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Jeep tough - ess whimpy

wanderer

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I have a 24 rubi x . Just went on a long road trip with lots of off road . The morning of my departure it went into limp mode. And would barely move. Not going to miss this vacation i pushed the pedal down and got it moving. The check engine light had come on and the code was for an oxygen sensor left bank. So after consulting this online source I went on my trip . I drove out of San Diego up to Ojai and across to the Carizo national monument. The jeep ran flawlessly even with the check engine light on.

i was using a wolfbox fridge freezer combo and even with the battery protection level at medium It still killed my battery. So i jumped it using a portable jump box worked like a charm. Bu then my ess light went on and would stay on for a while . Then it would go off.
Well today i dropped it off at the dealer. They called me and said that there a lot of codes

my questions
Do you think that running the fridge would weaken or kill the ess battery? Or was it coincidence?

the dealer says that it is covered by warranty

all in all I lived out of the jeep for a week and covered about 1700 miles and Dusty seems almost bullet proof
Oh and a picture of bear scat on the bank of the creek i was fishing for good luck

Jeep Wrangler JL Jeep tough - ess whimpy IMG_4948


Jeep Wrangler JL Jeep tough - ess whimpy IMG_5105


Jeep Wrangler JL Jeep tough - ess whimpy IMG_4896


Jeep Wrangler JL Jeep tough - ess whimpy IMG_4854
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USNvet

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As you've probably already heard, those OEM batteries are notoriously prone to fail, even when relatively new. I expect the dealership will just replace them with the same factory batteries, so if the problem happens again, look into swapping in aftermarket batteries. I don't think the fridge would kill a battery just by drawing it down, especially with battery protection level set to prevent such a deep draw.

If you're going on these trips often, you might look into a so-called solar generator (Bluetti, EcoFlow, Jackery, etc.) and a portable solar panel to power your fridge. I use a rather hefty (65lb) Dabbsson 2300 and 200watt foldup solar panel, and the solar fits nicely on my JL hardtop roof.

I think I can see remnants of a bear whistle and empty bear spray canister in that scat!

Are you using the AutoNation Jeep service department in Carlsbad? If yes, please report the good or bad of your experience when all is fixed. I bought mine there, but I have several dealerships that are much closer I have yet to need service from.
 

THAW

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Which codes did the dealer find?

If they are for communication errors, they could have been caused by low battery voltage resulting from the power consumption of the fridge. Some of the intermittent symptoms you describe at least loosely fit that theory (e.g. warnings disappearing with increased engine RPM and alternator charging time).

P.S.: The fridge would weaken or kill both batteries (since they're connected), not the AUX (ESS) battery alone. And, battery-protection/low-voltage modes/cutoffs on fridges are generally aimed at preventing damage to a battery from excessive discharge (i.e. "medium" cutoffs are often very near full-discharge), not so much meant to preserve capacity to start a vehicle.
 
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wanderer

wanderer

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He mentioned a lot of codes and said they were most likley low voltage affecting the modules. IT scared me a couple of times as it started to go into limp mode ( 20 sec) when I hit the gas, but it then recovered and ran fine I did have to jump start it with a small box charger which worked great. so far Micheal at auto nations been really good. I just don't have a call back from him yet telling when it will be done.
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