E torque or not

[garykk]

A neighbor in the campground I’m at had a dead battery in his 2019 Sahara. He said it just went dead, all sorts of codes . He had them cleared at an auto parts store , jumped the battery and it started fine. Next day starter battery dead again. I asked him if it was an e-torque engine. He had no idea . The starter battery has only one ground wire. At first I thought he had an aux. battery but now think he has the e-torque. We are in an area in the NM mountains that has absolutely no auto repair places except for auto parts stores.
If I get a chance today I’ll look a little more closely at his wrangler. I have absolutely no idea what an e-torque engine looks like.

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[Terrymo]

A neighbor in the campground I’m at had a dead battery in his 2019 Sahara. He said it just went dead, all sorts of codes . He had them cleared at an auto parts store , jumped the battery and it started fine. Next day starter battery dead again. I asked him if it was an e-torque engine. He had no idea . The starter battery has only one ground wire. At first I thought he had an aux. battery but now think he has the e-torque. We are in an area in the NM mountains that has absolutely no auto repair places except for auto parts stores.
If I get a chance today I’ll look a little more closely at his wrangler. I have absolutely no idea what an e-torque engine looks like.

You can easily tell if they have the 48 volt etorque battery. It will be here. About the size of a small suitcase. If you don’t see this battery, their Jeep has (or had) a small secondary 12 volt battery.

 

[ColoradoMike]

A neighbor in the campground I’m at had a dead battery in his 2019 Sahara. He said it just went dead, all sorts of codes . He had them cleared at an auto parts store , jumped the battery and it started fine. Next day starter battery dead again. I asked him if it was an e-torque engine. He had no idea . The starter battery has only one ground wire. At first I thought he had an aux. battery but now think he has the e-torque. We are in an area in the NM mountains that has absolutely no auto repair places except for auto parts stores.
If I get a chance today I’ll look a little more closely at his wrangler. I have absolutely no idea what an e-torque engine looks like.

The etorque has an extra cooling system for the etorque system; it looks like an innercooler, and there's like an extra coolant reservoir in the front, driver-side part of the engine.
Also it has a huge extra battery with its own skid plate that you can see under the Jeep, I think passenger side and rear of center.

 

[Wbino]

No alternator as well.

 

[Zandcwhite]

Definitely etorque, if there's parts stores buy a new battery and swap it. Literally could be done with a crescent wrench in 10 minutes. If it's a problem with the charging system, that's beyond field repair anyway. Also the entire etorque is covered by an 8 year 80k mile emissions warranty, the 12v battery isn't. No risk, minimal effort, and likely all it needs. If it's more than that at least the new battery will probably get him to a dealer.

 

[garykk]

Thanks, I’ll check out his wrangler this morning, tell him to change out the starter battery.
he stopped at an Autozone yesterday and they told him the battery was good but have no idea how they tested it.

 

[garykk]

I crawled under the neighbors Jeep, he has the 48 volt battery. I’ll tell him to buy a new starter battery today…thanks for the help.
I now know how to ID an e-torque

 

[morph860]

You can put their VIN number into this link and pull up the build sheet:

https://fcagroup.my.site.com/RAM/s/equipment-listing

It'll have "2.0L I4 DOHC DI TURBO ETORQUE ENGINE" listed if it's an e-torque model.

 

[Pape]

Next time pull the code and see if anything related to the e-torq, if supported by the reader. Also look at the charging voltage while the jeep is running and last parasitic draw.

Out of curiosity did he drain it out with is camping fridge or something ?

 

[garykk]

Next time pull the code and see if anything related to the e-torq, if supported by the reader. Also look at the charging voltage while the jeep is running and last parasitic draw.

Out of curiosity did he drain it out with is camping fridge or something ?

No, he tows it behind a MH. When he got to this campground, starting battery was dead. Odd thing is he has been towing it for years with no trouble.
i told him to change out the starter battery for now and get to a dealer when he gets into Colorado Springs next week.

 

[Gunfighter]

If he hasn't changed the regular original battery ....maybe it's simply the battery.

 

[Tncdrew]

If it was the original 12V battery in a 2019, your friend's been on borrowed time.

 

[longfiredragon]

I understand you have figured it out already. Future reference. You don't have to crawl under the jeep, run the VIN, none of that. Just Google images of that year jeep E Torque.

The E Torque does not have an alternator like a normal car. All you have to do is open the hood and look. The E Torque looks nothing like an alt. It's easily identified.

On the issue, as others have said change the big starter battery.

Also the life of the start battery lasting as long as it did is actually about normal for a E Torque vehicle. The start battery is only used when the ignition is off. It is not used when the engine shuts off in traffic at a stop, or any stop.

If he is letting the engine shut off at each stop (as long as all parameters are met) the the engine is restarted by the E Torque, not the big start battery under the hood.

 

[Zandcwhite]

I understand you have figured it out already. Future reference. You don't have to crawl under the jeep, run the VIN, none of that. Just Google images of that year jeep E Torque.

The E Torque does not have an alternator like a normal car. All you have to do is open the hood and look. The E Torque looks nothing like an alt. It's easily identified.

On the issue, as others have said change the big starter battery.

Also the life of the start battery lasting as long as it did is actually about normal for a E Torque vehicle. The start battery is only used when the ignition is off. It is not used when the engine shuts off in traffic at a stop, or any stop.

If he is letting the engine shut off at each stop (as long as all parameters are met) the the engine is restarted by the E Torque, not the big start battery under the hood.

That's not exactly true, the ess starts are handled by the etorque belt start generator but the entire chassis 12v system is always on when the vehicle is on and run off the 12v battery. I wouldn't call it a start battery, it is the only 12v battery. The ac, engine fans, seat heaters, radio, lights, etc are all run off that battery. It is charged by the 48v system via a DC to DC inverter.

 

[Grooster]

My 2019 Sahara's main battery began to fail at 3 years. Replaced it and lived a happy life. That 48v etorque battery has a separate 8 year, 80K mile warranty. Rare that it causes a problem. Keep in mind that once you replace the main 12v battery it does take a bit of driving to get things like the Aux switches (if you have them) to become active again as the system accepts the new battery. That's been my experience.

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