12v battery? Or something else?

[2022JL]

I have a 2022 Sahara 4xe with 44k miles. Original 12v battery. It's been problem free but today after parking it for about 2 hours, it would not start. When starting, the dash lit up with a check engine light, the charging cord symbol in red, and service charging system flashed. I assumed it was a bad 12v battery. I jump started it and it started fine. Drove it straight to the auto parts store and had the 12v battery tested along with the charging system. Everything tested out fine, and it's been problem free the last 3 times I went to drive it. Is it likely a bad 12v battery and I should change it out even though it tested out fine? Or is this hinting at something bigger with the hybrid system or something?

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[dank8307]

auto parts store

Your run-of-the-mill auto parts stores like Autozone, Advance Auto, O'Reilly's, etc. will only test the battery for surface voltage. They won't test for the actual state of health (SoH) or even perform a proper load test.

 

[2022JL]

Your run-of-the-mill auto parts stores like Autozone, Advance Auto, O'Reilly's, etc. will only test the battery for surface voltage. They won't test for the actual state of health (SoH) or even perform a proper load test.

I should have noted when I got home I ran it through Jscan and everything appeared normal. It had a bunch of low voltage codes but I cleared them and they haven't come back.

 

[Reinen]

It's a 4 year old battery. It will never "check out fine". It may be "sort-of good enough", but not "fine".

Lead-Acid batteries don't go from Good to Bad like a light switch. From Day 1 they get progressively worse until they reach an arbitrary point where they are considered bad. Just from age alone you are approaching that point where the battery can give you problems in particular situations.

You can get a battery charger with a Repair function to try to squeak a little more life out of that battery, but that's all you'll be doing. Squeezing out a little more life, which is mostly done.

The good news is that almost any aftermarket battery you buy will be better than an OEM battery. They are bottom of the barrel.

 

[BigRedRidinHood]

Buy the best battery you can and never worry about being stranded in a combat zone ever again. Cheapest insurance you can buy.

 

[alphawolff]

our expensive ass official oem battery tester will pass bad batteries all day long. if you ever suspect a battery issue just replace it

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