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ESS and Battery Charging in the cold

dave12345

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Hello! I am simply wondering if it is normal for the ESS to often not be ready when the weather is colder because the battery is always charging. It's starting to get colder and now, when I start my Jeep and travel for a while, it always starts by displaying "ESS not ready" because the battery is charging. So, is it normal for the battery to get low to a point it needs charging everytime I start my car (and even after I have traveled for a short perdiod) when the temperature is colder (like around/below 0 celcius) ? Or could there be a problem with the battery (like it's not holding its charge properly) ?

Thanks a lot!
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WranglerMan

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Not really normal....you might want to invest in a trickle charger and keep your Jeep topped off on power, if under warranty stop by your local dealer for a load test as it’s possible the ESS battery is bad which is pretty common
 

McGilli

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When I start my Jeep - mine always says (now that it's colder here) that it will not be ready until the engine has warmed up - and sure enough it will not activate until the temp gauge gets to its operating temp position. I assume the battery it uses is powering the heating etc and has limited resources available upon starting the engine.

So mine is definitely affected by the colder temps here now.

Then when temp is reached it will say not ready, charging - and then it's ready within a few minutes at most.

But becasue of the temp thing I'd say it's unavailable to me for the first 4-5 minutes after turning on the Jeep in the morning.

Then if I go get groceries and come back out - it's ready immediately though
 
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dave12345

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When I start my Jeep - mine always says (now that it's colder here) that it will not be ready until the engine has warmed up - and sure enough it will not activate until the temp gauge gets to its operating temp position. I assume the battery it uses is powering the heating etc and has limited resources available upon starting the engine.

So mine is definitely affected by the colder temps here now.

Then when temp is reached it will say not ready, charging - and then it's ready within a few minutes at most.

But becasue of the temp thing I'd say it's unavailable to me for the first 4-5 minutes after turning on the Jeep in the morning.

Then if I go get groceries and come back out - it's ready immediately though
Thank you! I think that is what my Jeep is doing too. Probably normal because of the cold! :P
 

aldo98229

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I haven’t had any ESS issues in cold weather; my Jeep has been in temps as cold as -10C/14F.

There are plenty of posts on this issue on other threads: when you start to have regular “ESS not ready” warnings, apparently it is because you have (a) fuse(s) not seated properly; (b) a bad auxiliary battery, or (c) a bad wiring harness.

Good luck.
 

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Gina

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I bought my jeep last winter and when I test drove it the ESS was not always engaging. The dealer told me that it will not if it is trying to heat the jeep. I had no issues in late winter, spring summer or fall. Now that it’s winter here and very cold, it is not working. I am getting the same message about the battery charging.
 

YellOhJL

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Since the weather turned cold, 32 degrees, my ESS is always "not Ready Charging", even after my daily 40 minute highway drive. It was "Ready" only twice during the past 2 weeks. I drive my Jeep every day. I am assuming my AUX battery is going bad.
 

Tellurian

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Here’s everything that prohibits ESS from initiating:


Driver’s seat belt is not buckled.
Driver’s door is not closed.
Battery temperature is too warm or cold.
Battery charge is low.
The vehicle is on a steep grade.
Cabin heating or cooling is in process and an acceptable cabin temperature has not been
achieved.
HVAC is set to full defrost mode at a high blower speed.
HVAC set to MAX A/C.
Engine has not reached normal operating temperature.
Engine temperature too high.
The transmission is not in a forward gear (assuming you have an AT)
Hood is open.
Transfer case is in 4L or Neutral.
Brake pedal is not pressed with sufficient pressure.
 

WranglerMan

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Since the weather turned cold, 32 degrees, my ESS is always "not Ready Charging", even after my daily 40 minute highway drive. It was "Ready" only twice during the past 2 weeks. I drive my Jeep every day. I am assuming my AUX battery is going bad.
It’s very possible, there are several things that keep ESS from engaging and battery charging is one of them as I believe the JL is programmed to monitor that voltage of the ESS battery and if it’s low it won’t allow ESS engage, it’s actually a very over engineered system, it’s best to have both batteries load tested
 

Gina

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It’s much warmer today, over 50°, and I let the car run a little while and now the stuff star is working perfectly. With COVID-19, I do not drive my car every day so I think that is part of the problem. I had no issues with the stop start function last winter but I was driving to work every day.
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