13.4 Low Voltage Warning

[AZJeepGuy]

I was off road most of the day and once I got into the hills in 4 lo with lockers I got a system message / warning that showed my voltage at 13.4. The rest of the day I monitored my off road pages and 13.4 and 13.3 were very common. Never did I see 14.4 or anything over 13.4 if I remember correctly. I have already had my small battery replaced.
Did the sytem message show because the charging was running to low? Or I just never noticed it before? Issue or no?

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[_olllllllo_]

That should not be an issue. It means the batteries are charged and the smart alternator doesn’t need to supply as much power to charge them. On long drives I have seen it get as low as 12.8V.

 

[AZJeepGuy]

Then why show the message at all? The Electronic Start Stop does the same thing. It give a message saying it's not available when the AC is going full tilt after start up. Unnerving. Annoying.
Thanks for your post. I will sleep better.

 

[Petey]

Then why show the message at all? The Electronic Start Stop does the same thing. It give a message saying it's not available when the AC is going full tilt after start up. Unnerving. Annoying.
Thanks for your post. I will sleep better.

Then why show the message at all? The Electronic Start Stop does the same thing. It give a message saying it's not available when the AC is going full tilt after start up. Unnerving. Annoying.
Thanks for your post. I will sleep better.

From what i read the batteries have to changed in pairs for technical reasons I wonder if this is the symptom of what u mention here. The big battery wasn't replaced I reckon. Just an idea..

 

[dchemphill1]

I don't think they have to be replaced in pairs. My small battery went out and they load tested the big battery and it was still doing its job.

 

[DaltonGang]

My voltage is starting to go down too. i had the tiny joke of a battery replaced, 1 1/2 years ago, but the main battery has still been going strong. My voltage has always been around 14.3. Over the past couple of weeks it has been fluctuating between 13.8-14.0. Is something bad about to happen?? Oh, ESS stopped working about 3 months ago. "System/Battery Charging" is the excuse, or something like that.

 

[Stuckinthesand]

Then why show the message at all? The Electronic Start Stop does the same thing. It give a message saying it's not available when the AC is going full tilt after start up. Unnerving. Annoying.
Thanks for your post. I will sleep better.

Start/stop will never work when HVAC is on full blast. It is designed this way.

 

[Stuckinthesand]

If anyone is interested you can bypass the aux battery. You must still deactivate start/stop by manually pressing the button, tazer or a start stop eliminator even with it bypassed. If you don't deactivate it you would be using the main for the ess event. I personally run the start/stop eliminator and have my aux bypassed with no issues or lights on the dash. If you are interested in bypassing the aux see this thread.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/jumperless-aux-battery-bypass.95945/

 

[laroo]

My voltage is starting to go down too. i had the tiny joke of a battery replaced, 1 1/2 years ago, but the main battery has still been going strong. My voltage has always been around 14.3. Over the past couple of weeks it has been fluctuating between 13.8-14.0. Is something bad about to happen?? Oh, ESS stopped working about 3 months ago. "System/Battery Charging" is the excuse, or something like that.

One or both of your batteries needs to be replaced, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was the small one again after 1.5 years. But I would have both checked, especially if you're still on the original main battery. I drove around with those messages for a few months, eventually I come out to a Jeep that wouldn't start.

 

[Roky]

When you see messages on the dash, it’s usually a sign your aux battery is on the way out… I eliminated my aux battery, as I’ve never used ESS for almost 4 years now using tazer…… replaced with yellow top, been working flawlessly going on 8 months now…..

 

[MrMischief]

One or both of your batteries needs to be replaced, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was the small one again after 1.5 years. But I would have both checked, especially if you're still on the original main battery. I drove around with those messages for a few months, eventually I come out to a Jeep that wouldn't start.

It's not necessarily accurate to say that a battery needs to be replaced just with what Daltongang had stated in this thread. Maybe you have more information than I do, but without knowing how the Jeep is driven the "battery charging" message may be accurate without any need for concern. I bought my Jeep in 2019, 2020 I was rarely driving it and had this perpetual "battery charging" message so on the advice of this forum I replaced the small battery. A few weeks later the same message reappeared. It stayed that way through all of 2021, and most of 2022. Now that I am in a position where I am driving the Jeep more often again ,and covering longer distances, the ESS is back to functioning as normal. If Daltongang is doing primarily small trips then lets the Jeep sit for a few days before moving it a short distance this "battery charging" message may be no cause for concern.

 

[Rhinebeck01]

It's not necessarily accurate to say that a battery needs to be replaced just with what Daltongang had stated in this thread. Maybe you have more information than I do, but without knowing how the Jeep is driven the "battery charging" message may be accurate without any need for concern. I bought my Jeep in 2019, 2020 I was rarely driving it and had this perpetual "battery charging" message so on the advice of this forum I replaced the small battery. A few weeks later the same message reappeared. It stayed that way through all of 2021, and most of 2022. Now that I am in a position where I am driving the Jeep more often again ,and covering longer distances, the ESS is back to functioning as normal. If Daltongang is doing primarily small trips then lets the Jeep sit for a few days before moving it a short distance this "battery charging" message may be no cause for concern.

In @laroo 'sdefense, he did very clearly say in regard to the batteries... " I would have both checked " That was spot on advice.

Reality is without separation of the 2 batteries and load testing of each battery, no one knows if either one or both batteries are healthy.

Knowing / hearing the history in regard to his JL, ....IF I were @DaltonGang , I would ASAP, install 2 new quality aftermarket batteries. DO go with an H7 Main. No sense fooling with / spending time and $ on load testing. His 2018 Main battery is over due for replacing and who knows what is going on with the replacement Aux battery that was installed a ways back and undoubtedly is iffy.

An even better approach for @DaltonGang in regards to his 2018 JL, is to bypass (bypass takes 5 min. to do) or delete the Aux battery and to buy and install a quality, aftermarket H7 AGM Main battery, ASAP.. (before a no start situation). then... he will see gone.... all the ESS warning's and associated crapola, headaches/worries.

 

[laroo]

It's not necessarily accurate to say that a battery needs to be replaced just with what Daltongang had stated in this thread. Maybe you have more information than I do, but without knowing how the Jeep is driven the "battery charging" message may be accurate without any need for concern. I bought my Jeep in 2019, 2020 I was rarely driving it and had this perpetual "battery charging" message so on the advice of this forum I replaced the small battery. A few weeks later the same message reappeared. It stayed that way through all of 2021, and most of 2022. Now that I am in a position where I am driving the Jeep more often again ,and covering longer distances, the ESS is back to functioning as normal. If Daltongang is doing primarily small trips then lets the Jeep sit for a few days before moving it a short distance this "battery charging" message may be no cause for concern.

You are correct, my statement was too absolute and may not be completely accurate. Like @Rhinebeck01 said, first step is to have both batteries checked. My guess is one or both would check bad. But I'm certainly not advocating for batteries to be replaced without first having them checked, unless you just want better batteries than OEM.

 

[Rhinebeck01]

You are correct, my statement was too absolute and may not be completely accurate. Like @Rhinebeck01 said, first step is to have both batteries checked. My guess is one or both would check bad. But I'm certainly not advocating for batteries to be replaced without first having them checked, unless you just want better batteries than OEM.

@laroo

OP, is talking a 2018 Main battery and a say 2019 Aux battery he has.

For a dealer / a Tech to separate out the two batteries and properly load test, requires the time to separate, time to fully charge each battery and the time to Load Test each battery.

IF not under warranty a Jeep dealership will charge about 4 hrs. (not a typo) to do the mentioned deed. Shop time is $125+ an hour...

With that said on a pair of old batteries that have reached or at the end of their service life it is wiser/more prudent to just replace them... $ foolish / time wise foolish to test another words.

 

[DaltonGang]

It's not necessarily accurate to say that a battery needs to be replaced just with what Daltongang had stated in this thread. Maybe you have more information than I do, but without knowing how the Jeep is driven the "battery charging" message may be accurate without any need for concern. I bought my Jeep in 2019, 2020 I was rarely driving it and had this perpetual "battery charging" message so on the advice of this forum I replaced the small battery. A few weeks later the same message reappeared. It stayed that way through all of 2021, and most of 2022. Now that I am in a position where I am driving the Jeep more often again ,and covering longer distances, the ESS is back to functioning as normal. If Daltongang is doing primarily small trips then lets the Jeep sit for a few days before moving it a short distance this "battery charging" message may be no cause for concern.

Most of my driving is under 2 miles, to and from work, grocery store, kid's school. Sometimes, on long drives, the ESS starts working again. I usually hit the ESS Off button when I get in, by habit.

In @laroo 'sdefense, he did very clearly say in regard to the batteries... " I would have both checked " That was spot on advice.

Reality is without separation of the 2 batteries and load testing of each battery, no one knows if either one or both batteries are healthy.

Knowing / hearing the history in regard to his JL, ....IF I were @DaltonGang , I would ASAP, install 2 new quality aftermarket batteries. DO go with an H7 Main. No sense fooling with / spending time and $ on load testing. His 2018 Main battery is over due for replacing and who knows what is going on with the replacement Aux battery that was installed a ways back and undoubtedly is iffy.

An even better approach for @DaltonGang in regards to his 2018 JL, is to bypass (bypass takes 5 min. to do) or delete the Aux battery and to buy and install a quality, aftermarket H7 AGM Main battery, ASAP.. (before a no start situation). then... he will see gone.... all the ESS warning's and associated crapola, headaches/worries.

I know it is about time, and I have been looking at H7 batteries, but is getting the AGM style really necessary?
Do you have a link to delete the Aux battery in under 5 min? I do hate that little thing.

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