ESS Issue then Everything stopped working - Jeep is Brick.

[Charlie_JL]

Hey Everyone, I could not find a similar issue on the forum so figured I would post here for two reasons 1) someone many know how to fix, 2) I will keep you all updated if I figure out the problem. Anyways, here is what happened:

• My ESS (auto stop start) stopped working a few months ago. It threw an error light and i promptly ignored it. This seems to be a pretty common issue.
• About three weeks ago, I went to start the car and the battery was dead. I put the jump box on it, started right up, drove around for a bit and it was fine.
• Last weekend, I had to jump it again. I planned to take a long lunch on Wednesday to test the main battery and the auxiliary battery.
• Tuesday, I pulled up to a stop sign and the engine stopped, threw every error light the vehicle had and refused to restart. I put a jump box on it, it started, felt like it was misfiring, and died again.
• After that, It was a complete brick - no turn signal, head lights, nothing.
• Put a full charge on it the next morning, still a brick.
• I got it hauled to the dealership where is sits currently.

All this happened at 1 year old and 20kish miles. Anyone heard/seen anything like this?
Like I said, I will keep you all posted as I learn more.

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[Rhinebeck01]

@Charlie_JL

I consider this a self inflicted wound of sorts..

This is a battery(s) related issue...

Had you had the battery(s) issues addressed early on, instead of ignoring the battery related issues.... you would not have ended up in a no start situation(s).... having the JL flat bedded to the dealer eventually, being without the JL, etc..

Dealer will load test both batteries hopefully and they will replace both the Main and the Aux battery hopefully... Replacing both is a positive thing... They may also end up replacing the High Amp Fuse array in the PDC.

You will be good to go again, until the 2 batteries age out of die prematurely again.... and they will do one of the other again and undoubtedly.

Suggest in the future you don't ignore your JlL's battery(s).... Once your v3 yr. 36,000 mi. warranty is over this battery related stuff will be paid for by you and not by warranty.


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[Charlie_JL]

I don't think its battery... or at least JUST battery. I charged the batteries (both should charge simultaneously) and it was still bricked. Not just a little dead, totally dead. I know the main battery is fine. The 2020 JL is supposed to still function with a dead auxiliary batter. If dealership doesn't get to it today, I am hauling it to a local shop Monday. Crossing my fingers it is just battery - rather be stupid than spend the $$$!

 

[Reinen]

I don't think its battery... or at least JUST battery. I charged the batteries (both should charge simultaneously) and it was still bricked. Not just a little dead, totally dead. I know the main battery is fine. The 2020 JL is supposed to still function with a dead auxiliary batter. If dealership doesn't get to it today, I am hauling it to a local shop Monday. Crossing my fingers it is just battery - rather be stupid than spend the $$$!

It could be due to how the Jeep is used. Does it sit idle for days at time not driven? Do you take a lot of short trips? If so, the battery was probably in a constant state of partially drained with a constant parasitic draw from modern always-on devices. This is really hard on a lead-acid battery. It's not just a Jeep or JL thing, this is true for any modern vehicle. When they're off they're not really off. Something is always draining a little power from the battery.

I do this to my Jeep as well. I keep a trickle charger on it to insure I don't let the Jeep sit with a partially drained battery all the time. Batteries go from that state to unable to hold a charge very quickly.

 

[Charlie_JL]

It’s my daily driver and gets some relatively long trips everyday. The main battery is good.

 

[Midding]

It’s my daily driver and gets some relatively long trips everyday. The main battery is good.

Hundreds of posts on the forums, it’s almost a certainty that it’s the batteries. Don’t have have time to search for you but you’ll find plenty.

 

[YippieKiYayMrFalcon]

Dealer will load test both batteries hopefully and they will replace both the Main and the Aux battery hopefully... Replacing both is a positive thing... They may also end up replacing the High Amp Fuse array in the PDC.

it is very likely one or both of these things - bad battery(ies) and/or bad fuse array. Lots of similar issues reported where these were the culprits.

just because you don’t use the ESS doesn’t mean it not working is a good thing or that it should be ignored. A lot of folks just assume that because they don’t care about ESS they can let that warning light just stay there, but the reality is one of those batteries being bad means much more than just ESS not working.

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