In the owner's manual for my 2000 GC it says that the dealer can change the wiring to allow the 12V accessory outlet to be live even with the key in the off position.

Is this a simple change somewhere?

 

It was a relay you bought from the dealer and installed it in the PDC that was internally jumped so it worked all the time. I don't believe it is available any more but you can check. I have put the part number on here an a couple of other threads

 

A special shorted-out relay?

Y'know, if I didn't read it here, I would not have believed it!

Thanks for the info.

 

I am by no way recommending this, but I am curious. What is the difference between this "special relay" and just making a jumper to jump the pins in the PDC?

 

I'm about to find out. The photo of the "special relay" ($21 on ebay) shows it has only two terminals, so my money is on the possibility that it really is only a jumper. I will pull the existing relay and see if I can open it up for "retrofit".

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MOPAR-CHRYSLER-FACTORY-PART-L36-2-82301039-RELAY-PKG-/400329557595?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5d3580465b

 

http://www.automotivehelper.com/topic657858.htm
part #82301039

 

Done. Here's pics!

The relay is in the box next to the battery.
The relay location map is on the inside of the lid.



Here's the relay:


The relay just pulls out, with some wiggling. The top of the relay came off easily using a small screwdriver on the two tabs.


Here's the inside of the relay:



If you squeeze the relay like so, you can see that the part up top moves "in" towards the coil, and makes contact with the lower contact point.



Normally, the coil of the relay gets energized and pulls the upper section down, just like squeezing the assembly did. I decided to wedge something in there to hold it down. After a bit of trial and error, I found a guitar pick of the proper thickness to do the job.

The Guitar Pick Test:



OK, that worked! So I repositioned and trimmed the guitar pick to fit back inside the relay case. A drop of Elmer's sealed the deal.



Power's on!

 

very nice. I'll probably do something similar since I always get pi$$t when I try to plug my phone in and it wont charge (and of course I always forget that). My previous vehicles didn't have this proble.....err.. feature.