does the rear hatch have a "door open" indicator switch like what the doors have? if so, can you tell me where it is located? Thanks.

 

IDK about your 96, but my WJ has 2 latches on the hatch with switches on both. I'll assume yours has 1 on the latch itself. And yes, it displays on the VIC and turns on the interior light if not latched.

 

that's what I thought but after looking for the switch I could not find it. Is it at the latch itself?

 

I have an 86 that has wiring for a rear dome light. I believe that circuit is what operates the door open switch. It is hooked to the latch itself inside

 

To be honest I know either the window or the hatch has a 'door open' switch, cause if it's hosed, your alarm won't set. I can't recall off the top right now where it is...maybe in the latch itself...I think I recall the switch is known to fail and I worked around it by wiring the wires together and bypassing it. Sorry am so foggy on it .

 

Okay, here's what I've got on my 2000 WJ. The rear hatch latches (2) have switches screwed to them that can be removed. They are simple plunger-type micro switches. My door latches have switches built into them so you have to buy new latches. If ANY of these switches don't set when the doors and hatch are closed, the interior lights stay on and the VIC will tell you which is open. The VIC display is turned on thru the BCM. The rear hatch switches have to be tied down to show latched, but the door switches can just be unplugged.

 

Am actually having the same issues with mine too. The FSM has a wiring diagram in the VTSS sections. On my 97 if you access the BCM under the dash you can then use the diagrams to test the pins on the BCM and figure out which sensors are not what they should be. My project today.
By the way on mine the Door Ajar switch for the hatch is a microswitch in the hatch latch itself.

UPDATE: SAVE SOME TROUBLE, JUST DISCONNECT THE SWITCH AND SEE IF THE VTSS GOES BACK TO NORMAL. You can just cut one of the wires. Close the other doors and see if the alarm sets. IF SO, THE SWITCH IS BAD. My lesson learned after ripping apart the dash it led me to the rear door ajar, disconnected it and the signal went from +12 to 0vdc. SO the switch is open in the 'door ajar' position, just like all the other doors. Just disconnect it and it thinks the door is shut.
That being said, if the rear hatch is closed but not closed all the way, (you have to really slam it) it will also indicate open. SEE below post.

 

I forgot to mention that all the doors must be latched and the key removed for the alarm to set.

 

thanks guys. i have a slow electrical drain and i suspect its the door closed indicators which then activate the BCM. i did find the rear door latch closed circuit by removing the hatch skin and the wires were right there connected to the latch itself. i unplugged the connector. i also disconnected the other 4 doors. the alarm has been bypassed. i will know if a few weeks if this solved it or not (leaving town for work so wont be back for a bit). thanks.

 

The FSM actually shows the liftgate disable switch as being on the liftgate lock mechanism, not the actual latch which is what I thought. I likely haven't disabled the right switch yet and still have intermittent alarm operation). Back to the drawing board.
As far as your battery drain, been there done that too. Seems any one of the lock cylinder switches on the two front doors or rear hatch can hang, and then the system won't arm because it shows the key in the 'unlock' position. This causes the bcm to leave interior lights on and or not power down all the way. Fix for me was some boneyard switches but they sell them on rockauto. $22 ea. That brought the drain current down to about 14ma which is where it should be.

 

To arm in passive mode: Key removed from ignition, 'headlight switch off', and then doors locked with the power lock button Active mode is using the RKE remote button, which will arm it after all the doors are closed.

I realize I left the headlights on, then turned them off, then tried to set the alarm. So it didn't like that sequence. Put the key in, took it out, (with the headlights off) and the alarm sets like normal. So I had disabled the right switch in the liftgate latch after all.
Reedit: My problem was that both the passenger side actuators don't work. They make a sound like they work but dont. Also the Drivers door ajar switch was shot.