Did I Just Ruin My New Jeep?

[Douno4Sure]

Got my 392 home last weekend. Went from Granger with 15 miles on the Odometer to Home 744 miles over 3 days following some version of the many Break-In recommendations. All is well and it's an amazing vehicle.
First major mod was to install APM Research Power Steps (Extreme). I've been my own mechanic and done many mods and complete rebuilds over the years, so this didn't seem too out of reach for me.
I disconnected the Negative lead to the Battery, followed the directions and improved on some of the wire-harness-routing recommendations. The system is isolated except: 1 Power lead to the Battery, 2 Ground leads and 4 Door Triggers that get spliced into tiny wires going into the BCM, Body Control Module. These are way up behind the Passenger kick-plate. You have to disconnect 3 major connectors, find the correct wires that carry the Door-Ajar signal, tap into them with the supplied Butt-Connectors, Reconnect these 3 major connectors and connect wires from the PowerStep Trigger Module to the PowerStep Harness, then Reconnect the Negative Battery lead and inserted the 2 Power Step fuses. All done and ready to test.
This is where everything goes wrong.
Open the door and various lights on the vehicle flash, dash lights up and goes dark, and steps do not deploy. (I also installed the Power Step override switch which I tried and the steps do go Up and Down with the override switch.
The problem is: the only thing on the Dash is the 'foot on brake push to start' message otherwise the dash is blank, none of the interior electronics respond to anything, the jeep does not start.... basically nothing.
What did I do to my wonderful new Jeep?
What do I do now?

 

[Stonehide]

I'm sure there's some actual electricians on this board that can be of more help, but you're probably alright. Just retrace everything you did, make sure all of your connections are properly joined, grounded, and wired to the correct places. Consider swapping out your butt connectors for solder or solder joints. If that doesn't work, return all your wiring to stock and see if that brings the jeep back to life. Oh, and check your fuses.

If that doesn't work, then you might want to start worrying about shelling out some cash to fix your mistakes.

 

[scarab]

I guess you've already performed the basics? I mean checked all fuses?

 

[Turboencabulator]

Hmmm…
First off you didn’t ruin it, you can always just undo the mod.
If it was me, I would take it back to version 1.0 (stock).
- disconnect everything you added, 1 battery lead, 2 grounds, 4 door trigger splices.
Then see if the jeep starts normally. Then start the wiring part over.
Make sure the grounds are clean and solid.
These type of electronics use vampire connectors to "splice" into something like the BCM. Sometimes these connectors can cause a short or other fault or the unit you added can be connected incorrectly. It's easy to get them mixed up or damage the wire you are connecting to, been there, done that, hate those types of connectors. They would be my usual suspects. Contact the manufacture and see what they say.
You're good, you can get figured out, just start back at square 1 and build on it methodically.

 

[scarab]

Yep, vampire connectors are usually junk. It's possible they cut through the wire and now there's no connectivity between door sensors and BCM. As a troubleshooting step you can also temporarily disconnect harnesses between the body and the doors (the ones you disconnect when removing the doors) and see what happens. That way the BCM should ignore AJAR sensors completely.

 

[CBH]

While you’re retracing your steps, look for any loose ground connections you may have created. I had similar indications on a Jeep when the ground connection I tapped into came loose. That connection was providing ground to other components that were critical. I figured it out while I was waiting for the tow truck driver to arrive.

 

[justinB]

Got my 392 home last weekend. Went from Granger with 15 miles on the Odometer to Home 744 miles over 3 days following some version of the many Break-In recommendations. All is well and it's an amazing vehicle.
First major mod was to install APM Research Power Steps (Extreme). I've been my own mechanic and done many mods and complete rebuilds over the years, so this didn't seem too out of reach for me.
I disconnected the Negative lead to the Battery, followed the directions and improved on some of the wire-harness-routing recommendations. The system is isolated except: 1 Power lead to the Battery, 2 Ground leads and 4 Door Triggers that get spliced into tiny wires going into the BCM, Body Control Module. These are way up behind the Passenger kick-plate. You have to disconnect 3 major connectors, find the correct wires that carry the Door-Ajar signal, tap into them with the supplied Butt-Connectors, Reconnect these 3 major connectors and connect wires from the PowerStep Trigger Module to the PowerStep Harness, then Reconnect the Negative Battery lead and inserted the 2 Power Step fuses. All done and ready to test.
This is where everything goes wrong.
Open the door and various lights on the vehicle flash, dash lights up and goes dark, and steps do not deploy. (I also installed the Power Step override switch which I tried and the steps do go Up and Down with the override switch.
The problem is: the only thing on the Dash is the 'foot on brake push to start' message otherwise the dash is blank, none of the interior electronics respond to anything, the jeep does not start.... basically nothing.
What did I do to my wonderful new Jeep?
What do I do now?

I did the exact same thing, the same thing happened when installing my AMP steps. Be sure you plug ALL the wiring harnesses back in FULLY, the ones by the passenger kick panel. I thought I had them all in fully, they looked good, but actually were not.

 

[Viking Jeeper]

Be sure you plug ALL the wiring harnesses back in FULLY, the ones by the passenger kick panel. I thought I had them all in fully, they looked good, but actually were not.

This is what I was thinking as I read this post. I would absolutely start there. Hope it works out.

 

[justinB]

This is what I was thinking as I read this post. I would absolutely start there. Hope it works

I did the exact same thing, the same thing happened when installing my AMP steps. Be sure you plug ALL the wiring harnesses back in FULLY, the ones by the passenger kick panel. I thought I had them all in fully, they looked good, but actually were not.

I installed mine a year ago. If I recall correctly it was the connector with the swing arm. I 'swung' it all the way into the closed position; however, the connector wasn't quite pushed up far enough and didn't grab as I was swinging it so it could pull itself in further. So, it looked like it was closed all the way but it deceived me.
Man, I was freaking out. Thought my battery died or I fried something. Nope, just me not paying close enough attention.

 

[Douno4Sure]

Thanks everyone. YES definitely in freakout mode here!!!!
I will re-trace my steps, try the Disconnect - Reconnect the three connectors at the BCM and then remove the 4 door-ajar taps.

Questions:
1) Should the negative lead to the Battery be disconnected when doing the Disconnect - Reconnect?
2) Is there a 'Secondary Battery' on the 392 like on the other wranglers with start-stop?
3) Is there a way to 'Reset' all the computers in the 392 (like on older cars)? (disconnect all power/batteries, Connect Positive and Negative leads to each-other, wait overnight to let all capacitors drain, reconnect...)

 

[Turboencabulator]

Thanks everyone. YES definitely in freakout mode here!!!!
I will re-trace my steps, try the Disconnect - Reconnect the three connectors at the BCM and then remove the 4 door-ajar taps.

Questions:
1) Should the negative lead to the Battery be disconnected when doing the Disconnect - Reconnect?
2) Is there a 'Secondary Battery' on the 392 like on the other wranglers with start-stop?
3) Is there a way to 'Reset' all the computers in the 392 (like on older cars)? (disconnect all power/batteries, Connect Positive and Negative leads to each-other, wait overnight to let all capacitors drain, reconnect...)

#1. If that’s what the installation manual said to do when you installed it, and you did, then it can’t hurt to disconnect it again when removing it. So yeah I would, can’t hurt.
#2. No just 1 battery (thankfully)
#3. I don’t know about this one. I think if you are disconnecting the battery in step #1 then that is as far as I would take it. I personally wouldn’t connect the pos to neg. Just take it back to stock, give it 15 min, reattach the battery and hopefully it will start right up normally. Then you can start the wiring again. I would check the wires that you spliced onto to make sure the look ok and aren’t damaged. And definitely push in all the pins so everything in the BCM is connected properly. I think you’ll be fine.

That is what I would do myself but let’s see if others have a different take on those questions.

 

[Viking Jeeper]

I would not remove anything until you confirm all connectors are seated properly. If you do both you will never know for sure what the problem was.

 

[justinB]

Thanks everyone. YES definitely in freakout mode here!!!!
I will re-trace my steps, try the Disconnect - Reconnect the three connectors at the BCM and then remove the 4 door-ajar taps.

Questions:
1) Should the negative lead to the Battery be disconnected when doing the Disconnect - Reconnect?
2) Is there a 'Secondary Battery' on the 392 like on the other wranglers with start-stop?
3) Is there a way to 'Reset' all the computers in the 392 (like on older cars)? (disconnect all power/batteries, Connect Positive and Negative leads to each-other, wait overnight to let all capacitors drain, reconnect...)

First Step...

What Viking Jeeper said, "I would not remove anything until you confirm all connectors are seated properly. If you do both you will never know for sure what the problem was."

 

[Douno4Sure]

TGIF and TGFTF (Thank God for the Forum)

First, thanks for the encouraging attitude!!!
Second, for the advice!!!
It was definitely one or all of the 3 Connectors to the BCM.
I disconnect both sides of the battery and all the other wires on both the positive and negative side, only way to get all of those to zero volts.

On the three connectors those levers lock in both the up position, so the connector can go in all the way, and they lock down squeezing the connector in and tight.
After reconnecting the battery and bringing the key fobs back in range and then inside, the Jeep came to life.
3 of the 4 doors activated the steps, rear passenger door did not. Turns out the directions that came in the box were for pre 2019. The PDF download off their website shows a new location for that doors wire on the 2021-2022.
Also thanks to Tech Support at AMP Research who took my several calls, emailed some detailed trouble shooting etc.
Again, thanks for the encouragement to keep trying!

 

[RugbyRef]

And...^^^THAT^^^...is why I love this forum! Well done folks!

 

[S&S392]

I just saw a video on this on You tube, they said there was certain things that
needed to be done, was a bit tricky. might want to look for it. cant hurt.

 

[Douno4Sure]

I just saw a video on this on You tube, they said there was certain things that
needed to be done, was a bit tricky. might want to look for it. cant hurt.

Thanks!
Once I got the connectors reseated correctly it all worked out great. Love the Power Step Extreme version of these steps.