Battery going bad?

[dmen]

Have a 21 Willys with about 54000 miles on it now. Dealership replaced the main battery at about 34000 as it fully died. Wanted them to also replace the aux but the wouldn't. So I did the aux delete on it and have been good to go until recently.
In the past couple days the start/stop has started turning itself on - we have a smart stop start that was the first thing we installed. and we always keep stop/start turned off. Also had the A-hole light come on a couple times. Signs the battery is failing? It's an OEM battery and I know they are basically garbage. Should I just replace it? Anything decent that's not $400? Thank you

Sponsored

 

[dpike]

Do you use the jeep much ? I found without running the jeep much I'd get strange power issues as well (center cluster switches dead). I replaced the OE battery at around 50k miles because of this and it's doing it on my replacement H7 as well thats about 10k old. When the jeeps gets some good road miles it's not an issue.

 

[roaniecowpony]

Have a 21 Willys with about 54000 miles on it now. Dealership replaced the main battery at about 34000 as it fully died. Wanted them to also replace the aux but the wouldn't. So I did the aux delete on it and have been good to go until recently.
In the past couple days the start/stop has started turning itself on - we have a smart stop start that was the first thing we installed. and we always keep stop/start turned off. Also had the A-hole light come on a couple times. Signs the battery is failing? It's an OEM battery and I know they are basically garbage. Should I just replace it? Anything decent that's not $400? Thank you

I'd use your multimeter to check the voltage and compare it to the charts in this article.
Ultimate Guide to Battery Voltage Chart - Jackery

Then charge it if needed. Drive it and check voltage again in a day or two. Alternatively, charge it fully and take it to an Autozone and have them load test it.

 

[Htfan]

Do you use the jeep much ? I found without running the jeep much I'd get strange power issues as well (center cluster switches dead). I replaced the OE battery at around 50k miles because of this and it's doing it on my replacement H7 as well thats about 10k old. When the jeeps gets some good road miles it's not an issue.

Low daily driving miles is a common cause for short battery life on our JLs. When I'm not driving enough I use a battery tender.

I also upgraded to an H7 size. No problem since and I'm still running stock ESS with 2 batteries.

 

[roaniecowpony]

Low daily driving miles is a common cause for short battery life on our JLs. When I'm not driving enough I use a battery tender.

I also upgraded to an H7 size. No problem since and I'm still running stock ESS with 2 batteries.

I've been using the Duralast Platinum AGM batteries in other vehicles with great results. Last one lasted about 7-8 years.

 

[Htfan]

I've been using the Duralast Platinum AGM batteries in other vehicles with great results. Last one lasted about 7-8 years.

Duralast is a good battery. I ran them for several years in other vehicles. In my JLU I'm currently running an EverStart Platinum H7 MAIN and ACDelco AUX. So far running well for 2+ years.

 

[Htfan]

Here's a good list of compatible batteries compiled by a fellow forum member:

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/main-battery-aux-battery-size.123643/post-2579680

 

[AndySpill]

Have a 21 Willys with about 54000 miles on it now. Dealership replaced the main battery at about 34000 as it fully died. Wanted them to also replace the aux but the wouldn't. So I did the aux delete on it and have been good to go until recently.
In the past couple days the start/stop has started turning itself on - we have a smart stop start that was the first thing we installed. and we always keep stop/start turned off. Also had the A-hole light come on a couple times. Signs the battery is failing? It's an OEM battery and I know they are basically garbage. Should I just replace it? Anything decent that's not $400? Thank you

• When you took the Aux battery out of the electrical schematic of the vehicle how did you effect this process? Did you remove from the negative post of the main battery (and if left inside the vehicle, insulate the loose end of) the cable whose distal end is attached to the negative post of the Aux battery, as well as either pulling Fuse 42 and/or fused jumper nodes N1 and N2 in the PDC (or both steps, although redundant?)
• Why do you suppose that your aftermarket engine start stop stopping device has failed to prevent ESS events?
• The fact that ESS engaged, assuming the vehicle is working properly, is because it thought the Aux battery (which to its "mind," if you followed the first bullet point's steps) is now the main battery, had adequate voltage. Is it possible that you drained your main battery somewhat on some ESS events that aren't really designed to be run off of the one main battery in the dual AGM battery JL?
• The A-hole light you referenced, which I am going to assume is the light in the dash with the letter "A" surrounded by a near circle is--as you likely know--the notification that the vehicle has turned off the ESS system--not to be confused with the methods by which this happens with aftermarket tech like that you own, which illuminate the user ESS off button in the dash. A dual AGM battery JL will test the Aux battery prior to engine crank--which in your case it likely thinks is the main battery--and if its voltage is inadequate, it will illuminate this letter "A" light in response.
• Please consider getting your main battery load tested in addition to subjecting it to a trickle charger, and making sure that ESS is turned off as long as you continue to run with one battery not by the letter "A" light in the dash, but by pressing the ESS off button or having after market tech do it for you. Even though that "A" light gets you to a desired outcome (ESS turned off), it can reflect other problems and doesn't IMHO represent the proper way for you to insure that ESS events don't engage.

 

[58Willys]

Charge and load test your battery. This will tell you if your battery is bad.

 

[dmen]

Do you use the jeep much ? I found without running the jeep much I'd get strange power issues as well (center cluster switches dead). I replaced the OE battery at around 50k miles because of this and it's doing it on my replacement H7 as well thats about 10k old. When the jeeps gets some good road miles it's not an issue.

Yeah, driven daily. Thanks!

 

[dmen]

• When you took the Aux battery out of the electrical schematic of the vehicle how did you effect this process? Did you remove from the negative post of the main battery (and if left inside the vehicle, insulate the loose end of) the cable whose distal end is attached to the negative post of the Aux battery, as well as either pulling Fuse 42 and/or fused jumper nodes N1 and N2 in the PDC (or both steps, although redundant?)
• Why do you suppose that your aftermarket engine start stop stopping device has failed to prevent ESS events?
• The fact that ESS engaged, assuming the vehicle is working properly, is because it thought the Aux battery (which to its "mind," if you followed the first bullet point's steps) is now the main battery, had adequate voltage. Is it possible that you drained your main battery somewhat on some ESS events that aren't really designed to be run off of the one main battery in the dual AGM battery JL?
• The A-hole light you referenced, which I am going to assume is the light in the dash with the letter "A" surrounded by a near circle is--as you likely know--the notification that the vehicle has turned off the ESS system--not to be confused with the methods by which this happens with aftermarket tech like that you own, which illuminate the user ESS off button in the dash. A dual AGM battery JL will test the Aux battery prior to engine crank--which in your case it likely thinks is the main battery--and if its voltage is inadequate, it will illuminate this letter "A" light in response.
• Please consider getting your main battery load tested in addition to subjecting it to a trickle charger, and making sure that ESS is turned off as long as you continue to run with one battery not by the letter "A" light in the dash, but by pressing the ESS off button or having after market tech do it for you. Even though that "A" light gets you to a desired outcome (ESS turned off), it can reflect other problems and doesn't IMHO represent the proper way for you to insure that ESS events don't engage.

Thanks much for all the info! Yes, disconnected neg cable, wrapped it, and pulled fuse 42. That was about a year ago. So - voltage inadequate on the main will show the A light. I will go ahead and get that load test done. Kinda think I should just go ahead and replace it though... OEM and 2 years ish now... Seems that they really don't get much more than that.

 

[dmen]

Low daily driving miles is a common cause for short battery life on our JLs. When I'm not driving enough I use a battery tender.

I also upgraded to an H7 size. No problem since and I'm still running stock ESS with 2 batteries.

Thanks, what is considered low miles? It's my wife's daily driver so it easily gets 20 miles or more every day.

 

[Htfan]

Thanks, what is considered low miles? It's my wife's daily driver so it easily gets 20 miles or more every day.

If it's a daily 20 mile driver, I would hope that would keep the batteries charged. However, the standard smart alternators in our JLs are fairly wimpy. I understand the tow package includes a stronger alternator.

What does the dash voltage display while driving? (while cruising with accelerator engaged.)

Sponsored