ESS Battery Cable Change

[Powelligator]

It appears you moved your IBS (Intelligent Battery Sensor) out of the ground path preventing it from collecting data. I don't understand what doing so has to do with preventing a dead battery.

What I did, and is not really obvious in the photo is move the IBS (so that's what it is) to the bundled wires I pulled aside. I completed the ground circuit to it by using a couple six inch lengths of 14 ga. wire and some round lug connectors, in the photo above it's the black wires going to the left from the battery terminal into the tie-wrapped mess. So in theory it's still connected to ground and in theory it still works.

But I'm thinking that my Jeep might have a larger problem with the ESS and I'm stumped. After I completed the Aux Bypass I drove about 100 miles. The "ESS Needs Service" message and the yellow indicator light on the dash have gone out, and that's good, but now the ESS message in the dash says "ESS Not Ready" and if I come to stop at a light, release the clutch, the typical scenario that would kill the engine, well, the engine just keeps running, does not shut down. I had thought that the Aux Bypass Mod left the ESS intact and it would just run everything off the main battery?

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[AndySpill]

What I did, and is not really obvious in the photo is move the IBS (so that's what it is) to the bundled wires I pulled aside. I completed the ground circuit to it by using a couple six inch lengths of 14 ga. wire and some round lug connectors, in the photo above it's the black wires going to the left from the battery terminal into the tie-wrapped mess. So in theory it's still connected to ground and in theory it still works.

But I'm thinking that my Jeep might have a larger problem with the ESS and I'm stumped. After I completed the Aux Bypass I drove about 100 miles. The "ESS Needs Service" message and the yellow indicator light on the dash have gone out, and that's good, but now the ESS message in the dash says "ESS Not Ready" and if I come to stop at a light, release the clutch, the typical scenario that would kill the engine, well, the engine just keeps running, does not shut down. I had thought that the Aux Bypass Mod left the ESS intact and it would just run everything off the main battery?

I'd put, if possible, the dual AGM battery JL (assuming that's what you have from the factory) back to factory wiring and then disconnect the factory cable from the negative post of the main battery whose distal end is not the body ground on the passenger's front panel near the top of the engine bay. Leave this cable connected at the body ground connected at both ends.

Once you have removed this cable insulate its exposed end and go into the Power Distribution Center (PDC): that black box near the passenger's side top: your fuse box if you will, and remove and safety store fuse F42.

That done, if you continue to have ESS not ready messages it would strongly suggest that your main battery is in need of replacement. This is because the steps you would have taken consistent with my above guidance trick the JL, and cold crank test the main battery as if it were the ESS/Aux battery, and perhaps the vehicle is not seeing voltages it likes on that main battery.

As you may know, the dual AGM JL, at normal cold crank, isolates the Aux battery for a instant to test its voltage.

As it relates to your delayed crank....one explanation is that you have not prevented the Power Control Relay from energizing: something pulling Fuse F42 does, and the vehicle at cold crank is trying to test the Aux battery but finding nothing (or inadequate voltages) there and refusing to crank on the first try--but on subsequent tries knows in this situation to try cranking solely against the main battery.

This may not be your problem but in early 2018s without TSB 18-092-19 a dead Aux battery would strand you. All dual AGM battery JLs latter into 2018 and beyond have the functionality of, after this dead crank, as do early 2018's flashed by the dealer with this TSB, to try solely the main battery on its own at the second operator attempt to crank.

One tell tale sign is if whether in your EVIC (dash) the ESS off light is illuminated: not the one on the ESS off button, but in the dash. I say this because as part of the second crank against solely the main battery, if this is successful, the vehicle illuminates this light and turns ESS off until the sooner of a working ESS battery is introduced, or you wire your JL consistent with the above to make it think a working ESS battery has been introduced.

Make sure once this is all done to turn ESS off at the button or with aftermarket tech. Running ESS on the dual AGM JL with just the main battery is, while not the end of the world, not the best of strategies either.

If you're curious why the vehicle turning ESS off for you with the dash light isn't a better option versus the cable pull/insulation, fuse pull and ESS button off option, I asked the same question and those in the know in the forum think its a good idea to not deliberately have the ESS off light in the dash on because doing so might mask legitimate problems down the road in its being illuminated if you have some issue.

 

[Powelligator]

That's awesome Andy, thanks for taking the time to write all that up.

Yes, mine is a 2022 V6 with normal ESS and the two dissimilar AGM batteries, not the 48V E-Tourque system. I've already done what you describe in the first two paragraphs so yeah, I'm suspecting a weak main battery also. With the voltmeter I carry in my toolbag I'm seeing 12V with the engine off, but I don't have a more sophisticated battery tester with me. Luckily, amazon can get one (Topdon BT-100) to where I'm at tomorrow morning so that'll be the next thing I test. In the meantime, Jeep is starting and running fine, cross country trip still on schedule.

Thanks for the help!

 

[THAW]

What I did, and is not really obvious in the photo is move the IBS (so that's what it is) to the bundled wires I pulled aside. I completed the ground circuit to it by using a couple six inch lengths of 14 ga. wire and some round lug connectors, in the photo above it's the black wires going to the left from the battery terminal into the tie-wrapped mess. So in theory it's still connected to ground and in theory it still works.

The way you wired the IBS to the negative battery terminal is not the same as having it in the ground path of the vehicle electronics.

With the voltmeter I carry in my toolbag I'm seeing 12V with the engine off, but I don't have a more sophisticated battery tester with me. Luckily, amazon can get one (Topdon BT-100) to where I'm at tomorrow morning so that'll be the next thing I test. In the meantime, Jeep is starting and running fine, cross country trip still on schedule.

Were I in your situation, I'd order a charger. Either way, you probably need to replace the battery sooner than later.

 

[Powelligator]

The way you wired the IBS to the negative battery terminal is not the same as having it in the ground path of the vehicle electronics.



Were I in your situation, I'd order a charger. Either way, you probably need to replace the battery sooner than later.

Ah, OK, now I understand the IBS a little more. Explains the weird dual pole arrangement on it. I get it now, so to retain my winch I'm going to have to get a bit more creative than the el-cheapo hardware store solution to my negative terminal.

I do have a jump box with me, that'll have to do. Where I'm at right now Walmart*s are few and far between and Costcos even more distant. When I get home I'll fix this the right way.

One more question - Am I doing any damage to the IBS wired (incorrectly) the way I have it or will last a couple more days in Utah like this? Thanks!

 

[THAW]

One more question - Am I doing any damage to the IBS wired (incorrectly) the way I have it or will last a couple more days in Utah like this? Thanks!

I don't see how there'd be any damage to the IBS, just missed data. You should put it back in the ground path, and over time any minor charging effects from the missing data will disappear.

 

[FRV]

Nicely done!
Using your post as inspiration I just did similar.

If anyone that wants to try it you’ll need these:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09V59NX9C?psc=1&smid=A1OUHRIC0G8FCS&ref_=chk_typ_quicklook_imgToDp

This is how I did it:
1) in a vise and cut the male end off with a hacksaw.
2) file the remaining nearly flat (doesn’t need to be perfect)
3) place the remaining nub in a washer and drill through the FEMALE side with a 5/64 bit. It should self center but try to be accurate.
4) flip it female side down, drill out the hole you just made with 7/64 then 9/64 bits.
5) run an M6x1.0 tap through from the female side

I cut a bolt down that I had, you have 3/8” of threaded hole to use. After the washer I needed 14mm of bolt.

 

[FRV]

Nicely done!
Using your post as inspiration I just did similar.

If anyone that wants to try it you’ll need these:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09V59NX9C?psc=1&smid=A1OUHRIC0G8FCS&ref_=chk_typ_quicklook_imgToDp

This is how I did it:
1) in a vise and cut the male end off with a hacksaw.
2) file the remaining nearly flat (doesn’t need to be perfect)
3) place the remaining nub in a washer and drill through the FEMALE side with a 5/64 bit. It should self center but try to be accurate.
4) flip it female side down, drill out the hole you just made with 7/64 then 9/64 bits.
5) run an M6x1.0 tap through from the female side

I cut a bolt down that I had, you have 3/8” of threaded hole to use. After the washer I needed 14mm of bolt.

BdinTx I am a bit confused about your solution. (I have a winch so your solution in general seems to be a good one for me). But the hole in the neg cable for the body ground is larger than the hole for the Aux neg cable. I get that part. I understand you cut off the male end of the adapter as you don't need it--you need two female ends in the adapter but of different sizes. One for the exiting smaller fastener that passes up through the thick black IBS sensor (?) and on the other end a larger threaded hole to accommodate a larger fastener for the body ground neg cable and winch neg cable correct? If that's correct can you walk me through the tapping sequence as when I read you post it suggested you tapped all the way through for the same size fastener and that can't be correct. I am missing something....

Thanks.

 

[BDinTX]

Hey @FRV my aux battery has been removed so I no longer have an aux battery ground connection to worry about. The only connectors on that adapter are the main ground cable and the winch ground. Hope that helps.

 

[FRV]

Hey @FRV my aux battery has been removed so I no longer have an aux battery ground connection to worry about. The only connectors on that adapter are the main ground cable and the winch ground. Hope that helps.

Actually what am asking is are the holes in the brass battery connector two different sizes? The 6mm female it came with and a 3/8 or 10mm on the opposite end you drilled for the larger winch cable?

Thanks.

 

[BDinTX]

Gotcha. The hole in the brass piece is the same size all the way through. Feeding the tap through the already threaded end first ensured everything lined up all the way through it.

 

[FRV]

I am unable to make the ESS bypass work. I posted about it on a separate thread. Appreciate any insights.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...aux-battery-bypass.17293/page-46#post-2929367

 

[BDinTX]

Ya I remember reading that a while back. Unfortunately I don’t have any suggestions, the aux bypass went as expected for me.

 

[Mhonda]

For those running a winch, has anyone found a better alternative for a method of attaching the winch ground cable when performing the aux battery bypass? I'm familiar with the brass connectors earlier in this thread, just wondered if anything else has hit the market. Seems like some aftermarket manufacturer would have jumped at this opportunity by now.

 

[entropy]

I am also looking for a aolution to this... anyone found a better solution yet? I dont feel comfortable with the solution on this post. Those brass things seem tall and could create electrical resistance?

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