Driver's Door Electrical Connection

[Gossamer]

Interesting. You can see the white part is aligned in two different notches on the lever.

I think we may have some sort of proof after all.

Had the issue for the first time today. Snapped a pic, and was Shocked by how many were bent. Realigned the pins, and got things working for now. My pins were fully exposed. So I assume the white portion on this plug is also stuck.

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[Deleted member 43264]

This issue with the door pins makes me wish I had gone with a trim w/o power doors, power locks and power mirrors. Less of a headache or worry. Needless to say this is what'll probably keep me from removing my doors anytime soon.
Still have my YJ for that I guess, no power doors, locks or mirrors, just two nuts, a single door alarm/light switch (no worry no bendy connector) to unplug and that's it!
Still love my Gladiator, just not the little issues like that. Definitely should've gone with a no power trim, would've been slightly cheaper too.

 

[kstine98]

Happened to me too. I just don't plug in the doors all summer so they are easy to remove and replace. No auto door locks or windows, but I can live without that over the summer.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

No problems here - mine have been apart and together multiple times. I think part of the trick is patience, get things started, make sure it's totally straight and start it going together BEFORE using the latch to cinch it in. Manually engage it - you'll feel resistance if it's wrong.
I'd guess that at least SOME of the problem in SOME cases is using that latch to pull it together and since the force is on one side of the connector, it won't pull straight.

 

[Ogre_FL]

No problems here - mine have been apart and together multiple times. I think part of the trick is patience, get things started, make sure it's totally straight and start it going together BEFORE using the latch to cinch it in. Manually engage it - you'll feel resistance if it's wrong.
I'd guess that at least SOME of the problem in SOME cases is using that latch to pull it together and since the force is on one side of the connector, it won't pull straight.

If you never had issues, I dont think you know what works or what doesn't.

I have a JL that has had no issues.
It really doesn't matter what I do, it just works.
I don't have to be patent or take any special care in connecting it.
In fact, up to the issues with my JT I never even knew this was a problem part on the JL/JTs.

My JT however has had issues from the very first time and every time.
The connector is screwed up, its not the process.

If it ever stops raining around here I need to take them both apart and check to see if the JL has the same white part of the connector further into the housing like everyone with issues has found or if it covers the pins more.
I think this may be the real smoking gun of this issue.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

However, logic would suggest that since the vast majority have never had issues - then the design must not be all that bad.
If the design was flawed, I'd expect many dozens of forum members to have seen the issue.

Forums are where people gather to complain. They are not representative of the whole JT ownership. If you went by forum complaints you'd think every problem was huge.
In this case, however, there are a lot of people who remove and reinstall doors without issue.

I've looked deeply into the connectors themselves, I don't really see a big problem with one possible exception - there's enough "play" in the pins that if the wires are not coming straight out the back of the connector, if they are angled or there's pressure, the pins may not be totally straight. So it would also seem to be critical that the connectors are held, as much as possible, with the wires coming straight out.

I HAVE been in the process of putting mine back together and felt a certain "resistance" to pushing the connectors together. I found pulling them apart again, reorienting and trying again, keeping the wires straight and the connectors perfectly aimed and not touching the latch until I could feel the pins start to engage solved it.
So yes, I was aware of a potential for trouble before I even first took my doors off - and being a systematic person in how I approach things - I looked closely for things, and I did indeed feel a stop or resistance to them going back together. And being aware - I took all precautions.

The connector isn't as good as it could be, the pins don't latch into the shell really snug, there's room for them to tip a bit.
The chamfer on the other half of the connector isn't large - the pins can move more than the size of that chamfer.
But that can often be mitigated.
Great design? No (and I also think the plastic used in ALL modern automotive connectors suck and the latching grossly, overly, complicated compared to connectors of the past that SEALED perfectly and had far more simple latches) - but it's not a design that ensures failure, either.

Frankly, since the first Ford plastic connectors used with their electronic ignition systems of the late 70s and early 80s, I've not understood why the use of such brittle and fragile plastic for "latches". (the brittle latch on those almost always broke off with the first unplug - luckily the latches weren't really needed as the connectors shoved together really tight)
It's as if the companies that come up with the connectors pay people to come up with crazy complex Rube Goldberg designs that force you to line up A with B, move a tab to C, slide a latch in and then lock the latch. Then they tell the auto companies - that will be 20 bucks per connector as it took our guys a year to come up with this complex design.
Really? What's wrong with push a tab and pull?
These things remind me of the paranoid guy who has 10 deadbolts on his apartment door, an alarm and 2 booby traps.
Cheap plastic levers? Tabs that are so hard to depress to release a button that then can fall out or if a single part breaks the whole thing is trash?
It's really funny because the connector designs of the 60s and 70s worked - they stayed together, they didn't break and they didn't have 5 moving parts with cheap thin brittle latches. Making those water proof would have been bloody simple. Jeeps of the 90s had water proof connectors and they were 10 times more simple.

 

[Ogre_FL]

Happened to me too. I just don't plug in the doors all summer so they are easy to remove and replace. No auto door locks or windows, but I can live without that over the summer.

You remove/replace your doors with the windows up?

 

[Higher_Ground]

I am hesitant to post because I don't want to jinx myself.

I took them off last week for a few days. I was careful and took my time. With mine, the lever does not move freely or at least takes more force than I would like. I use a flat head screwdriver now to engage it and then move it slowly by hand until it gets to the point where I meet resistance again. This is from the two small tabs on the female plug that you don't depress but simply force out. The two trunions on the female plug have moved through the slot on the white lever to the point where they are free to release, but the little tabs/protrusions keep the plug together. Again, it takes more force than I would like to use if I'm trying to be very careful. So I very gently pull and wiggle - but only side to side, not up and down (so as to not bend the pins). Doing this I was successful in removing the plug without bending anything. The white part was fully covering the pins.

But to add a twist, the driver's side pins were exposed with the white part pushed back in. I have never had a problem on that side (knocks on wood) and they don't look bent now, having repeated this procedure again last night. So I'm not sure if that is going to lead anywhere or not, it may depend on how gently you remove it as to whether or not it stays pushed in. Knowing I had never had a problem on the driver's side I was a bit less cautious.

There are at least three measures put in place to keep the plugs together. You only need one. I have no idea why the red locking tab even exists. The lever could never move on it's own, though I suppose with nothing at all but friction (no lever, no tabs) it could eventually come apart.

 

[Ogre_FL]

White plate in the wrong location/out of its groove w/pins exposed.

In the correct position (covering the pins) and in the correct groove on the housing.

Good post on the Wrangler side about the white plate getting out of its groove (likely happens at the factory) and how to fix it.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...mfqh6oKKoVLlBcQI9eTMqRPnUILK49quRY4wXzg4tVJt8

 

[jonaandcaleb]

White plate in the wrong location/out of its groove w/pins exposed.

In the correct position (covering the pins) and in the correct groove on the housing.

Good post on the Wrangler side about the white plate getting out of its groove (likely happens at the factory) and how to fix it.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...mfqh6oKKoVLlBcQI9eTMqRPnUILK49quRY4wXzg4tVJt8

I was getting really excited by this as it appeared to be an easy fixed! Went to the forum post/link and the original poster said the white part went back to the previous position and didn't work (Post #4). Can anyone else speculate on this?

I'm at 24K miles. Once it goes out of warranty, going to put my own plug on (been thinking/researching a lot). Was thinking to make the connection on the door side of the harness. Disconnect the factory hardness, cutting off the door plug, putting the connection there, then plug the factory plug back in and never take it off at that point again, using the new one that I just installed on the door side of the connections. And I don't have to disconnect the battery and don't have to contort myself in the floorboard making new connections for a new harness. Still trying to find a good harness to use...

 

[Ogre_FL]

I was getting really excited by this as it appeared to be an easy fixed! Went to the forum post/link and the original poster said the white part went back to the previous position and didn't work (Post #4). Can anyone else speculate on this?

I'm at 24K miles. Once it goes out of warranty, going to put my own plug on (been thinking/researching a lot). Was thinking to make the connection on the door side of the harness. Disconnect the factory hardness, cutting off the door plug, putting the connection there, then plug the factory plug back in and never take it off at that point again, using the new one that I just installed on the door side of the connections. And I don't have to disconnect the battery and don't have to contort myself in the floorboard making new connections for a new harness. Still trying to find a good harness to use...

Sorry, I did miss where he said it failed again.
It does show though that the white plate is a flawed part and likely part of the issues.

@JeepCares This really should be a factory covered repair and not blamed on the user.
I still suspect these are getting buggered on the assembly line.

 

[Lynn_F]

If you never had issues, I dont think you know what works or what doesn't.

I have a JL that has had no issues.
It really doesn't matter what I do, it just works.
I don't have to be patent or take any special care in connecting it.
In fact, up to the issues with my JT I never even knew this was a problem part on the JL/JTs.

My JT however has had issues from the very first time and every time.
The connector is screwed up, its not the process.

If it ever stops raining around here I need to take them both apart and check to see if the JL has the same white part of the connector further into the housing like everyone with issues has found or if it covers the pins more.
I think this may be the real smoking gun of this issue.

I completely agree that there is likely an issue with the harness. I had mine replaced under warranty and it has since malfunctioned again after my warranty expired. The idea that you have to be patient, super careful and perfectly align a harness that is located in one of the most inaccessible parts of the truck is laughable. I took the doors off of my JK dozens of times and never had any issue. This may not be a global part defect but there is definitely an issue. It may have to do with the size of the user...I can barely fit in there to try and make the connection. Also, I work with 2 other Gladiator owners ('20 Mojave & '21 Willys) and they both have had the same issue. It has affected the passenger side blind spot monitoring light on all 3 of ours.

 

[eaglerugby04]

So one thing that has helped mine, I removed the plastic covers, after one flew off while driving (the ones that look like trim parts).

Then at some point the clip that keeps the connector against the side of the JT came loose. This connector on the driver's side now free floats instead of being tight against the side wall. I have noticed that it is significantly easier to line things up since it isn't directly attached.

 

[YJ350Jones]

As long as they don't replace it with a Boss Snowplow plug !

 

[FloridaJT6MT]

Been bending my pins back and forth all summer to get the door contols to function. Each time I plug the door back in something different wouldn't work. Could never really tell which pins weren't lining up. They all look pretty close to straight.
Ended up taking two small pieces of Scotch tape and putting them across the female side of the door harness. Plugged into the driver's door male side. Pulled down the white lever that locks them into place. Didn't pull it down fully but just enough to make some contact. Release the white lever and pulled apart.
The pins punctured the Scotch tape and could now see which pins weren't going into the correct slot on the female side. A couple were bent slightly and going into the hole just above where they were supposed to be. Bent the 2-3 pins I needed and now my proximity sensor and passenger mirror work again.

FYI - good idea from another thread.

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