I finally joined the “My Jeep Suddenly Died” club [main battery was the culprit]

[TheRealTVGuy]

Must be something in the water... this happened to me this past weekend. For the last couple of months I've been getting the "Aux Buttons Unavailable" message.

Then last week, I experienced a couple of weak starts. I went for a long drive hoping to recharge the battery; the battery menu showed it was charging (14Vdc) so I assume the alternator is good. After reading this I'm thinking it's at least one bad battery.

I'd love to hear anyone else's thoughts.

2018 JLU Sport S; New Alternator at 1300 miles (warranty); Currently 19000 miles.

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[Yogi]

Batteries now days don’t last over two years in high amp draw conditions. If it’s over two years old you better replace it before it leaves you walking.

Absolutely true!!!
We use 8 batteries in Class 8 trucks. Four 850 CA lead/acid for the cab and starting circuits, and four 850 CA/DC glass pak AGMs for the bunk HVAC system. Right from the factory you will be lucky to get two years out of them, even the AGMs. Batteries take a terrible beating in trucks, even with air ride suspensions.
We simply replace everything with 750 CA lead/acid, but don't even think about getting a higher cranking amp battery. To get higher cranking amps out of the same size battery case manufacturers add in extra plates, which in turn places all the plates closer together. They fail faster than the lower cranking amp batteries because the plates break up and lean on each other shorting out cells as they go. If 4 x 750 CA batteries won't start your 16 litre Detroit, you got bigger problems than batteries.

 

[Winesmile]

New 2020 JLU Sport-S with 702 miles on it died in the driveway today when I was trying to head to an appointment with a mechanic to change out tires...

Two weeks ago when purchasing from the dealership I was told, “gee the vehicle has been on the waiting lot since feb and the battery needs to be replaced”. Cool, I can wait...

Drove off the lot and the next day the engine shut down when in ESS and wouldn’t restart. Warning light came up and at 300ish miles I was on the phone with the dealership (not the one I purchased from as it’s too far) making a repair appointment! A pain, but these things happen I think to myself...

Today, I get in and no go - got weird countdown timer, A/C turning off and on, radio coming on, then nothing - Wouldn’t start at all, just clicks...

Flatbed arrived and we needed to pop the little door in front of the shift and pull the cord to force in into neutral so we could get it on the flatbed....

Dealer said they’ve been slammed and might not be able to look at it until Thursday!!

702 miles!

 

[Dkretden]

New 2020 JLU Sport-S with 702 miles on it died in the driveway today when I was trying to head to an appointment with a mechanic to change out tires...

Two weeks ago when purchasing from the dealership I was told, “gee the vehicle has been on the waiting lot since feb and the battery needs to be replaced”. Cool, I can wait...

Drove off the lot and the next day the engine shut down when in ESS and wouldn’t restart. Warning light came up and at 300ish miles I was on the phone with the dealership (not the one I purchased from as it’s too far) making a repair appointment! A pain, but these things happen I think to myself...

Today, I get in and no go - got weird countdown timer, A/C turning off and on, radio coming on, then nothing - Wouldn’t start at all, just clicks...

Flatbed arrived and we needed to pop the little door in front of the shift and pull the cord to force in into neutral so we could get it on the flatbed....

Dealer said they’ve been slammed and might not be able to look at it until Thursday!!

702 miles!

Sorry for this to happen to you. The ESS system on the 3.6L is not well-engineered. Is that what you have? If so, Frankly, I think that the ESS sucks. That said, your dealer likely will get a couple new batteries in it and you will be good to go for another couple of year before the craptastic ESS bites you (and me, and everyone else) again.

 

[Dkretden]

Must be something in the water... this happened to me this past weekend. For the last couple of months I've been getting the "Aux Buttons Unavailable" message.

Then last week, I experienced a couple of weak starts. I went for a long drive hoping to recharge the battery; the battery menu showed it was charging (14Vdc) so I assume the alternator is good. After reading this I'm thinking it's at least one bad battery.

I'd love to hear anyone else's thoughts.

2018 JLU Sport S; New Alternator at 1300 miles (warranty); Currently 19000 miles.

My opinion is that you have 19,000 miles and a few years on the craptastic batteries that FCA puts in their craptastic ESS system — that’s about as good as you might want to hope for..........

I fully expect to be replacing a couple of batteries under warranty and, when my warranty expires, I am hoping that there will be an aftermarket solution to seamlessly get rid of the motorcycle battery.

 

[TheRealTVGuy]

New 2020 JLU Sport-S with 702 miles on it died in the driveway today when I was trying to head to an appointment with a mechanic to change out tires...

Two weeks ago when purchasing from the dealership I was told, “gee the vehicle has been on the waiting lot since feb and the battery needs to be replaced”. Cool, I can wait...

Drove off the lot and the next day the engine shut down when in ESS and wouldn’t restart. Warning light came up and at 300ish miles I was on the phone with the dealership (not the one I purchased from as it’s too far) making a repair appointment! A pain, but these things happen I think to myself...

Today, I get in and no go - got weird countdown timer, A/C turning off and on, radio coming on, then nothing - Wouldn’t start at all, just clicks...

Flatbed arrived and we needed to pop the little door in front of the shift and pull the cord to force in into neutral so we could get it on the flatbed....

Dealer said they’ve been slammed and might not be able to look at it until Thursday!!

702 miles!

That’s exactly what mine looked like the first time it happened to me!

 

[Winesmile]

That’s exactly what mine looked like the first time it happened to me!

I had it on my 2017 Grand Cherokee and often disabled, but no issues. Not sure why they don’t allow full disconnect.

 

[Geronimo]

Even before we installed a Tazer we turned off the ESS as simple habit everytime we got into the Jeep. Turning it off forever is the best idea.

 

[Leisure Freak]

My 2019 JL Sport is my first Jeep but not my first Mopar. I purposely bought it with the least amount of electronic tech as I could. I always disable the ESS but once a week I allow it to engage in front of my driveway after returning home to test/exercise the stupid little hard to reach battery. Once out of warranty I plan on fuse jumpering n1 to n2 in the fuse box to bypass ESS dash messages, get smart stop start module, disconnect the tiny battery's ground terminal cable up on top to isolate it, and let that PITA little ESS battery sit in it's dungeon location unused. I had 3 premature battery failures in my other autos last summer. Battery failure happens too much to deal with a poor ESS design and battery location. At least they made the main big battery easy to get to which isn't a guarantee in today's auto world.

 

[Trojan_Actual]

I had to replace my main battery about two weeks ago. At least in my case the incident happened in my own driveway.

I had the factory battery tested prior to change out and it did show an internal fault. I knew if I took it to the dealer the dealer would say I voided the warranty because of after market windshield wiper blades. so I didn't put myself through that misery I installed a yellow top which seems to be doing well so far. I check both batteries with a meter frequently due to loss of confidence. Founded or unfounded.

Remember to disconnect the Aux Battery from the main when testing so you actually test both independently.

Good luck.

Wait what?! Voided warranty because of wiper blades? Was that sarcastic? Lol

 

[Geronimo]

Wait what?! Voided warranty because of wiper blades? Was that sarcastic? Lol

LOL...... But sarcasm is often rooted in a morsel of truth.

 

[Chris2183]

Must be something in the water... this happened to me this past weekend. For the last couple of months I've been getting the "Aux Buttons Unavailable" message.

Then last week, I experienced a couple of weak starts. I went for a long drive hoping to recharge the battery; the battery menu showed it was charging (14Vdc) so I assume the alternator is good. After reading this I'm thinking it's at least one bad battery.

I'd love to hear anyone else's thoughts.

2018 JLU Sport S; New Alternator at 1300 miles (warranty); Currently 19000 miles.

My menu was showing 14.3v after jumping it off. Failure at 18-24 months seems to be pretty common with the OEM batteries.

 

[TheRealTVGuy]

Update:
Took it to the local dealership this morning. Both batteries tested bad so they’re replacing the set. They’re also repairing the rear defrost wire (for the second time). If it fails again, they said they’d replace the entire rear glass.

Even though I only have a few months left on my warranty, looks like I’m definitely putting it to use.

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