Battery died because I thought vehicle was off but it was ESS

[rolly]

My battery is completely dead and the vehicle is stuck in Drive. It was sitting for about a week so I can't say for sure what happened. Only thing I can think of is that I "parked", pulled the parking brake but did not put gear in park. The vehicle shut off and since I was distracted, I thought it was off but was only in ESS mode.

Now I can't jump start the vehicle and it's stuck in drive. I tried charging the battery with another vehicle for 15 minutes but nothing.

Any ideas of what I can do to get this thing charged and started?

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[JeepU4IA]

If your battery is dead it would take a lot longer than 15 minutes to come back to life. Your best bet is to charge the battery with a high-amp charger (like 15 amps or more) all day or overnight. Harbor Freight has them if there's one close to you.

If you had gone into ESS mode, the engine would have restarted when you opened the door.

https://www.harborfreight.com/10250...rt-60581.html?_br_psugg_q=battery+charger+car

 

[HeavyUser]

If you had gone into ESS mode, the engine would have restarted when you opened the door.

 

[mnjeeper]

Sounds like autopark. Does ESS kick in at the same time? I haven't seen that.

 

[jeepoch]

@rolly,

Nope not ESS. With the gear selector not in park, my bet is that the body controller treated this situation exactly as if you left the start button in accessory mode. Your radio or some other electronic gadget likely then depleted the battery. Without it being placed into Park, maybe even the Engine or Trans Controller modules themselves never dropped into 'sleep' mode and that alone was enough to drain the batteries.

Certainly not ESS unless you were sitting there the whole time with your foot on the brake.

I too have once set the parking brake and left the transmission in neutral when I turned off the ignition. However, when I opened the door a chime warning occurred.

With the engine off, it would not go into Park. Fortunately, my battery was OK to restart and then Park. That was my teaching moment that this Jeep (demands) it be placed into Park before you leave it.

Did you not get the chime warning?

Jay

 

[rolly]

Thanks to everyone for the help. I think I figured it out. I think I shut off the motor (didn't leave in ESS mode) but just left it in drive instead of park. Some other accessory or dome light was on. When I went back to the jeep a week later the battery was just drained beyond my ability to recharge with my jumper vehicle.

I had roadside assistance come and give me a jump (their battery / rpms deliver a lot more power to my dead battery). Within 5 minutes of charging I had power to accessories and was able to shift back into park. Then another 10 minutes of charging and I was able to fire it up.

Now I just need to go buy a battery charger to charge it up instead of relying on my alternator. Will putting a charging pack on the main battery for a few hours charge both the main and accessory batteries?

 

[mwilk012]

Have your batteries tested. It’s not good for them to get that low.

 

[DavidArmen]

Vehicle lead acid batteries are not deep cycle at all. One (or a couple) of full drains and the battery is completely dead and will no longer hold a good charge.

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