Dead Battery after sitting for 1 day

[redracer]

I came out this morning to a Jeep that won't start!

I drove it on Saturday. Sunday it stayed parked with the cover on it. Then this morning I took the cover off, sat down to a normal looking display, pushed in the clutch, pressed and held the start button, and got a single "CLICK". that's it.

I got out the trusty Fluke meter and it read 8.4 volts on both the main battery and the N1 stud for the ESS battery. I hooked a 8 amp charger to the main battery and the voltage climbed up to 11v on both batteries (with the ESS battery lagging behind by .2v, i'm assuming that it's behind a charging diode). Even then, the jeep could not turn over. Only when i broke out the jumper cables and jumped it to my truck did it turn over and start up. On my 20 mile commute it ran normal and the dash showed 14v through the whole drive. I did a test re-start after parking at work and it seemed to start up normally. I parked where I have power so I will put a charger on it for the day.

I have been driving my jeep constantly since I received it in March with no major issues. Last month I checked the fuses and relays and found them loose so I made sure all of them where fully seated. I have no idea why the batteries would of died.

Anyone else run into a dead battery for no reason?

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[Spank]

I have no idea why the batteries would of died. Anyone else run into a dead battery for no reason?

Barring any potential parasitic draw, it could just be a shit battery. Chrysler's OEM batteries and specifically ones they put in the Wrangler have been awful since always. I've replaced OEM batteries in JKs within a year or two and I expect nothing less from the JL.

There have been folks who've reported their Jeep's instrument cluster and certain interior components not turning off even when the ignition is OFF and the keyfob is nowhere near the vehicle. It's entirely possible your Jeep's computer was up all night contemplating destroying all humans and as it continued to calculate more and more ways to facilitate the eradication of our species in the most horrific way, it drained the battery.

But hey! Let's hope not!

 

[swozey]

I've left my driver door open for an entire weekend twice now and not had a problem. I do have the Aux addon which has the beefier alt and extra battery, though.

Don't ask why my driver door is always open.. I'm not used to having a topless car that I grab stuff out of the back seat from.

 

[Rusty Teeth]

I thought I may have left a dome light on??

Also there is a recall on shifter rod length. It may say its in park when its not!

Also with some experimentation, I was able to turn off the engine. But it remained in the accessory position.
After returning (Towed) dealer with a no start condition few times.
Any of these conditions could have caused the no start condition.
Fortunately the dealer had a prior jl with the ESS relay fail.

Seems this cured it

I had been getting 12.7 on N1 terminal and 4.6 on N2.
After getting the ESS relay replaced and good trickle charge on both N1 and N2
Now getting 13.1 on N1 and 12.88 on N2

 

[Spank]

Leaving doors open doesn't matter. Eventually, the Jeep will kill all dome lights and the dash if the door isn't closed after a minute or so.

 

[redracer]

I also don't think that this was a door open or light left on issue. I was the last to drive it on Saturday, alone, and during the day so no lights where turned on. Also, I went out at night to put my Mopar cover on, so I would of seen anything out of the ordinary.

Perhaps something didn't shut down properly and drained the batteries, I don't know. It is funny that after this I noticed the TSB for the radio is available and people have noticed that it can lock up and stay powered on when it shouldn't.

In any case, I have made an appointment to bring it in on Monday morning to have the radio updated, batteries checked, and I'll have them check for any more available updates.

 

[JeepCares]

I came out this morning to a Jeep that won't start!

I drove it on Saturday. Sunday it stayed parked with the cover on it. Then this morning I took the cover off, sat down to a normal looking display, pushed in the clutch, pressed and held the start button, and got a single "CLICK". that's it.
I got out the trusty Fluke meter and it read 8.4 volts on both the main battery and the N1 stud for the ESS battery. I hooked a 8 amp charger to the main battery and the voltage climbed up to 11v on both batteries (with the ESS battery lagging behind by .2v, i'm assuming that it's behind a charging diode). Even then, the jeep could not turn over. Only when i broke out the jumper cables and jumped it to my truck did it turn over and start up. On my 20 mile commute it ran normal and the dash showed 14v through the whole drive. I did a test re-start after parking at work and it seemed to start up normally. I parked where I have power so I will put a charger on it for the day.

I have been driving my jeep constantly since I received it in March with no major issues. Last month I checked the fuses and relays and found them loose so I made sure all of them where fully seated. I have no idea why the batteries would of died.

Anyone else run into a dead battery for no reason?

Hi redracer,
As always, if you choose to visit the dealer, please feel free to send our team a private message. We would be more than happy to offer an additional layer of assistance.
Julie
Jeep Social Care Specialist

 

[WranglerMan]

Leaving doors open doesn't matter. Eventually, the Jeep will kill all dome lights and the dash if the door isn't closed after a minute or so.

My dash lights have a mind of there own, the main display in particular, it normally goes out within a min or so and has gone longer like 3-4 mins and once and only once it was lit for 45 mins, it only happen the one time but still very weird that all the other lights go out pretty quickly it’s just the main display when the speed is displayed that stays lit for random amounts of time, at first I was thinking it was because I was leaving the fob in the Jeep while garage kept so I started bringing it in but still kinda goofy at times.

My voltages lately have been running high 13’s but as much as it swings it’s hard to guess where it’s supposed to be and from my understanding the alternator only charges when necessary, I would be curious if what is displayed on the dash for voltage is the actual battery voltage or what the alternator is putting out.

 

[redracer]

My dash lights have a mind of there own, the main display in particular, it normally goes out within a min or so and has gone longer like 3-4 mins and once and only once it was lit for 45 mins, it only happen the one time but still very weird that all the other lights go out pretty quickly it’s just the main display when the speed is displayed that stays lit for random amounts of time, at first I was thinking it was because I was leaving the fob in the Jeep while garage kept so I started bringing it in but still kinda goofy at times.

My voltages lately have been running high 13’s but as much as it swings it’s hard to guess where it’s supposed to be and from my understanding the alternator only charges when necessary, I would be curious if what is displayed on the dash for voltage is the actual battery voltage or what the alternator is putting out.

So, for voltages, I have a ham radio installed that can display current battery voltage. I've been watching and compairing to the dash display and they are a dead on match. So, believe what the dash is telling you.

As for your charging voltage, the higher the voltage that you see, the worse your battery charge state is. For example, I was seeing 14v once I jump started my jeep after it was dead. But, after leaving it on a charger all day long, for my trip home yesterday and then my trip into work today I was seeing 12.6v at all times.

I would suggest that you put a charger on your battery.

 

[WranglerMan]

So, for voltages, I have a ham radio installed that can display current battery voltage. I've been watching and compairing to the dash display and they are a dead on match. So, believe what the dash is telling you.

As for your charging voltage, the higher the voltage that you see, the worse your battery charge state is. For example, I was seeing 14v once I jump started my jeep after it was dead. But, after leaving it on a charger all day long, for my trip home yesterday and then my trip into work today I was seeing 12.6v at all times.

I would suggest that you put a charger on your battery.

It had been running 12.7-12.9 running down the road and would increase on slowing down but then I just checked it and it’s running 13.5-13.7 running down the road and will increase on slow downs, have not had any issues as far a starting and no error messages, I don’t have charger but do have an appointment for for the cruise control recall so will ask them to check the batteries then

 

[Rangerdeb]

I came out this morning to a Jeep that won't start!

I drove it on Saturday. Sunday it stayed parked with the cover on it. Then this morning I took the cover off, sat down to a normal looking display, pushed in the clutch, pressed and held the start button, and got a single "CLICK". that's it.

I got out the trusty Fluke meter and it read 8.4 volts on both the main battery and the N1 stud for the ESS battery. I hooked a 8 amp charger to the main battery and the voltage climbed up to 11v on both batteries (with the ESS battery lagging behind by .2v, i'm assuming that it's behind a charging diode). Even then, the jeep could not turn over. Only when i broke out the jumper cables and jumped it to my truck did it turn over and start up. On my 20 mile commute it ran normal and the dash showed 14v through the whole drive. I did a test re-start after parking at work and it seemed to start up normally. I parked where I have power so I will put a charger on it for the day.

I have been driving my jeep constantly since I received it in March with no major issues. Last month I checked the fuses and relays and found them loose so I made sure all of them where fully seated. I have no idea why the batteries would of died.

Anyone else run into a dead battery for no reason?

My 3 month old JL was in garage. Went dead totally would not charge. Roadside service towed it to dealer, took them 2 days to determine the battery was bad. Not giving me a warm fuzzy feeling!

 

[Sorbs]

Bad battery. It happens. Warranty gets you a new one. I know a ton of people on this forum wants to blame Jeep but FYI...FCA doesn’t make the battery.

 

[Tylerjcloud92]

Mine did the same hopefully it’s just the battery, my idle would surge with the a/c on a couple weeks before it finally died after sitting for a week or so

 

[Hiflyersf]

This just happened to me. 2018 Jeep Rubicon, 9,025 miles. It was delievered to me on 2/9/19 and I drove it everyday even to work which is about 40 miles each way with no problems. I took it to my nearby Jeep dealership to have it checked out on 2/16/19 and they found no issues. I didnt drive it on 2/17/19. I got into my Jeep on 2/18/19 and all heck broke loose, lights on the dash was flickering and after a few minutes everything went black . Went to my 2013 civic that I didnt drive for over a week and started right up in 20deg cold smh
I never felt compelled in my 30yrs + of driving to sign up for AAA. Which I did last night. Im planning to call AAA, get it jumped and bring it back to the dealership to get it checked out again. I really like my Jeep. I'm hoping this issue will be resolved and I can drive it again.

 

[Rhinebeck01]

@Hiflyersf

My guess is your JL was handled over to you by the dealership and it's two (yes it has 2 batteries) were severely depleted when you left the dealership the day you purchased it. JL's, ship from the factory in "Ship Mode" that does reduce 12v power loss while the JL is enroute to the dealer but this does not always get the deed done so to speak

What you saw... "and all heck broke loose, lights on the dash was flickering and after a few minutes everything went black" are a symptom of battery(s) depletion. Once the batteries are recharged, the JL will be aok..

Of course, you may have a bad battery(s) , relay, fuse array that the dealer can easily replace but again, there is a good chance that the batteries are aok and just got depleted.

.

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