Headlight harness jury rigged by AEV Jeep dealer

[Roose Bolton]

We have a 2013 JK350 we purchased new from an authorized AEV dealer.

One of the numerous options we selected for the build were the AEV halogen headlamps. The headlamps were installed by AEV using AEV supplied harnesses that adapt from the normal 2013 connectors.

During the first year or so of ownership, our Jeep was returned to the dealership several times for very strange headlight behavior, from one light going off intermittently to the headlamps erratically strobing. The provided adapter harnesses turned out to be the problem. They were literally shorting out and had to be replaced multiple times.

No problems since then, but over the weekend we purchased a new set of JW speaker J2 headlights. These are plug and play DOT approved lights. The install went well on the right headlamp, but it turns out that during service for the prior problems, our AEV Jeep dealer completely cut off the factory connector and hard wired the AEV headlamp directly to the harness!!!!! So right now I have no way to install the second LED light housing.

I am not an automotive professional, but this practice seems unacceptable to me. I would appreciate input from AEV and the forum on what to do next. Is this an acceptable maintenance practice? It seems the dealer should have performed the maintenance with the proper parts, and not jury rigged the jeep.

How would you all the deal with this, and what should I expect now that the vehicle is beyond warranty period?

[Roose Bolton]

Youch.. Bad luck tends to follow us also. About the only thing I can say, is return it to where ever you had the items installed and inform them of what was removed (by them) during other installtions as they are responsible for reinstalling these connections and they should have never been removed in the first place.

Thanks. We didn’t have any items installed. They were originally done by AEV themselves as part of a turn key vehicle. The modifications were done by the dealer in an attempt to fix a problem with the AEV upgrades. So, this is a little weird as it is supposed to have had a full factory warranty.

ill probably talk to the dealer first, but does anyone have info on the correct people at AEV to discuss this with? Do they even monitor these boards?

[Daveh]

If your dealer does not offer you an acceptable repair option, try contacting these guys. I'm sure they have or can make a harness that will let you install the new lights.

http://www.rallylights.com/

[WhiteSaharaInPA]

What kind of headlights did you have "AEV" Install? I thought the only option available from them were the IPF headlight replacement? Which I thought would have been plug and play?

[WhiteSaharaInPA]

Sure they can. Is this an AEV Turn key windshield banner, guages, serial #, or a Rubicon built by an authorized AEV dealership?

[Roose Bolton]

What kind of headlights did you have "AEV" Install? I thought the only option available from them were the IPF headlight replacement? Which I thought would have been plug and play?

I believe they were the IPF option. I'm not sure they were plug and play, as there is an adapter cable involved. It was this AEV supplied adapter that shorted out a couple different times and led to the connector-less repair. I spoke with the dealer about the issue and they explained they did this because it fixed the problem without all the necessary off the shelf parts on hand.

In any case, the dealer has ordered the correct connector and asked me if I wanted to do the install myself. I didn't feel that was appropriate and they agreed to install it, but I'm thinking I may just have my car stereo guys do it as they will be updating my head unit soon anyway.