1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee car alarm problem
 

Greetings everyone, I'm Joe. I'm new here on the forum.

I'm having several problems with my 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Most of them seem electrical based.

The one that's bothering me the most right now is that the stock car alarm seems to go off at random times. It's happened right in front of me with no one within 50 feet of it. As I don't keep anything of particular value in the vehicle when I'm not in it myself (and really, who would steal it?) I'd like like to just disable it or rip it out entirely.

A quick rundown of some of the other issues (in case they're connected):

The rear hatch sensor is not working correctly; it will give me the hatch open alarm (and turn on the interior) lights as I'm driving down the road. It does this often enough that sometimes it looks like I'm have a strobe light rave in the car.

Sometimes the headlights stay on when I switch them off. I've gotten into the habit of always checking.

The display face on the radio sometimes goes blank; the radio still works, though.

Lastly, when I activate the blinkers, I have to be careful, or the wipers come on, too. When I let the blinker switch off on it's own, it always sets off the wipers.

I'm not looking to fix everything at once, just hoping to get some sage advice on what to do about the car alarm; I'll get to the other stuff as time allows.

Thanks in advance!

~Joe

Welcome to CF Joe.
The alarm and hatch issue are related. The alarm is triggered by the dome lights. The hatch sensor is inside the hatch. Try grabbing the hatch while closed and shaking it in and out at the bottom to see if it activates the lights. If so, you may be able to adjust the stryker a little tighter to solve the problem. If not, look at the sock or flexible connection, between the upper body and the top of the hatch for any pinched/shorted wires. Then remove the inner hatch panel to see if you can find any shorted wires.
The problem with the blinkers & wipers might be an issue the combination switch itself. I'd replace it if it were mine.
On my '97 ZJ Limited w/the auto lights, the lights would stay on a few seconds after I turned the truck off. Yours might have a bad headlight switch though. Just throwing it out there.
Good luck.

Thanks, Dan! There is no wiggle on the hatch when it's shut. It closes tight. Do you know of the best place I can find some schematics, so I can have a reference before I pop the hatch panel off?

I'll send you a Private Message.

My 1997 grand Cherokee's alarm goes off when it feels like it. I go to the back unlock it with the key and it goes off. I usually just open the back first and shut it so alarm won't go off. Works.

Driver and front passenger door key cylinders have a clip on plastic sensor switch on the inside that break. This makes the body control module think the doors are open or closed when they are not and that affects the arming and alarming of the system, as does the rear hatch lock. It can cause the problem you describe, and also can drain battery because the module sees an open door and wont fully shut down, draining like 80ma..