Just wanted to let people know in case they are experiencing the same thing I was. My 98 JGC Laredo would kill a battery in about two days of not being started. I tried everything from new battery to new body control module and was pulling my hair out trying to find the drain. I also could never get my factory alarm to work.

One night I was messing around in the cargo area and I turned the dome lights on. Shut the rear hatch and noticed that the interior lights stayed on and didn't shut off after 30 seconds like they should. I never noticed it because I had the rear cargo light switch off. Turns out my Jeep thought the rear glass was always open so I unplugged the senson and now everything works like it should. Alarms comes on and I can leave it for a week and still come back to a fresh battery.

Just wanted to share my experience in case anyone else has an issue like this.

 

where is the sensor located at. could this be the reason why the alarm stops working. my alarm used to work but would go off every now and than for no reason and then all of a sudden it just wouldn't come on anymore.

 

It's under the trim on the hatch. Removed all the screws and it pops off. It's the plug that goes into the side of the latching mechanism for the rear glass. I'm not sure if it will fix your problems but you may want to try it out.

 

THANKS for this help! I've been having problems with my 97 ZJ's interior lights not shutting off. I just pulled the fuse, but it makes it hard when it is dark out. So Saturday night, I should have interior lights again.

 

i had the same problem. i discovered that the latch on the window had worn off the plastic coating. I still can't figure out why this worked, but here is what i did. started off by putting a piece of cardboard in between the latch on the glass window and is clasp in the hatch. closed the window and lights went off. i permanently fixed it by coating the metal with j.b. weld. my fix was permanent for me and i didn't have to disconnect anything. its worth a shot. see if your square clasp on window has worn down to metal.