Was your Jeep delivered with a hardtop, does your HT wiring exist. At the drivers side inside rear corner there will be a large harness and plug for lighting, defrost and wiper if it was factory equipped.
In the Resource section locate and download the Factory Service Manual for your Jeep and on page 8W-44-6 is the circuit for the dash lighting and switch. Test the terminal off the switch for power since they do go bad.
There's usually enough give in the hose assembly to accept a body lift but from the looks of the old hose it's a bit crusty and they couldn't make it work..
I would just toss the entire assembly since it does not look right and go with something like this. Tube looks like a chrome tailpiece from a kitchen sink...
Glad you found it. For the door switches just pull Fuse #4 from the glove box panel, that's designed for doors off to defeat the system without affecting dome lite operation
Welcome.
A cycling ac compressor is typically due to a low charge, and having a qualified tech look at the system is a good place to start if ac is not your thing.
One of the the more common issues with the 4.0 and synthetic is the rear main seal that tends to weep when switching oils, generally the high mileage conventionals seem to tame the leaks.
You can start with checking coolant levels and since you didn't mention the radiator cap check on that. Also a good hose flush of the rad and condenser coils can be beneficial.