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Constant dead battery issues with my 21 JLU Diesel

MoabRat

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Started with an occasional dead battery in the morning. I have taken to hooking it up to my NOCO genius 10 every night. If I forget there's a 50/50 chance it will be completely dead by morning. Worst part is I've taken it in to get it fixed under warranty several times and told they can't replace the batteries because they test fine.
First the dealer said to bring it in if it happened again, did that but it was too charged by the time I jumped it and drove it in. It passes all their tests so they won't fix it. They said to bring it in dead. Seriously. Next time it happened I called and had them send a flatbed. Flatbed guy jumped it, put it on the truck and brought it in. They still insist they can't find an issue. Only issue is that it doesn't work worth a shit. Now it's at the dealer yet again, they still can't find an issue, it passes all their diagnostics, they claim it starts every time they try. I made a big deal about sending it in dead and they still won't replace my batteries. It has 12,500 on it and I don't think this is in any way acceptable.
This trip they say they have reached out to some engineers/mechanics at Jeep "Star" I have no faith they are going to fix it or even try new batteries. WTF this is my 6th Wranger and 7th Jeep. It's looking like that will be the end of the road for my 35 year relationship with Jeep and this dealership
Before I go postal and dump it, someone please talk me down. I can't believe this is even a thing. If I wanted shitty I would have started with a Land Rover. Here is a pic to make me feel better since she looks so bitchin'. I can hardly stand the thought of dumping her :(

Jeep Wrangler JL Constant dead battery issues with my 21 JLU Diesel IMG_2999.JPG


edit: we live in northern Utah so it's definitely cold. But she's stored in a nice 55 degree garage
more answers, lineage, YJ, YJ, TJ, TJ, JK and now JL., dang I forgot our Cherokee so add another.
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GtX

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Sounds like a parasitic draw
 
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MoabRat

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That was the first thing I mentioned to them, they claim the tested for that. First dead battery was a night I left the key on the dash when I came in the house. I assumed it was the proximity sensor getting excited about the key but no. Whatever it is I'd be happy to fix it.
 

58Willys

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What are the symptoms of your dead battery. Simple won’t start? Do you have lights? Any chance your fob is dead? Possible electrical interference at your home. Odd it’s dead at your home, but not at dealer.
 
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MoabRat

MoabRat

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What are the symptoms of your dead battery. Simple won’t start? Do you have lights? Any chance your fob is dead? Possible electrical interference at your home. Odd it’s dead at your home, but not at dealer.
It's very odd. Sometimes dead as a doornail. Sometimes kind of a whacky light show of weird blinking interior lights, odd dash flashing etc. First time it happened I did replace my key fob battery. Just did it again a couple weeks ago.
 

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JeepinJason33

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This happened with my wife's 2022 Grand Cherokee L with the 3.6 and start/stop. Her start/stop would not work from the day we bought it. Kept taking it in and they could not figure it out, swapped out all the sensors and would send us home. Within a few days it would not work again. We took it to a different dealer and they said the battery was only at 30%, charged it up and said everything works come and get it. Drove it home, start/stop worked once on the way home and never again. Went back to dealer and told them that I was going to pursue the lemon law as they had it 6 times within the year for over 30 days, which met the qualifications. They tested for draw, more sensors, and then finally decided to change out the battery. That was last week and the battery continues to hold a charge and the start/stop works. This is the longest it has worked since we bought it. Only 10,000 miles on it, but it was obviously a bad battery from the factory.

Moral of the story, it is unfortunate, but you may have to threaten them with the lemon law to get them to replace the battery. I will add that if you have anything else hooked up to the battery to remove the cables and tuck them up temporarily someplace so they don't try to blame that.
 
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aldo98229

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Ugh, there are literally hundreds of posts like this all over the forums. Jeep dealers are either stupid or incompetent.

Just drive to O'Reillys, get two new batteries, swap them yourself and move on.

The alternative is to have the dealer continue stringing you along for weeks and months, until you lose all faith in your Jeep.

Good luck.
 
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MoabRat

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I took it to the dealer because I didn’t want to spend another grand on something that’s clearly under warranty. Not everyone is made of money and I just dropped 12 grand in mods. That’s all. I will certainly suck it up if they are being asshats for long but in the meantime I guess I am just hoping they do the right thing. I have a long relationship with this shop and until new management last couple of years they were awesome.
 
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MoabRat

MoabRat

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I took it to the dealer because I didn’t want to spend another grand on something that’s clearly under warranty. Not everyone is made of money and I just dropped 12 grand in mods. That’s all. I will certainly suck it up if they are being asshats for long but in the meantime I guess I am just hoping they do the right thing. I have a long relationship with this shop and until new management last couple of years they were awesome
I will definitely rethink my my next vehicle if this is how Jeep has become. I buy, mod and enjoy, and repeat every 3-6 years. Next dime can clearly go elsewhere based on this one
 

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mwilk012

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I took it to the dealer because I didn’t want to spend another grand on something that’s clearly under warranty. Not everyone is made of money and I just dropped 12 grand in mods. That’s all. I will certainly suck it up if they are being asshats for long but in the meantime I guess I am just hoping they do the right thing. I have a long relationship with this shop and until new management last couple of years they were awesome
I will definitely rethink my my next vehicle if this is how Jeep has become. I buy, mod and enjoy, and repeat every 3-6 years. Next dime can clearly go elsewhere based on this one
It's a battery.
 

58Willys

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Could be a bad ground/connection. Check battery grounds. Load test batteries. Can’t remember if you have made sure all your fuses are properly seated. Eliminate those first.
 

aldo98229

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I took it to the dealer because I didn’t want to spend another grand on something that’s clearly under warranty. Not everyone is made of money and I just dropped 12 grand in mods. That’s all. I will certainly suck it up if they are being asshats for long but in the meantime I guess I am just hoping they do the right thing. I have a long relationship with this shop and until new management last couple of years they were awesome.
It doesn’t cost $1,000 to swap two batteries. Not even half that amount.

You may have a good relationship with your Jeep dealer, but based on what you are describing, they are displaying the same incompetence as hundreds of other dealers, and having you come multiple times for a well-documented issue that should take a couple hours to diagnose and fix.

Anyway, good luck to you.
 

Pipila

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When I picked up my new jeep battery was dead and needed a couple hour recharge before I could leave. Dealer technician whispered to me that they have random problems with Gel batteries.
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