Help. My Jeep is dead. Check EES light

[MtCamper]

I'm waiting for a tow truck. My Jeep started to throw check EES light two days ago. I called the dealer and have an appointment for Thursday. Went out to start the Jeep to go play in the desert today and it is dead dead. So dead it wont even turn off. Battery charger is no help. Voltage is 11.89 across the battery terminals. What do I do if this happens when I'm in desert alone and out of cell range. How do I start the damn thing?

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[Htfan]

I'm waiting for a tow truck. My Jeep started to throw check EES light two days ago. I called the dealer and have an appointment for Thursday. Went out to start the Jeep to go play in the desert today and it is dead dead. So dead it wont even turn off. Battery charger is no help. Voltage is 11.89 across the battery terminals. What do I do if this happens when I'm in desert alone and out of cell range. How do I start the damn thing?

So sorry to hear about this!

There are a number of good threads on this topic. It seems one or both of your batteries are compromised. There is also TSB 18-092-19 which reprograms how the JL responds to a dead ESS battery.

Here's one of the threads to start your research:

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/3-6l-ess-aux-battery-bypass.17293/

 

[mwilk012]

A charger will get it started you just have to have some patience.

However, 11.8V is not low enough to get computers on the fritz. Have you checked the aux battery voltage?

 

[MtCamper]

It's at the dealer now. I guess my question is more what do I do if I'm out in the boonies and this happens. How do I get it to jump start. I asked the dealer and was told Jump starting wasn't really an option. There must be a way. I even tried the N1 to N2 jumper wire without success. Since it was going to the dealer, I didn't disassemble to get the Aux battery voltage. I just checket the main battery with everything hooked up. If I do the battery delete, will I be able to jump it like the old days?

 

[MEHillwalker80]

Avoiding your situation is precisely why I bought the Genesis Dual Battery setup. It does sound that yous ESS (lawnmower) battery has failed.

 

[mwilk012]

What year is your Jeep?

 

[MEHillwalker80]

2019 Because I solo almost exclusively I too was concerned about this "stranding" issue. But I do run a refrigerator and need the extra battery capacity also. My jeep is set up for overlanding not crawling so durability is more important to me than agility.

 

[MtCamper]

Well it's back home. The dealer was great at working me into a busy day. Both batteries were replaced and "a module was reformatted"?. All is good now. As it was explained to me the baby battery starts the Jeep and it was dead. I had the update to move the the big battery for starting, but the small battery somehow killed the big one. He wasn't really able to explain how that occurred. I plan to use both batteries for a while and then do a mod to delete the small battery. I also have a small refrigerator plugged into the rear cigarette lighter. The service tech told me that outlet pulls only from the big battery so even if I deplete it the small battery will still start the Jeep. I love my Jeep but sure wish there was a way to just have a buddy jump start me if necessary. The JL may have reached a point where it's too technologically evolved to meet its design goals. Kinda like the really smart guy who can't change a light bulb.

 

[Beowulf]

I want to know if anyone that is running a dual battery system like the Genesis has experienced this issue.

 

[neil]

2019 Because I solo almost exclusively I too was concerned about this "stranding" issue. But I do run a refrigerator and need the extra battery capacity also. My jeep is set up for overlanding not crawling so durability is more important to me than agility.

look into the genesis and dual odyssey batteries.

 

[Compression-Ignition]

I want to know if anyone that is running a dual battery system like the Genesis has experienced this issue.

Even if they had, the batteries are right there. Don't have to dismantle anything to get to the dead one. And the way I understand it, you can jump one from the other with the genesis setup.

 

[MtCamper]

Genesis has a great video on how to install their kit. They pretty much explained the dealers service guy didn't understand the JL system either. After watching their video, that little battery is not user friendly for service. It's got to go IMHO. But now that I have 2 new batteries I'll run them until get ready to pop the $1000 to do this the right way. Wish Jeep engineers would watch this video and see how it's done right. Thanks for all the replies, and for spending another grand of my money. Come on stimulus check!

 

[Htfan]

I mentioned TSB 18-092-19 early in the thread however not sure if anyone understood the importance.

This TSB updates early JLs and changes how it handles a dead AUX battery scenario. This will greatly reduce the chance of being stranded.

Many dealerships are not aware of this since the detail not included in the TSB description.

 

[Beowulf]

I mentioned TSB 18-092-19 early in the thread however not sure if anyone understood the importance.

This TSB updates early JLs and changes how it handles a dead AUX battery scenario. This will greatly reduce the chance of being stranded.

Many dealerships are not aware of this since the detail not included in the TSB description.

Do new Jeep’s already come with this update?

 

[Htfan]

Do new Jeep’s already come with this update?

Yes, the newer JLs already have this new ESS battery logic.

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