ESS, Aux Battery Help Needed……. Thank you…..

[Kllrbee]

The best thing to do is get rid of the Jeep and anything to do with Jeep.
The fact that they stuck us with this asinine problem shows how much they care about their consumer base.

Or Genesis...

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[KHR Racing]

The best thing to do is get rid of the Jeep and anything to do with Jeep.
The fact that they stuck us with this asinine problem shows how much they care about their consumer base.

Or Genesis...

Lol……..

 

[Fudster]

I am very very confused through all the choices.

Poorly produced batteries, two dissimilar size batteries where the smaller can cannabilize the larger, vehicle electronics, aftermarket energy demanding appliances, they all help to explain rapid battery demise in the JL.

Resist any notion that turning off ESS divorces you from problems with the ESS battery. It doesn't.

The choices you have before jump starting is indicated:

Options: 1) Genesis Offroad. Pros: great for off roaders who want to get better control over managing and conserving battery power while the engine is off running appliances. Two equally sized batteries address cannabilization. Cons: pricey and overkill as solution to battery problems for non off-roaders.

2) Trickle charging: batteries last longest when drawn down least. This doesn't mean to necessarily sparingly draw current, but to replace it quickly. Batteries "love" frequent controlled charge and discharge. and to be topped off Pros: not too expense Cons: pain, need shore power or solar panel. See trickle chargers or Cascadia 4 x 4Inc or Lensun Solar Inc.

3) Putting batteries in constant parallel state: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/3-6l-ess-dual-battery-consolidated-information.25377/

Fused jumpering of N1 and N2 might prevent the failure to crank of the ESS/Aux battery alone if dead, but this approach alone won't prevent cannabilization and is contraindicated with allowing ESS events to happen as appliances will run in part off the main battery when the engine is off, possibly robbing it of cranking power as it bears most of the post ESS event load to get the engine going again. Turn ESS off by pushing button each cold crank or buying tech to effect same (e.g. Tazer JL, start stop eliminator.)

4) Jumpering N1 to N2 and yanking the black cable between the two batteries' negative posts.

Two black factory cables connect to the negative post of the main battery. One has as its other end the passenger's front quarter panel body ground. Leave that attached. But if you disconnect the other cable you take the ESS battery out of the vehicle's electrical schematic. That yanked cable's other end is the negative post of the ESS/Aux battery. Wrap that loose cable's end in electrical tape, etc.

Pros: no cannabilization as you've taken ESS/Aux battery out of vehicle's electrical schematic. Turn ESS off for same reasons as 3.

5) Pulling Fuse 42 and yanking the black cable between the two batteries' negative posts.

Pulling this fuse prevents the relay from engaging in the first place that ever separates the two batteries from being in parallel. Pros: no cannabilization. Turn ESS off for same reasons as 3.

6) Simply yanking the black cable between the two batteries' negative posts.

Expect your first attempt to crank to fail. Subsequent attempts, provided someone doesn't own an early 2018, or got TSB 18-092-19 downloaded at a dealer, should be attempted solely off the main battery. If successful, all subsequent cranks should work on the first try, happening solely off the main battery, and only using the main battery during vehicle operation, taking the ESS/Aux battery out of the electrical schematic automatically, turning ESS off as indicated in the dash.

This behavior continues until, if at all, an energized ESS/Aux battery is reconnected.

Pros: ESS turned off for you. Cons: people don't like dash lights and technique won't work for some early 2018s.

 

[KHR Racing]

Same here. I swapped out both crappy OE batteries two years ago with a pair of Super Start batteries from O’Reillys; all the electrical problems went away in one swoop. And the Jeep has been running without issues ever since.

It cost me —back then— $306 to replace both batteries: $199 for the main one, and $107 for the auxiliary battery. It took a 10mm socket and 3 hours on a Saturday morning to drive to O'Reillys, buy both batteries, drive home, swap out the batteries, drive back to O’Reillys, get refunded for the old cores, and drive back home.

If I have to do that every 3-5 years, I don’t have a problem with it.

Great… O’Reillys has too many choices on battery size.

 

[aldo98229]

Great… O’Reillys has too many choices on battery size.

Talk to their parts counter. They were super helpful with me.

 

[KHR Racing]

Talk to their parts counter. They were super helpful with me.

Got it. I was on their website and they had a few choices of what fits in there, (all smart ones)but I will go down there today and see what they say in person after work..

 

[Whaler27]

2022 2 Door Wrangler 5,962 miles, almost 9 months old. First time today our jeep would not start with a battery symbol lighting up on the dash….. Ran a battery charger to the main battery and it still would not start……Ran the positive of the battery charger to the first small post in the small pst row ( N1 ? )to which I believe is the secondary battery and it started right away. I have read up a little bit and what the solution is and I am very very confused through all the choices. So what is the hot set up eliminate this for the future? Thank you again very much.

I have the Genesis dual battery system with Odyssey batteries. It’s a much more sensible design than the OEM one which relies upon a motorcycle battery that’s inaccessible and buried under multiple layers of plastic, wire, and fuse block. (I‘m convinced they choose these boneheaded designs to keep the dealer parts and service business brisk…. No more ducking into Costco or Batteries Plus for a 10 minute battery swap.) Having said that, I agree with those who say it’s not necessary, it’s not for everybody, and it’s not a fix for all problems. (The Genesis system goes dead too, and almost as quickly, unless the Jeep is driven a lot or it lives on a trickle-charger.) Also, although the online installation videos are great, the process isn’t idiot-proof, and pressing the fuse blocks back onto the dozens of little pins was a butt-pucker, at least for me. Then there’s the unresolved question of whether your Eldelbrock supercharger will fit once the Genesis batteries and S&B intake are installed.... oh, wait, that’s me.

If your jeep produced this problem while being driven at least 100 miles per week, there’s a problem. I share Aldo’s pessimism about the dealer option, as Jeep dealers have an especially terrible track record on this particular problem, but I’d still give them first crack at it, so you have the problem documented early on. There’s reason for hope, as my Jeep service-writer expressed frustration with all the battery issues they’re seeing. Maybe the duration and frequency of dealing with the problem is producing a more professional response than the one most folks were seeing between 2018 and early 2020.

 

[Fudster]

Third option. If you don't use or care for the start / stop system just disable it. Pull fuse F42 for ESS(PCR), disconnect the negative terminal for the aux battery at the main battery negative terminal and tape it off. That is it nothing else needs done and no more aux to worry about. Just make sure to either hit the disable ess button, buy a tazer or buy a smart start stop eliminator. There is a reason you don't hear from us that have done this. We have no more issues relating to the aux setup.

I like this solution too CJ...but let me tell you what I don't get about it...and I'm the first to admit that ignorance (i.e. educate me, you/somebody else) my be at the route of it.

Why do the Fuse 42 pull part? Why not just disconnect the cable as you describe and attempt to crank your 3.6L with TSB 18-092-19 (which is all JLs but the earliest of 2018's that haven't had the dealer download this.)

Expect that crank to fail. No ESS/Aux battery was detected. But--and this is the important part...

try the crank again. The TSB 18-092-19 functionality is such that a subsequent crank attempt should be against only the main battery. If successful, all future cranks (which will happen on the first try now) and operation of the vehicle should be against the main battery only until the sooner, if at all, of an energized ESS/Aux battery being reconnected.

Additionally, an "ESS off" light will appear in the dash. I call this a feature. Others are troubled by it.

Bottom line, you don't want to run the ESS system on a JL with one battery as it taxes that battery during such events, potentially robbing it of cranking power. That's what the 2 battery setup was for.

So instead, people take steps to trick the JL into thinking the ESS/Aux battery is there, either by jumpering N1 and N2 or pulling Fuse 42.

Please don't misunderstand, these are wonderfully remarkable techniques that I am grateful for knowing, but they necessitate that the operator either press the ESS off button each time they crank, or buy tech to do it for them, all for....wait for it...the benefit of not seeing "ESS off" in the dash(???)

Maybe, for remote starter owners, this "just pull the cable" approach affects such capabilities.

At face value this approach appears simpler, involving less steps to implement and properly use, if not the cost of tech as well to turn ESS off for the operator, in lieu of pressing the ESS off button each time they cold crank.

 

[Fudster]

The best thing to do is get rid of the Jeep and anything to do with Jeep.
The fact that they stuck us with this asinine problem shows how much they care about their consumer base.

Or Genesis...

I hear this and appreciate it. I have no love affair with Stellantis but will defend them when poorly written law and consumer pressure lead them to suboptimal solutions.

Short story: a neighbor of mine had an outdoor improvement that local government insist be screened from view by bushes that quite literally, at local government's own admission, could be ripped down the second after the C of O (certificate of occupany) was issued....which is exactly what the neighbor did.

Those bushes are the ESS system.

Government would have applied whopping penalties that we owners would have had to pick up the cost for in part if the JL didn't meet some poorly written EPA Cafe standards for gas mileage that having ESS systems allows manufacturers to report better fuel economy if present.

I'm all for steps to reduce carbon footprint, just not stupidly written laws that couldn't care less how well an ESS system runs 10 days after the owner takes the vehicle off the lot. Such law language isn't Stellantis' fault.

So Stellantis designs a piss poor ESS system that keeps the costs we pay down. It has the luxury of knowing, unlike so many other vehicles, that the aftermarket will create product to improve their stock design where demand exists, and that our enormously resourceful community will invent workarounds for.

 

[Stuckinthesand]

I like this solution too CJ...but let me tell you what I don't get about it...and I'm the first to admit that ignorance (i.e. educate me, you/somebody else) my be at the route of it.

Why do the Fuse 42 pull part? Why not just disconnect the cable as you describe and attempt to crank your 3.6L with TSB 18-092-19 (which is all JLs but the earliest of 2018's that haven't had the dealer download this.)

Expect that crank to fail. No ESS/Aux battery was detected. But--and this is the important part...

try the crank again. The TSB 18-092-19 functionality is such that a subsequent crank attempt should be against only the main battery. If successful, all future cranks (which will happen on the first try now) and operation of the vehicle should be against the main battery only until the sooner, if at all, of an energized ESS/Aux battery being reconnected.

Additionally, an "ESS off" light will appear in the dash. I call this a feature. Others are troubled by it.

Bottom line, you don't want to run the ESS system on a JL with one battery as it taxes that battery during such events, potentially robbing it of cranking power. That's what the 2 battery setup was for.

So instead, people take steps to trick the JL into thinking the ESS/Aux battery is there, either by jumpering N1 and N2 or pulling Fuse 42.

Please don't misunderstand, these are wonderfully remarkable techniques that I am grateful for knowing, but they necessitate that the operator either press the ESS off button each time they crank, or buy tech to do it for them, all for....wait for it...the benefit of not seeing "ESS off" in the dash(???)

Maybe, for remote starter owners, this "just pull the cable" approach affects such capabilities.

At face value this approach appears simpler, involving less steps to implement and properly use, if not the cost of tech as well to turn ESS off for the operator, in lieu of pressing the ESS off button each time they cold crank.

Hi Elliot. Pulling the F42 fuse just disables the PCR which as you guessed has the affect of not illuminating the as I call it avenger icon on the dash. I am one of those people that hates having trouble icons lit on my dash. As far as pushing the ESS button or having tech do it for them, I was lucky and won a start stop eliminator at a Jeep event so I used it. I can say without winning it I would’ve kept just pushing the disable button as I had been prior. I can say that when my aux started going bad and I had the icon in my dash I am not sure if my remote start still worked as normal as it was not the colder months so I didn’t use it. Honestly if I could deal with the avenger icon being constantly on my dash I agree your solution would be best. I’m the end it just comes down to preference.

 

[andy29847]

My 2020 has always started. At 34,200, the Stop/Start and Remote Start quit working. Since my Jeep was still under warranty, I took it to the dealer. They are supposed to remove both batteries, charge them to full, and then load test them. They said they did this, but I am not so sure they actually removed the batteries. The dealer tech said my batteries were good. They replaced my IBS (Intelligent Battery Sensor). The Stop/Start worked for one day and then quit working again. I took the Jeep back to the dealer. They charged the batteries through the IBS (positive lead to one of the posts that bolt on the battery clamp - not to the battery post). The Stop/Start worked for a day and then quit working. I went back to the dealer a third time. They promised to put a "Level 3" tech on my job. They also wanted to keep the Jeep for several days so they could check it each day. I picked up my Jeep 2 days ago and so far all is well. They replaced the main battery (under warranty). The original main battery tested at 12.4 after sitting overnight. This number scores good under specs, but 12.4 apparently didn't meet the parameters of the Jeep starting system. 12.4 is enough to start the Jeep. I'm guessing that since my aux battery was still "good," the on-board computer always OK'd the start command. I whined to a friend who is an auto tech in another city about how complex and finicky the Jeep start system is. He laughed and said they recently had a Mercedes that had 3 batteries - Jeeps were simple.

My Jeep is the "extra" car, so leaving the Jeep at the dealer was not hard for me. Also, my dealer is only 15 minutes away from my home, so drop-off and pickup are easy too. I was well satisfied with the attitude and effort of the Service Manager. I would encourage you to find a good dealer and take advantage of your warranty.

 

[KHR Racing]

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! UPDATE………………… so yesterday Saturday I finally had time to yank out both batteries and I took out the big battery and then I started to remove the ESS battery only to find out the ESS battery box was empty…………….. I reposted the topic last night saying my “””ESS battery is missing”””. A couple people educated me that I have a 2022 Wrangler E torque Auto V6 which does not have a ESS battery because it has a 48 V giant battery underneath my wife’s Jeep encased in heavy steel. Boy, there’s lots to learn in life!!! Bottom line, I took in the regular 12 V battery to O’Reillys and AutoZone to be load tested today and they said it was fine but it was only charged up at around 45% which makes no sense. So I charged up the battery at home and then I installed it a few minutes ago and I ordered an odyssey battery from Amazon to install in about three or four days. We’ll see where it goes from there…………. The Jeep dealer is absolutely a hassle for me and major major inconvenience but if that’s what I have to do absolutely I will take it there. But first a fresh battery and a good quality one will definitely not hurt the situation. Thank you again to all, very much appreciate everyone’s thoughts.

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