ESS "Not Ready Battery Charging" question.

[BrntWS6]

So i am trying to determine if I should take the jeep into the dealer to have the battery's checked. This could be normal as its my first car with start/stop.

My issue is the ESS is in charging mode a lot. Now the jeep is not my DD and the heated seats etc im sure take a toll on the battery. I drove around last week for about 2 hours straight and it would not fully charge. Put it on a trickle charger for 6hrs and it was fine for a few days. Then went back to "battery charging". With a bit of driving (30min) it would charge and activate. This lasted for a couple more days.

Now today i have driven for an hour and it's still in charge mode. I have a sahara but with no tow package so I believe i have the 220amp alternator.

I am just curious as to what you all have experienced with this system and if it sounds normal or not before i bring it in.

Thanks!

Edit: here is what I did to solve my battery charging issues.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...arger-mount-inlet-install-lots-of-pics.44466/

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[Sibling Rivalry]

I would take it in. I had the same issue and had to take it to the dealer several times before they figured it it was a bad #2 battery. Replaced the battery and not had any issues since.

 

[entropy]

Mine has the same issue. Ive taken it to 3 dealerships. they all say it is fine.

 

[JeepDave]

I've not seen that message in the last 12 months. I'm getting the 'Service the ESS System' message fairly regularly now, so I'll have to take it in for that, but haven't seen the 'Battery Charging' message.

 

[BrntWS6]

After 2hrs of driving the ESS finally engaged. Seems suspect after trickle charging it a week ago. I will probably make an appointment tomorrow so they can load test them.

 

[clayps]

I test drove a 2020 2 door JL Sport a few weeks ago and the ESS would not function and it had the same warning message. I was skeptical it was due to simply sitting on the lot since delivery, however that may have been the case in my experience. The Jeep only had 25km on it when we took it out and we put maybe 15 on it. We also noticed a strong burning smelling coming from around the Jeep. Again, could have been some of the coatings on certain surfaces burning off due to the exhaust, but again I remain skeptical that something else wasn't at play.

 

[entropy]

I test drove a 2020 2 door JL Sport a few weeks ago and the ESS would not function and it had the same warning message. I was skeptical it was due to simply sitting on the lot since delivery, however that may have been the case in my experience. The Jeep only had 25km on it when we took it out and we put maybe 15 on it. We also noticed a strong burning smelling coming from around the Jeep. Again, could have been some of the coatings on certain surfaces burning off due to the exhaust, but again I remain skeptical that something else wasn't at play.

Thats what hapenned with mine. was sitting in the lot for months. had only 5 miles on it when I test drove it, didnt notice any issue with ESS. ESS didnt work for about 2 weeks, dealer said first time it needed a new aux battery. then all of the sudden it started working at around 500 miles. it has been working since then it has now 3000 miles. 3 dealers said it was fine. Whenever I take it to the dealer it says "battery charging" for about a day though.

 

[FlatSixShooter]

Mine did The same thing after delivery. It had sat on lot for 7-8 months. Dealer finally replaced auxiliary battery, which fixed it for a few days, then issues started again. As I learned, as many threads herein indicate, batteries are wired together in series, and one bad battery will draw the other one down. Make sure you replace them both. Only way to solve problem correctly. Even though I disengage it, mine now reads “ESS ready” after about a minute or two of driving.

 

[JeepU4IA]

Mine does this for a short while after not driving it for a week or so. Do you have a Tazer plugged in? The Tazer uses a small amount of power all the time with older firmware versions. The newer firmware makes it use a lot less power.

 

[BrntWS6]

Mine does this for a short while after not driving it for a week or so. Do you have a Tazer plugged in? The Tazer uses a small amount of power all the time with older firmware versions. The newer firmware makes it use a lot less power.

Had a tazer in but with newer firmware. Pulled it out before i trickle charged the battery to rule it out and have not plugged it back in. How long does yours take to charge after not driving it for a bit? Today mine took 2 hrs of driving to charge before the ESS engaged. Seems excessive, i am going to load test the batteries.

 

[JeepU4IA]

Had a tazer in but with newer firmware. Pulled it out before i trickle charged the battery to rule it out and have not plugged it back in. How long does yours take to charge after not driving it for a bit? Today mine took 2 hrs of driving to charge before the ESS engaged. Seems excessive, i am going to load test the batteries.

If I haven't driven it for about 10 days it takes about an hour of driving to fully charge but I still have the old firmware (I like ESS disabled everytime it restarts - the newer firmware remembers last state). With the new firmware the power drain should be insignificant. Definitely have batteries and alternator tested. BTW, if you don't have the tow option, you have the 180 amp alternator.

 

[BrntWS6]

If I haven't driven it for about 10 days it takes about an hour of driving to fully charge but I still have the old firmware (I like ESS disabled everytime it restarts - the newer firmware remembers last state). With the new firmware the power drain should be insignificant. Definitely have batteries and alternator tested. BTW, if you don't have the tow option, you have the 180 amp alternator.

I would have to double check, but pretty sure the sahara with alpine comes with 220amp alternator. Tow package you get a 240amp.

 

[JeepU4IA]

I would have to double check, but pretty sure the sahara with alpine comes with 220amp alternator. Tow package you get a 240amp.

I think you are correct. My mistake.

 

[Rahneld]

So i am trying to determine if I should take the jeep into the dealer to have the battery's checked. This could be normal as its my first car with start/stop.

My issue is the ESS is in charging mode a lot. Now the jeep is not my DD and the heated seats etc im sure take a toll on the battery. I drove around last week for about 2 hours straight and it would not fully charge. Put it on a trickle charger for 6hrs and it was fine for a few days. Then went back to "battery charging". With a bit of driving (30min) it would charge and activate. This lasted for a couple more days.

Now today i have driven for an hour and it's still in charge mode. I have a sahara but with no tow package so I believe i have the 220amp alternator.

I am just curious as to what you all have experienced with this system and if it sounds normal or not before i bring it in.

Thanks!

I choose to not make "normal" and "service" mutually exclusive options like you've positioned them in your last sentence sir, (or ma'am.) : - )

I'm assuming you refer to the 3.6L, to which these comments apply.

Here's why. There could always be something going on electrically and it may be best to get the rig in for service while it's still under warranty.

But that said, what you describe is also very common behavior of rigs not driven enough miles for the alternator to charge the ESS battery enough.

Your usage mimics mine and I too shortly into ownership experienced the same issues until I put my rig on a trickle charger when at rest. The dealer may replace your ESS battery and after a period of time, you may find yourself in this same situation.

Do I think this should not be necessary: yes. But I do it. I installed a good trickle charger under the hood, and at another forum member's smart suggestion I purchased one of these to facilitate hooking the rig up to shore power when parked. I have it (the product of the link below) come out the front of the engine bay where it dangles when not in use.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009ANV81S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

At all times but ESS events and engine cranks (cold or post ESS ones), the alternator, a trickle charger, a battery pack jump start (which are notoriously not powerful enough*) or jumper cables from another rig charges both batteries, as the batteries are connected in parallel at all times but ESS events and for an instant at crank time.

One of the reasons such battery packs are inadequate is tied to why jump starting the 3.6L cannot happen immediately: you have to wait for a few minutes even with a jump start. The charging devices, connected to the main battery, charge both batteries and the ESS battery (having NOTHING to do with ESS here) must have enough power all on its own or the engine will not crank: a threshold by the way that is much less than ESS being able to engage. Invariable the battery pack looses omph to crank the engine, while its busy during the owner's manual described "waiting period," charging the ESS battery, which itself is taxed given the battery pack is also charging the main battery simultaneously.

If you are at all interested in how to get around this limitation I wrote a long post on the theory behind this but it's off topic. Ask if you want the link.

There's also a workaround, if you want to know say so and I'll send you the link, that permanently connects both batteries in parallel such that if either battery has sufficient power (not just the ESS) the 3.6L can still crank. I call it the "Jebiruph solution" given the name of the forum member who devised it.

The only downside to this is ESS can engage when it might normally not, and remain on possibly longer than it should, taxing the very main battery that is suppose to be protected/isolated during ESS events to have power for the crank. With this workout the main battery works during ESS events as well, contra to how the system was designed.

If that sounds confusing--given that I told you the ESS battery needs power for the crank to occur--here's the skinny. Both batteries crank the starter, (in fact a fully charged ESS battery can run the rig without the main battery but not vice versa) but that energization of the starter won't occur, even if you've replaced your main battery with a "nuclear power plant," if the ESS battery has inadequate power--barring the aforementioned Jebiruph hack.

In other words have a dead ESS battery and the rig won't even attempt the crank.

This IMHO is a true flaw in cold cranks--which I believe should come if either or both batteries have power. I believe it works this way because FCA stole the algorithm from how ESS works and shouldn't have.

And the reason they shouldn't have is that unlike cold cranks, the rig won't engage ESS if the ESS battery is too low (your reported problem) nor will an ESS event continue if the ESS battery loses too much power during the event keeping electric stuff running while you wait at a traffic light. The protective and checking algorithms DON'T happen at cold cranks.

 

[dccurtis]

I’ve noticed this as well if I don’t dive the jeep for several days. I drove it only a few times last week and it took pretty much all weekend of driving for ESS to be enabled. Was probably 2-3 hours of total driving. I’m wondering too If the colder weather may be exacerbating it. It’s been like this since day one. So I tend to think it’s normal...

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