Headlights came on by themselves, 2004 Liberty.

[The Jeep Driver]

The headlights on our 2004 Liberty came on by themselves, and would not turn off after turning off the Jeep. The taillights are not on, only the headlights.

Full story, my wife calls me Thursday night to tell me the headlights are on as the KJ is sitting in the driveway. No one had driven the Jeep for a couple of days at least. She turned the switches on and off, then started the Jeep and was able to turn the headlights off. As soon as she turned the Jeep off, the headlights came back on. She tried the above a second time, but the battery had lost enough charge and the Jeep wouldn't start. It was two hours later when I got home. The Jeep's headlights were still on, and I pulled the positive battery cable off. I tested the battery, after the lights have been on for several hours at least, it is of course dead, 11.9 volts.

This is the first time since that I've had a chance to look at it further. I've got the battery on a charger. Battery was purchased 11/2020. The 'headlights being stuck on' issue seems as though it may to a relay problem...? I don't know where the relays are at, they're not the power distribution block. Anyone have any ideas? My internet search provided lots of "maybes" but no definitive answers, and none KJ related.

Thanks in advance!
Edited post for clarification.

 

[sleazy rider]

A quick google turned up this image from the manual. R3 is the low beam relay and I *think* that’s under the hood. There’s also a circuit panel under the removable cover, left dash end.

'02-'07 Jeep Liberty (KJ) Fuses Diagram

Location and description of fuses and relays Jeep Liberty Sport, Limited and Renegade with engine 2.4L, 2.5L, 2.8L or 3.7L (KJ; 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007)

knigaproavto.ru

 

[blackhawk]

Once you identified the pertaining relay, take it off and switch with another relay that doesn't have to do with ignition.... This is just to know if the failure is present with the interchange relay.

 

[The Jeep Driver]

A quick google turned up this image from the manual. R3 is the low beam relay and I *think* that’s under the hood. There’s also a circuit panel under the removable cover, left dash end.

'02-'07 Jeep Liberty (KJ) Fuses Diagram

Location and description of fuses and relays Jeep Liberty Sport, Limited and Renegade with engine 2.4L, 2.5L, 2.8L or 3.7L (KJ; 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007)

knigaproavto.ru

That image of the PDB under the hood, I had checked it out; when I posted "I don't know where the relays are at, they're not the power distribution block," (should read "not in the") that wasn't clear... I see both the low and high beam relays, but not what I'm looking for, I don't think. They are worth testing though as blackhawk suggested. What I think I'm looking for is the timer/relay that turns the lights off at a set time after exiting the vehicle. I only just now thought of checking the setting in the Jeeps menu and changing it to zero minutes. But I doubt that will fix it; the lights should only turn on when the Jeep had the headlights on to begin with. I hope the above makes sense; it's pre-coffee here...

I didn't know about the circuit panel, I will have a look at that, thank you.

 

[The Jeep Driver]

The battery tested at 12.93 V. Put it back in the Liberty, the headlights were off. I drove it to run an errand, and left it running the entire time. I got back home, turned off the ignition, took the keys out, and checked the headlights; they are off. This was at 10:30 AM. With everything currently working the way it's supposed to, there's nothing to check. I'm going to keep watching the Jeep and see what happens.

 

[sleazy rider]

The battery tested at 12.93 V. Put it back in the Liberty, the headlights were off. I drove it to run an errand, and left it running the entire time. I got back home, turned off the ignition, took the keys out, and checked the headlights; they are off. This was at 10:30 AM. With everything currently working the way it's supposed to, there's nothing to check. I'm going to keep watching the Jeep and see what happens.

Hahaha! That’s usually how my repairs seem to go. Do something kinda unrelated and the issues all disappear.

 

[BeerStop]

The headlights on our 2004 Liberty will not turn off after turning off the Jeep. The taillights are not on, only the headlights. Full story, my wife calls me Thursday night to tell me the headlights are on as the KJ is sitting in the driveway. She turned the switches on and off, then started the Jeep and was able to turn the headlights off. As soon as she turned the Jeep off, the headlights came back on. She tried the above a second time, but the battery had lost enough charge and the Jeep wouldn't start. It was two hours later when I got home. The Jeep's headlights were still on, and I pulled the positive battery cable off. I tested the battery, after the lights have been on for several hours at least, it is of course dead, 11.9 volts.

This is the first time since that I've had a chance to look at it further. I've got the battery on a charger. Battery was purchased 11/2020. The 'headlights being stuck on' issue seems as though it may to a relay problem...? I don't know where the relays are at, they're not the power distribution block. Anyone have any ideas? My internet search provided lots of "maybes" but no definitive answers, and none KJ related.

Thanks in advance!

must be something with the switch, my 03 does something similar, the right hand light will stay on and i have to cycle the switch a few times to get it to shut off.
i would start at the switch, i am not familiar witht he electronics on these so i dont know if it is a regular on off or if the computer needs to see a resistance difference before it will shut them off.
good luck

 

[The Jeep Driver]

Situation got worse... I drove the Liberty instead of the TJ to work, as I can see the parking lot from my workstation, and I wanted to see if the headlights came back on. When I started the Liberty up, the gas light was on, and the tank was showing empty; the Jeep has a full tank. It drove to work without issue. I backed into a parking spot and turned the ignition off... and the Jeep kept running. After about 90 seconds, it sputtered and died. So, I drove it around back to our mechanics bay. He connected his scanner to it, it gave us nine codes, some that didn't make sense, as in a code that said the cooling fan wasn't running, which it was. He suspects the BCM or ECM, but his scanner wasn't "good" enough to do whatever test needs to be done. The Company's scanner would, but we're not allowed to use it for POV's. So, I'm taking it to a shop later this week.

 

[ltd02]

Check all grounds you can get to and make sure the battery connections are very clean and secure. These things do all sorts of weird stuff with bad electrical connections. The headlights on without taillights sounds almost like a DRL circuit. I guess the timer after shutdown would be similar.

 

[BeerStop]

check both computers might have a lil corrosion on the pins and unplugging and plugging in could clean em up.

 

[Will_K]

A mopar vehicle where the headlights come on by themselves you say? I seem to recall there being a movie to that effect...

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[Billwill]

The Multifunction Switch ie. the switch that has the turn signal stalk on it and the Light Stalk is known to give problems.

Try unplugging the Multifunction Switch when the problem is present and try to borrow an identical switch to try out.!