Stop/Start Not Ready-Battery Charging

[TimmH]

I have a Tazer and the ESS off at start.

This week I was sitting in a long line of traffic, weather was nice, so I rolled down the windows and turned off the Climate system and turned on ESS.

It said "Unavailable..Battery Charging" It stayed like this for the entire 45 min drive. So out of curiosity I turned ESS on each time I drove to and from work, and the message has never changed and ESS never kicked in.

At this point I am getting concerned my Aux battery may be on limited life. May just shell out for Genesis System so I don't have to deal with this thing anymore.

2018 JL 3.6L
16,700 miles

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[Rubi JLU]

Just got back from the dealer and they replaced the Aux battery.

Worked on the way home but I want to give it a couple of days before I give a good thumbs up.

 

[Birdman]

Get them to replace both Aux and main. Almost all cases including mine both needed to be replaced.

 

[Dkretden]

My ESS doesn’t work right away any more.

story: I hate the damn thing, so I always try to press the button. But, sometimes I forget and when I hit the first stop light, I am reminded...... until recently. Hit the light and it stayed running (‘stop/start not ready”).

solution: go to the dealer and have them “fix it” as well as a loose interior trim piece in the next couple of weeks.

key point: ESS sucks donkey balls. Worst engineering, short of falling bridges, ever and Jeep should be ashamed.

 

[unsavory]

I have a Tazer and the ESS off at start.

This week I was sitting in a long line of traffic, weather was nice, so I rolled down the windows and turned off the Climate system and turned on ESS.

It said "Unavailable..Battery Charging" It stayed like this for the entire 45 min drive. So out of curiosity I turned ESS on each time I drove to and from work, and the message has never changed and ESS never kicked in.

At this point I am getting concerned my Aux battery may be on limited life. May just shell out for Genesis System so I don't have to deal with this thing anymore.

2018 JL 3.6L
16,700 miles

Just be aware that if you go this route, your ESS system will not work more than 6 times each drive. This was a surprise to many of us that have gone with the Genesis system: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...d-ess-6-cycle-limit-anyone-with-issues.45582/

There are a lot of benefits to the Genesis system, such as ability to run accessories off your accessory battery, and having a backup battery in case the primary cranking battery fails. So it will definitely help prevent you from getting stranded in the middle of nowhere as long as you keep your Odyssey batteries properly maintained via a good charger once in a while.

But if fixing ESS is your primary goal, then the Genesis system is not going to be of help there without coming up with a very creative DIY wiring solution.

 

[Dkretden]

Just be aware that if you go this route, your ESS system will not work more than 6 times each drive. This was a surprise to many of us that have gone with the Genesis system: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...d-ess-6-cycle-limit-anyone-with-issues.45582/

There are a lot of benefits to the Genesis system, such as ability to run accessories off your accessory battery, and having a backup battery in case the primary cranking battery fails. So it will definitely help prevent you from getting stranded in the middle of nowhere as long as you keep your Odyssey batteries properly maintained via a good charger once in a while.

But if fixing ESS is your primary goal, then the Genesis system is not going to be of help there without coming up with a very creative DIY wiring solution.

Yep. Too bad too. I would like to punt the ESS motorcycle battery to the curb and, until I read that thread a few weeks ago, I figured that I had genesis in my future. Now, maybe not....... ESS sucks and I want to keep it off so, genesis would work. But I am concerned that it is not seamlessly deployed — I assumed that it was 100% inter-operational with OEM standards/functions—- it’s not. That troubles me.

 

[unsavory]

Yep. Too bad too. I would like to punt the ESS motorcycle battery to the curb and, until I read that thread a few weeks ago, I figured that I had genesis in my future. Now, maybe not....... ESS sucks and I want to keep it off so, genesis would work. But I am concerned that it is not seamlessly deployed — I assumed that it was 100% inter-operational with OEM standards/functions—- it’s not. That troubles me.

Well if you would like it to behave like stock, there are ways of wiring it up to do so, as you are probably already aware from that thread. But it will require some additional parts and wiring. I haven't gone through the trouble of doing it myself yet, and don't know if I will. It probably depends on how annoyed I get at not getting more than 6 ESS cycles.

 

[TimmH]

Well if you would like it to behave like stock, there are ways of wiring it up to do so, as you are probably already aware from that thread. But it will require some additional parts and wiring. I haven't gone through the trouble of doing it myself yet, and don't know if I will. It probably depends on how annoyed I get at not getting more than 6 ESS cycles.

I don't really use ESS, except if the weather is nice and I'm in stop and go traffic, and in South Florida, that is not very often (The weather part):P

 

[JeepAustinWeird]

For all of those having issues with ESS not working due to battery charging it’s most likely either one or both batteries going bad...have the dealer service folks do a load test

So I'm new to Jeeps and this forum and have had my JLU for 16 months and looks like I too have been hit by the Start/stop not ready battery charging issue. Mine started at about 19.5K miles and at first was my Aux switches unavailable battery charging message for about 3 days, which for some reason went away..at that time I noticed my ESS didn't work and got the message on my dash about battery charging with it...

I took my Jeep in to dealer today and was told that both of my batteries were bad and that the dealer replaced both batteries. When I got about 3-4 miles down the road after picking it up, I still had the same message and dealer also told me it will take 400-500 miles to reset. That seems extremely bizarre that it takes that many miles for something to “reset”. It sounds like from some others post that the problem was fixed immediately when batteries were replaced.

If both my main battery and auxiliary battery have truly been replaced, would all my presets as far as radio stations, and Nav screen background and other settings need to be reprogrammed? Would I need to repair my phone with the vehicle? It seems like removing both batteries would have reset all that, but in my case everything was programmed as when I brought in. This in addition to the persistent message about Start/stop not available battery charging makes me question if they really did replace the batteries.

Why do I need to drive almost 500 miles for an electrical system component to reset? If I have new batteries they shouldn’t need charging from a lengthy drive. I will try the trickle charge thing that others have suggested to try to speed up or shorten the reset period, but again, why would I need to charge brand new batteries?

WranglerMan, I have a question about your explanation with the voltage readings on the dash display. It seems like for as many times over the past year as I can remember looking at the reading that was displayed on the dash, it has always been around 14.2-14.4V. If I am understanding your explanation that with readings that high, it is an indication of my battery going bad, whereas readings in the 12-13V range (again with the Jeep running) is more indicative of the system operating the way it should. I hope I read your post correctly. I bring this up and ask because the couple of times I did try a trickle charger overnight it seemed my battery reading displayed on the dash the next morning was a higher reading, like 14.5 or 14.6V, so I thought good, my battery has more charge and the trickle worked (even though it didn't fix the message). Also I noticed today after leaving the dealership with "New" batteries, the display reading on the dash was 14.5V as I was driving down the road. This makes me wonder if I'm just misunderstanding your explanation or if again, the dealer said they replaced both batteries, but didn't. Granted, After picking it up today, I only drove it about 7 miles down the road to work, so maybe some of this stuff I just haven't given the system enough time to equilibrate.

Thank you.

 

[JeepAustinWeird]

So a quick follow up..I'd be darn but this morning after sitting overnight, my Start/stop was working. Now I guess I'll see for how long. I guess I don't have to do the 400-500 mile waiting period.

To piggy back on my question about the battery voltage displayed on the dash....Jeep sat outside overnight at temps in the mid 30's. On startup the display said Battery Voltage was 14.1V. When I was driving at steady speed or when accelerating, the reading pretty much stayed the same at 14.1V, however with slowing the vehicle at traffic stops, I noticed the reading increase to 14.5V - 14.6V, then when stopped it would drop back down to 14.1V. The only time I noticed it drop any lower than that occurred with the start/stop engaging. I noticed one reading breifly at 13.2V but can't remember if that was when engine shutting down or restarting....maybe I'm focusing too much on minutia, but just trying to assess that my battery/alternator is functioning the way it should. I don't want my hopefully new batteries to go bad and have to spend time to go back to the dealer.

I'm hoping that the start/stop not working problem is behind me and I can go back to worry free enjoyment of my Jeep.

 

[WranglerMan]

@JeepAustinWeird I don’t have a definite answer on this whole ESS operation, Jerry @Jebiruph has done extensive research into this and continues to be an excellent resource into this so I can only tell you my experiences and testing

When I first got my JL like others you start to learn about the in and outs of all the features and one thing I noticed was the voltage would ramp up and down as you accelerated and braked and supposedly this is normal well after 7-8 moths of new ownership I to started getting the ESS not ready battery charging message and the EVIC displayed voltage was 14.4-14.7 so took it to the dealer and they supposedly did a load test and found the main battery failed the test and replaced it, as far as I know the aux battery was fine but keep in mind these are the same folks that insist on putting 6 quarts of oil in my Jeep

Anyway after getting it back I to like you still had the ESS not ready message but after a day or so it went away, I believe I sped the process up by putting it on a trickle charge for a day and after that and still a year and a half later I don’t get that message but there are some things that have changed.

I have a Deltran trickle charger and once a month I put it on the main battery +/- terminals and charge for a few days, it usually turns green after 4-6 hours but I just leave it connected.

After that time i have but don’t anymore checked the voltage of the batteries but don’t check the voltages separately and my meter reads 13+ volts which is normal coming off a charger and the EVIC displayed voltage normally shows the same, after approx 24-48 hrs the batteries drop down to the 12.6 range and the EVIC displayed voltage floats up and down as by design, well fast forward about a week and the EVIC displayed voltage starts to creep up and is usually in the mid 13’s and battery voltages are in the 12.5ish range so this tells me that the alternator is sending voltage to the batteries as designed but only what needed as it’s not the old school constant 14+ Volts and the EVIC displayed voltage floats as designed.

Well let’s fast forward another few dats to a week and the voltage now displays usually 14+ but not over 14.4 usually and battery voltages at the battery are in the 12.5-12.6 range and I don’t get any ESS not ready messages and ESS when I test does work as designed and the EVIC displayed now does not ramp up and down.

My normal daily commute back and fourth to work is 60 miles round trip in stop and go city traffic and that same commute is only 14 days a month normally and then I run a few errands here and there and do the same on weekends but normally no long trips to speak of so it sits parked a lot and when I do drive as I said normally no long trips so maybe this contributes to the higher output of the alternator as we all know these newer vehicles all have a parasitic voltage draw and when you start plugging in tazers, smart stop/start modules all of this adds up to a draw on the system.

So in closing of my long explanation I’m honestly not sure if my charging system is operating correctly or not all I can say is I will continue to trickle charge once a month and move on until I have an issue and address it then but currently my voltage at the main battery is 12.55-12.6 and it’s been a month since I have trickle charged and my EVIC displayed voltage runs 14.2-14.4 and ESS works when tested and I get no error messages displayed.

 

[IndustrialAction]

I am 100% sure part of this is tied to the outside temperature. I had my ESS battery replaced a couple of weeks ago and things were working fine, then the temps dropped and we're back to needing to take long drives before it works again. Warm days it works right out of the garage. Cold days require more miles before it gets going again. Maybe the ESS battery isn't properly insulated and is freezing?

 

[JeepAustinWeird]

@JeepAustinWeird I don’t have a definite answer on this whole ESS operation, Jerry @Jebiruph has done extensive research into this and continues to be an excellent resource into this so I can only tell you my experiences and testing...

Thank you WranglerMan for your thorough answer and explanation. I realize these newer Jeeps (and vehicles in general) have all these more advanced/smarter monitoring systems to make things co-mingle and work together, and its interesting to learn all this. I did notice later today, my Voltage readings on my EVIC were more consistently in the mid 13V range on display and did fluctuate as my driving pattern changed and as you describe, occasionally and briefly getting to low 14V range. Even though I don't like the ESS, It has continued to work through day 1, so..so far so good.
I'll continue to watch things sporadically rather than obsessively but feel like after reading your posts (and others here) that things are functioning as they should and that the Jeep technician did what he said and what was the correct fix. Thanks again

 

[JeepAustinWeird]

Thank you WranglerMan for your thorough answer and explanation. I realize these newer Jeeps (and vehicles in general) have all these more advanced/smarter monitoring systems to make things co-mingle and work together, and its interesting to learn all this. I did notice later today, my Voltage readings on my EVIC were more consistently in the mid 13V range on display and did fluctuate as my driving pattern changed and as you describe, occasionally and briefly getting to low 14V range. Even though I don't like the ESS, It has continued to work through day 1, so..so far so good.
I'll continue to watch things sporadically rather than obsessively but feel like after reading your posts (and others here) that things are functioning as they should and that the Jeep technician did what he said and what was the correct fix. Thanks again

 

[Dkretden]

My “stop/start not ready” issues (I.e. ESS won’t stop/start for a few miles after initial start) has turned out to be.......

“we checked everything and everything is fine...... wait until it warms up.....”

um, this is Texas. It hasn’t been below 40 degrees outside........ ok.... gotta “warm up”......

FCA, are you really designing a product that doesn’t “work immediately” in 40-degree weather?

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