My Jeep is officially a work vehicle. I bought it to replace a pickup that I don't need, but my work often requires me to be parked on the side of busy highway. I bought a portable flashing light system that I can plug into one of the 12-volt power outlets and then put it on top of the car for visibility purposes.
The outlet on the right side of the tail gate opening is the most convenient, but this outlet is powered only when the ignition switch is in the ON/RUN or ACC position. This doesn't make much sense, since it's a push-button start. However, page 123 of the User Guide has directions on how to switch the power to "battery" powered all the time by moving a fuse. There's even a picture.
I did this while on a job, and it worked great. At the same time, I had a USB flash drive plugged into the USB port in the center storage bin below the instrument panel so I could listen to an audio book I had on the flash drive. I left both of these changed connections in place for a couple of weeks, and one morning the Jeep wouldn't start because the battery was dead.
I called the dealer, who took the Jeep to his shop, and I unplugged the USB drive. I think the dealer over-charged the battery, because there was acid in the battery box around the battery. The battery went dead again, and this time I discussed the fuse change in detail with the Service Manager. He told me that they found that the switch in the AC clutch was stuck in the closed position and was draining the battery.
They replaced the AC clutch and the battery, and they cleaned and painted the battery box. So far I haven't had any more problems. I have no idea what really caused the problem. Electronics is a black-magic art form. My advice is don't follow the directions to switch the rear power outlet fuse.
The outlet on the right side of the tail gate opening is the most convenient, but this outlet is powered only when the ignition switch is in the ON/RUN or ACC position. This doesn't make much sense, since it's a push-button start. However, page 123 of the User Guide has directions on how to switch the power to "battery" powered all the time by moving a fuse. There's even a picture.
I did this while on a job, and it worked great. At the same time, I had a USB flash drive plugged into the USB port in the center storage bin below the instrument panel so I could listen to an audio book I had on the flash drive. I left both of these changed connections in place for a couple of weeks, and one morning the Jeep wouldn't start because the battery was dead.
I called the dealer, who took the Jeep to his shop, and I unplugged the USB drive. I think the dealer over-charged the battery, because there was acid in the battery box around the battery. The battery went dead again, and this time I discussed the fuse change in detail with the Service Manager. He told me that they found that the switch in the AC clutch was stuck in the closed position and was draining the battery.
They replaced the AC clutch and the battery, and they cleaned and painted the battery box. So far I haven't had any more problems. I have no idea what really caused the problem. Electronics is a black-magic art form. My advice is don't follow the directions to switch the rear power outlet fuse.
