2007 Liberty right side turn signal constant on - discharged battery

sonofjeepie

So I park my 07 Liberty Sport (3.7 - six speed) in the garage the other night, everything seems normal. Next morning 5 AM ready to go to work and its snowing ... open the garage door and ... right side turn signal lamp is constant on (dimly). Dashboard right turn indicator arrow is constant on. Right side rear turn signal light is constant on (dimly). Jeep won't start - the battery is discharged. Pulled and checked both front and rear dual-filament bulbs, they're ok - not burned out. Fresh battery starts it up, signal lamps and dash indicator still constant on. Reluctant to take it out for fear of another battery discharge. Disconnected the battery. What do I look for next? Any ideas? Thanks for the forum.

Mr_Shiftright

Well I suppose just to get you going you could try to pull the signal flasher out and see if those dash lights go out. That would keep the battery from discharging (presuming the flasher or that wiring circuit is the problem) at least--then you could plug it back in when you leave the garage---at least you'd have directionals while driving.

The signal flasher is integral with the 4-way hazard switch in the dash itself. It's something more than just a relay---more like a "smart relay".

Anyway, before you yank that out you should check the fuses....I *think* they are 11 and 39...maybe it would be easier for you to pull either one of those to keep the battery from discharging.

As to solving the problem, that's a question of step by step diagnoses. You could I suppose just take a chance and replace the signal/4-way/flasher but that might or might not do it. You could have a short-to-ground somewhere or some such.

REMOVING SWITCH AND TESTING:

Here is the removal procedure for the switch; you do not need to remove the instrument panel to do this.

Disconnect the battery negative cable.
Remove the radio from the instrument panel.
Remove the screw at the top of the instrument panel radio opening that secures the hazard switch to the instrument panel.
Reach through the radio opening to access the two latch tabs of the hazard switch bracket.
Pull rearward and downward on the latch tabs of the switch mounting bracket far enough to disengage them from the instrument panel trim.
Push the hazard switch button through the button opening far enough to disengage the alignment pins on each side of the switch housing from the saddle-like ramp formations on the back of the instrument panel trim.
Pull the switch down into the radio opening far enough to access and disconnect the wiring connector from the back of the switch.
Remove the hazard switch through the instrument panel radio opening.

Once you have the switch out, check for battery power at the bronw/red wire at pin 1, and check for ignition switch power at the dark blue wire on pin 8.
Check for continuity to ground at the black wire on pin 2.

If you ahve power and ground and cannot make the hazard lights work, replace the switch