment screen 4.3 or 8.4 inch?

Sudden weather related change(heavy rains/snow/ice) when this started happening?

RECHECK battery cable connections for clean and tight

I had a problem similar to your situation (not from a battery change though) of all dash lights coming back on on our '11 3.6 4.3 screen DJ. and it turned out to be the radio unit (where the CD slot is) was bad and needed to be replaced. and yes, it would kill the battery overnight.

[dkwrnr]

2011 mainstreet 3.6L AWD

screen is the smaller one.

No real big weather changes, we have perfect weather these days in Arizona.

this summer, the rear AC control was coming on by itself, but it has ceased to act up lately.

Any way to test the info unit without removing? any fuse or relay that could be suspect?

I hate the thought of putting it on a trickle charger every night, but I can until I can figure out whats going on.....

I had a broken battery sensor on the negative side, but also replaced it with new.

would a vehicle scan pick up an error that would cause such behavior?

 

DW

[5rebel9]

OK, I saw your region area and thought maybe you were in the upper pacific coast/mountain area with the flooding.

 When I encountered my problem, 6 years ago there were no schematics or real this is it postings to mine trying to "shut down" but not fully turning off and ALL of dash lighting back up. I tried many things, pulling fuses to BCM change to no avail.

I finally took the center bezel off(very easy) and removed the 4 screws that retain the radio unit(the book calls it the TGM module), and also very easy to remove. and disconnected the wiring to it. This stopped the drain and lights, but not a practical FIX. I have ready access to parts (used) thru a friend, so I pulled one from a parts car and tried it all things started working properly and the radio(TGM module) IS PLUG AND PLAY ...NO SPECIAL CODE NEEDED. So for me the failure was inside the module (radio) itself and not wiring. Kind of hard to test that kind of printed/chip circuitry.  Even my friends bi directional high level scanner could not pick up the problem when this happened.

  I suggest just going to a salvage yard and getting another radio(TGM Module) they were in a lot of DJ's and should not be very expensive now. look for an 2011- 2014 donor.

There are many youtube videos on how to remove the trim bezel and radio(TGM Module) to help you along.

Good Luck and please let us know how things go with your Journey's fix.