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Wheelin Matt

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A group of 3 Jeeps (all JL’s) and a Bronco Wildtrak 2 door ran an afternoon Jeep badge of honor trail (Holcomb creek in Big Bear, CA rated 6/8 in difficulty) on Tuesday for a nice sunset rock crawl with friends. A couple hours into the trail after doing an obstacle one of the JL’s would not start back up. The lights on the dash were all going crazy and then the windshield wipers would go on randomly. We tried jumping it and that didn’t do anything. After looking at the map we decided best course of action would be to pull him out of the trail but we would have to pull him thru the hardest section of the trail to get to an escape route (which was not easy at all either, rated 4/5 in difficulty).

The middle rock garden was very wet and the boulders are huge and they move around with all the water and people driving and winching off them (which we had to do quite a bit of). It took us about 3 hours to get the whole group thru with the disabled JL taking the longest because no power steering or sway bar disconnect on 6/8 rated obstacles made it a winch fest getting it thru the massive garden. Once thru we hopped on the escape trail (Lower Larga flats) and the disabled JL really struggled on very off camber ruts and ravines that were torn up from the record snow this winter.

At around 1:45am we finally got him to the trailhead and he was able to call a tow truck!

We are thinking it’s the auxiliary battery failing and taking out the main battery…. I’ll post an update when we know for sure. This didn’t happen to my Jeep, lucky for me but unlucky for Anthony. The best part of this experience is that we all came together and worked our asses off to get Anthony’s Jeep to civilization. Team work kicks ass!

We got the whole thing on video since my son brought his drones and Sony to record us on the trail anyways….. check it out, fresh out of the YouTube oven 🤙🏼

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aldo98229

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Ugh
 

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Definitely sounds like a weak battery issue. Disconnecting both batteries and individually load testing them should be the first move. JL's seem to have a higher threshold when it comes to a batteries load rating, before causing multiple systems to freak out at once. Best remedy is to replace both batteries, even if only one is testing weak. A strong battery loses lifespan when used as a crutch by a weaker one.

Kudos to you and the team for pulling together to not leave a buddy behind. Great job!
 

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TheRaven

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Definitely sounds like a weak battery issue. Disconnecting both batteries and individually load testing them should be the first move. JL's seem to have a higher threshold when it comes to a batteries load rating, before causing multiple systems to freak out at once. Best remedy is to replace both batteries, even if only one is testing weak. A strong battery loses lifespan when used as a crutch by a weaker one.

Kudos to you and the team for pulling together to not leave a buddy behind. Great job!
This is not an issue unique to the Wrangler, it's just worsened by the fact that the ESS Wranglers have TWO batteries and either one failing wreaks havoc. The real problem is that automotive batteries are just garbage anymore. I'm sure you remember we used to get 5-8 years out of a battery...these days getting 5 years would be a miracle. 2-3 is more the norm. I've seen so many defective batteries that are no more than a few months old it's insane.

But I agree that this definitely sounds like a defective battery.
 
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Wheelin Matt

Wheelin Matt

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Turns out the Jeep didn’t have an auxiliary battery and it was the main battery. He replaced it and it started right up like nothing ever went wrong. It’s weird that jump starting it or trying to didn’t even get it to turn over …. Makes me wanna carry a spare battery around if I go way out there 🤷🏽‍♂️
 
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Headbarcode

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This is not an issue unique to the Wrangler, it's just worsened by the fact that the ESS Wranglers have TWO batteries and either one failing wreaks havoc. The real problem is that automotive batteries are just garbage anymore. I'm sure you remember we used to get 5-8 years out of a battery...these days getting 5 years would be a miracle. 2-3 is more the norm. I've seen so many defective batteries that are no more than a few months old it's insane.

But I agree that this definitely sounds like a defective battery.
Well, of course every modern vehicle would be similarly affected by a weak battery. I simply specified JL's because this is a JL thread on a JL forum.

I agree about it being a shame, that we can find signs of water on Mars but can't seem to get a simple battery figured out.
 

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This is not an issue unique to the Wrangler, it's just worsened by the fact that the ESS Wranglers have TWO batteries and either one failing wreaks havoc. The real problem is that automotive batteries are just garbage anymore. I'm sure you remember we used to get 5-8 years out of a battery...these days getting 5 years would be a miracle. 2-3 is more the norm. I've seen so many defective batteries that are no more than a few months old it's insane.
Wonder what changed? I used the same battery in my last car for well over a dozen years without any problems (factory Panasonic, iirc). Car had tons of computer modules and always-on security, but the battery only struggled turning over in occasional -20F temps and once after letting it sit unused for a couple months. Never had to charge or jump start it even once.
 

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Turns out the Jeep didn’t have an auxiliary battery and it was the main battery. He replaced it and it started right up like nothing ever went wrong. It’s weird that jump starting it or trying to didn’t even get it to turn over …. Makes me wanna carry a spare battery around if I go way out there 🤷🏽‍♂️
What ga cable and how long are the cables? How long did you leave the cables on? Did you run the voltage source rig at 2,000 RPM? I was able to get dozens of cars started in MT when it was -30° when no one else could. My trick, two pairs of 2 Ga, 20' jumpers each connected to the dual batteries in my F-250. Sometimes I had to let them charge 20 minutes or more.

You've just fueled my paranoia. I aggressively use MSS (manual stop start) when crawling in 5 and lower trails (when we get out to inspect a line), but when it get harder, I never shut down.

No voltmeter?
I'm guessing that could have been prevented by load testing the battery before the trip.
 

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You could have been the hero if you carried a extra set of batteries during group events ;) which from the look of things, totally appropriate.
 

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Wonder what changed? I used the same battery in my last car for well over a dozen years without any problems (factory Panasonic, iirc). Car had tons of computer modules and always-on security, but the battery only struggled turning over in occasional -20F temps and once after letting it sit unused for a couple months. Never had to charge or jump start it even once.
From my experience - cost cutting. Pretty much all battery brands these days are built by one of three big conglomerates...and they gotta keep the shareholders happy which means continual cost cutting. Combine that fact with the fact that cars today have many times more electrical gadgets and supporting infrastructure than even just 10 years ago and it's not surprising we have these battery issues. If you feel like you have it bad you will find friends in luxury car owners - sometimes just trying to find a battery that will last a year is a chore when you own an optioned-out luxury vehicle.
 

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Gotta love modern technology. Methinks things are WAY more complicated than they need to be. The more complex the system, the more potential failure points. And then to find that a simple battery issue causes this kind of outcome….
 

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Turns out the Jeep didn’t have an auxiliary battery and it was the main battery. He replaced it and it started right up like nothing ever went wrong. It’s weird that jump starting it or trying to didn’t even get it to turn over …. Makes me wanna carry a spare battery around if I go way out there 🤷🏽‍♂️
I have seen this approach work a few times on vehicles with one battery.

Swap out the bad battery with a good one and start the vehicle. Swap back the batteries once the vehicle has started. Make sure to put the cables on the correct terminals.

I have no idea what would happen on a vehicle with two batteries.
 

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Glad it ended up being a relativy cheap easy fix.

Also glad you got to go through the experience! And yes, I say glad, because having gone through something similar I know how much I personally grew from the experience, and how my confidence recovering on trails has now skyrocketed. Hopefully it did the same for you! Sucks at the time, but definitely something to look back on and be proud of.
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