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3.6L ESS Dual Battery Consolidated Information

Jeeperob

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this is not the 48v battery right? Are there 2 12v batteries in an ess system?
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timn1984

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Well it has happened again. Both batteries needed to be replaced again (under warranty). First at 12 months and now at 21 months 20,000 miles.
I think that bright Mojito green color is draining your batteries, you might get a color change for better battery operation.....:angry:
 

timn1984

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I've notice my charging voltage sitting around 14.6 volts most of the time lately on my 2019 JL Sahara with 11/18 build date. if I drive all day it'll drop down to maybe 13.7ish but not lower. and the next day, it's right back at 14.6. last summer, the charging voltage would sit at 12.6ish volts after 4 or 5 hours of driving, so I'm guessing the change in behavior is reflective of battery degradation.

being a proactive kind of guy, I purchased new main and auxillary batteries to install. the main battery was easy to remove, and I was careful to tape off the auxillary battery leads while working to avoid shorting anything out. then I tried to get the PDC out so I could dig down and replace the auxillary battery. clearly I didn't do my homework before hand because 2 hours later I gave up. I finally found the video below with directions.

I am an engineer, and all I can say is the FCA engineer(s) who approved the design for auxillary battery location should be fired.

auxillary battery removal starting at 3:29:
That was awesome. Now to find someone who will install it, I'm not going to attempt that. But its a great idea.
 

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SPRINKLES

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Still reading this thread, so please forgive me if I'm speaking on something that's already been discussed... but I wish more companies like Genesis would come out w/ a way of ditching the ESS battery altogether. Genesis's setup appears to work fine, but it looks like a bird's nest that could easily be prone to vulnerabilities (w/ the loose wires exposed on top). Just a sloppy design for it to cost so much. I hate the stock setup and that they made it such a PITA to get to the ESS battery. If there are any other options on something similar to Genesis's setup, please update this thread.

Thanks again for all of the info posted in this thread as it seems quite useful. I appreciate your time.
 
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Jebiruph

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Still reading this thread, so please forgive me if I'm speaking on something that's already been discussed... but I wish more companies like Genesis would come out w/ a way of ditching the ESS battery altogether. Genesis's setup appears to work fine, but it looks like a bird's nest that could easily be prone to vulnerabilities (w/ the loose wires exposed on top). Just a sloppy design for it to cost so much. I hate the stock setup and that they made it such a PITA to get to the ESS battery. If there are any other options on something similar to Genesis's setup, please update this thread.

Thanks again for all of the info posted in this thread as it seems quite useful. I appreciate your time.
https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/removed-aux-battery.48349/#post-1258294
 

JohnWJonesSTL

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I’ve read this forum since I got my JL in 2018 but just signed up for an account. I started having issues on Sunday after a weekend of off-roading. My Jeep wouldn’t start. I jump started it and it was running fine. I planned to just leave it running until I got home. But my start/stop button got pushed and when I came to a stop at a drive through it shut itself off and wouldn’t restart. I hooked jumper cables to it and nothing. Took the battery to OReilly and it was dead so I got a new battery, installed it, and it started right up. After a minute or two the engine started stuttering, all the electronics started acting crazy, windshield wipers going by themselves, everything everyone has said happens. Didn’t have time to mess with it and luckily my brother had trailered his Jeep down so we took his off the trailer and winched mine onto the trailer and went home.

Yesterday I pulled out the aux battery, tested it, and it was fine. I charged it up and put it back in the Jeep. Again, the Jeep started just fine then after a minute or so it started stuttering, electronics went crazy and the ‘Stop Safely Vehicle Will Shut Off Soon’ warning came on. So I disconnected the negative battery cables (the only way I could get the Jeep to turn off), then hooked my battery charger up to the Aux battery. When that charged up I did it again only this time as soon as I started it I got out and put my multimeter On the battery. I swapped the positive between the N1 and N2 posts. My large battery was holding fine but I could watch on my multimeter as my Aux battery quickly drained until the whole process of the car stuttering and electronics going crazy happened again.

Next I made a jumper wire between N1 and N2 like @Jebiruph did. I made it using a 30amp fuse just like he did and disconnected the negative battery cable and taped it up. It started just fine, I let it run for a while and it continued to run. However, any time I put it into gear it would go for a few feet then blow that fuse.

So even though I can’t drive with it yet I know it starts and continues to run for a while with the jumper wire and only has issues when that aux battery drains meaning something is keeping that battery from getting charged by the alternator. I just got the set of high amp fuses and am about to install that. If that doesn’t work any other ideas?

I’m over 60k miles so I have no warranty. I didn’t buy the extended warranty because on my last 3 new vehicles I didn’t need it. Well on this one I definitely could have used it because my alternator went out last year and that wasn’t cheap. Luckily for that one FCA picked up half of the bill since I had another FCA vehicle and was a loyal customer.
 

JohnWJonesSTL

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I’ve read this forum since I got my JL in 2018 but just signed up for an account. I started having issues on Sunday after a weekend of off-roading. My Jeep wouldn’t start. I jump started it and it was running fine. I planned to just leave it running until I got home. But my start/stop button got pushed and when I came to a stop at a drive through it shut itself off and wouldn’t restart. I hooked jumper cables to it and nothing. Took the battery to OReilly and it was dead so I got a new battery, installed it, and it started right up. After a minute or two the engine started stuttering, all the electronics started acting crazy, windshield wipers going by themselves, everything everyone has said happens. Didn’t have time to mess with it and luckily my brother had trailered his Jeep down so we took his off the trailer and winched mine onto the trailer and went home.

Yesterday I pulled out the aux battery, tested it, and it was fine. I charged it up and put it back in the Jeep. Again, the Jeep started just fine then after a minute or so it started stuttering, electronics went crazy and the ‘Stop Safely Vehicle Will Shut Off Soon’ warning came on. So I disconnected the negative battery cables (the only way I could get the Jeep to turn off), then hooked my battery charger up to the Aux battery. When that charged up I did it again only this time as soon as I started it I got out and put my multimeter On the battery. I swapped the positive between the N1 and N2 posts. My large battery was holding fine but I could watch on my multimeter as my Aux battery quickly drained until the whole process of the car stuttering and electronics going crazy happened again.

Next I made a jumper wire between N1 and N2 like @Jebiruph did. I made it using a 30amp fuse just like he did and disconnected the negative battery cable and taped it up. It started just fine, I let it run for a while and it continued to run. However, any time I put it into gear it would go for a few feet then blow that fuse.

So even though I can’t drive with it yet I know it starts and continues to run for a while with the jumper wire and only has issues when that aux battery drains meaning something is keeping that battery from getting charged by the alternator. I just got the set of high amp fuses and am about to install that. If that doesn’t work any other ideas?

I’m over 60k miles so I have no warranty. I didn’t buy the extended warranty because on my last 3 new vehicles I didn’t need it. Well on this one I definitely could have used it because my alternator went out last year and that wasn’t cheap. Luckily for that one FCA picked up half of the bill since I had another FCA vehicle and was a loyal customer.
New fuse Block installed and all is well. This forum saved me a ton of money. Going to carry my jumper with me with 40amp fuses in case this happens when I’m on a trail!
 
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Jebiruph

Jebiruph

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New fuse Block installed and all is well. This forum saved me a ton of money. Going to carry my jumper with me with 40amp fuses in case this happens when I’m on a trail!
There was not a lot of calculation involved with choosing the 30 amp fuse, I tried it and it worked on my plain sport. Someone else posted that theirs was blowing the 30 amp and they had use a 40. Glad you got it going.
 

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Vinman

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I didn’t read this entire thread but looking at the diagrams on the first page, couldn’t one just jumper N1, N2 and N3 together and get rid of the smaller battery altogether?
Run everything off the main battery like the older Jeeps?
 

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Still reading this thread, so please forgive me if I'm speaking on something that's already been discussed... but I wish more companies like Genesis would come out w/ a way of ditching the ESS battery altogether. Genesis's setup appears to work fine, but it looks like a bird's nest that could easily be prone to vulnerabilities (w/ the loose wires exposed on top). Just a sloppy design for it to cost so much. I hate the stock setup and that they made it such a PITA to get to the ESS battery. If there are any other options on something similar to Genesis's setup, please update this thread.

Thanks again for all of the info posted in this thread as it seems quite useful. I appreciate your time.
The genesis system is hardly a bird's nest. There are no "loose wires exposed on top". Where you get your info?
 

WranglerMan

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@SPRINKLES its really not a “birds nest” yes there are wires that run to each of the four terminals and then there are the smaller diameter wires that come out of the blue smart isolator connector and terminate at the solenoid but it’s not like your climbing around under the hood stepping on stuff but if one was concerned they could get wire loom of various sizes to slip over the wires.

The high cost of the Genesis is only high once you factor in that half the cost is the batteries but for me running aux accessories like a winch, lights and air compressor coming off the full size aux is a big benefit as it does not tax the main crank battery and if you don’t plan on running any items like this you can run a jumper at N1 to N2 and disconnect the ESS negative that is connected to the main and replace that nut with a wing nut and be done, with the fused jumper and ESS negative disconnect you can just run off the main battery and then just actively monitor the voltage on the ESS battery but I personally would not connect a lot of stuff to the main as it’s undersized for heavy aux demand And not run the ESS system and get something like a tazer, smart stop/start or Jscan to turn it off

The total cost for a jumper and wing nut would be less than $20 and as the complexity goes up so does the cost.

If the main concern is the location of the ESS battery you could invest in the the Genesis battery tray and relocate the ESS battery next to the main battery but I’m honestly not sure that they would securely reside in the new battery tray.
 
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Jebiruph

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