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OEM Battery Replacement

txj2go

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I admit that it is hard for me to follow your description of that connected to the main battery's negative terminal, and thus to comment on it. Perhaps things have changed since this video I link below was released, but I've queued it to the point that details the cable in need of temporary disconnection, in order for you to see if your 2018 has the flash we discussed in previous posts on this thread.
I did the same disconnection as the video shows at 3:20- remove the bigger nut and the first cable comes off, the cable with a simple loop connector on its end. What remains on the battery is another cable with a rectangular piece on its end. The rectangular piece has a hole in it that fits over another stud off of the batter terminal and has a stud for connection of the second cable. You can take the first cable off and leave the second cable connected, but you can't do the reverse. IOW once you take the second cable off you have no cables remaining connected. My vehicle doesn't have anything electrical added so there are only the 2 cables connected to the negative terminal. At 3:26 in the video you can see the elaborate connector piece that remains on the battery when you take the first wire off. The one that goes to the body ground would be the only remaining path for electricity back to the battery.

I can speculate about the second ground you mentioned from the body- vehicles that have completely separate frame (not unibody) usually have body mounted to frame with rubber bushings so there isn't a direct electrical connection between body and frame so they have to provide a wire from body to frame. Likewise most engines are mounted through rubber and don't have a direct connection so there is another wire to the engine to ground it. If the hot wire from the battery goes to the starter, and the ground wire from the battery goes to the body, the electricity needs a path from body to frame to engine. Older cars usually connected battery direct to engine and had secondary connection from engine to body. Newer cars have so much electrical inside the body that they do it differently.
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I did the same disconnection as the video shows at 3:20- remove the bigger nut and the first cable comes off, the cable with a simple loop connector on its end.
...and that should be all you need to do to then test if you have the flash. :)

Unless things have changed the other end of this cable connects to the negative terminal of the ESS/Aux battery, and by disconnecting it from the main battery you have temporarily removed the ESS/Aux battery's connection to the vehicle's electrical system.

Again, put a meter's negative wire up to the dangling end of the cable you just removed from the main battery's negative post and the positive wire of the meter up to the main battery's positive terminal. If you've got current than you have removed the correct cable.

don't forget to put that cable back once you complete the test.
 

txj2go

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...and that should be all you need to do to then test if you have the flash. :)

don't forget to put that cable back once you complete the test.
Yesterday I did that- disconnect the wire, push the button one time, the car started.
 

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Yesterday I did that- disconnect the wire, push the button one time, the car started.
Did the vehicle show an ESS off diagnostic light in the dash?

Was that absolutely your first attempt to crank the vehicle since disconnecting that cable? To state this question in different form:

@txj2go, please confirm that no ESS off diagnostic light appears in the dash before you begin this test. If it is already on then it is possible that a flashed JL (i.e. that which were testing for) has already switched all power to the main battery, and will crank on first try even though the ESS/Aux battery is disconnected, and remain to do so (crank on first try) until an energized ESS/Aux battery is once again detected in subsequent crank attempts and the ESS off diagnostic light no longer appears in the dash.

To get the light to turn off, connect an energized ESS/Aux and connected battery and crank the vehicle. Confirm the ESS off light DOESN'T appear. Then turn off your vehicle now that its reset back to its normal state, disconnect your ESS/Aux battery and reattempt the crank.
 
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txj2go

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Did the vehicle show an ESS off diagnostic light in the dash?

Was that absolutely your first attempt to crank the vehicle since disconnecting that cable?
Yes, absolutely first attempt.

My JLU has had the ESS error light on since I bought it and ESS has never worked. I didn't worry about it at first because I didn't want to use the ESS. Now I'm getting prepared to go to remote places and I read about potential issues. If I knew why my system didn't work that might be valuable information for all of the people that want to disable their system. I'm out of warranty so I'm not going to the dealer.


please confirm that no ESS off diagnostic light appears in the dash before you begin this test. If it is already on then it is possible that a flashed JL (i.e. that which were testing for) has already switched all power to the main battery, and will crank on first try
That's why I was thinking "third option" for mine.
 

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Sigh @txj2go . The beautiful irony here is that the 3.6L needs the ESS/Aux battery in a recognized state of repair first, to then test what happens if it falls out of a state of repair.

One way to simulate this is the place a fused jumper between the N1 and N2 points on the high amp fuses of the Power Distribution Center, with at first, both cables connected to the negative terminal of the main battery.

Let me know if you need links to where such a jumper is discussed on the forum and how to install it. It tricks the 3.6L into thinking that calls made to only the ESS/Aux battery on crank (or during ESS events) in fact go to both batteries.

Of course getting your ESS/Aux battery, if in fact in a state of disrepair, back in working order, up to and including its replacement, might not be a bad thing.

You may already have your 3.6L switched solely to the main battery, BTW, proving the existence of this flash on your 2018. :)
 

txj2go

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One way to simulate this is the place a fused jumper between the N1 and N2 points on the high amp fuses of the Power Distribution Center, with at first, both cables connected to the negative terminal of the main battery.
I'm leaving in a week for Canyonlands. On my list of things to do is to build a jumper to take with me. And odds are my 3 year old battery would be fine, but there seems to be a lot of variation in batteries so anything could happen. I would tend to go with Interstate but even though I'm in a large metro area there aren't very many places to buy them. I would like something that I can get replaced easily anywhere in the western half of the country which unfortunately means Walmart. I can't find much online about what they sell so I'm going to go there to see what they have in AGM. If I bought Northstar, Odyssey or one of those, it would be even harder to get a replacement in remote areas. Maybe I have to give up and assume that if it fails in a remote area I'm going to have to outright buy a new battery to get home.

It seems logical that whatever caused my ESS to fail had its 2-start routine perfomed at that time, and that proves that it has been flashed. Which raises the question- if you have an original unflashed 2018 and something fails in the ESS system, does the vehicle just completely refuse to start?
 

txj2go

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After lots of online searching I'm not finding any good choices for a new battery.

Walmart has Everstart Platinum in group 48 and group 94. Don't know who manufacturers these- could be Johnson Controls or EastPenn. The group 94 is $165. Neither has very many reviews but the odd thing is that the group 48 has 40% positive reviews, the group 94 has 89% positive.

Autozone has a Duralast (Johnson Controls) group 48 for $200 with a lot of reviews, 96% positive.

Oreilly has their Super Start Platinum (Johnson Controls) in groups 48 and 94 for $200 each. The reviews are about 92% positive.

Batteries Plus has a Duracell Ultra Platinum (East Penn) group 48 for $225. There are a lot of reviews and they are 100% positive. (This is almost unheard for any consumer product.)

The biggest Interstate dealer here is Firestone and they don't show this battery in their system available in my area. Similar for NTB.

I couldn't find any reasonable retailer in my area who sells Odyssey or Northstar, both made by Enersys. The Odyssey seems to be in the $280 ballpark and Northstar is much higher.

So from all of this, some people would buy the cheapest (Walmart) and take their chances. I have limited budget and don't want to spend any more than I have to, but for a vehicle that I will take far away from civilization I can't tolerate any risk so that pushes the choice to Duracell. I've never heard of them and I've never heard of East Penn manufacturing either.
 

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After lots of online searching I'm not finding any good choices for a new battery.

Walmart has Everstart Platinum in group 48 and group 94. Don't know who manufacturers these- could be Johnson Controls or EastPenn. The group 94 is $165. Neither has very many reviews but the odd thing is that the group 48 has 40% positive reviews, the group 94 has 89% positive.

Autozone has a Duralast (Johnson Controls) group 48 for $200 with a lot of reviews, 96% positive.

Oreilly has their Super Start Platinum (Johnson Controls) in groups 48 and 94 for $200 each. The reviews are about 92% positive.

Batteries Plus has a Duracell Ultra Platinum (East Penn) group 48 for $225. There are a lot of reviews and they are 100% positive. (This is almost unheard for any consumer product.)

The biggest Interstate dealer here is Firestone and they don't show this battery in their system available in my area. Similar for NTB.

I couldn't find any reasonable retailer in my area who sells Odyssey or Northstar, both made by Enersys. The Odyssey seems to be in the $280 ballpark and Northstar is much higher.

So from all of this, some people would buy the cheapest (Walmart) and take their chances. I have limited budget and don't want to spend any more than I have to, but for a vehicle that I will take far away from civilization I can't tolerate any risk so that pushes the choice to Duracell. I've never heard of them and I've never heard of East Penn manufacturing either.
Northstar via BatteriesPlus (5yr warranty): https://www.batteriesplus.com/produ.../jeep/wrangler/2018/v6-3.6l-650cca/sli48agmdp

Credit to @Rhinebeck01 for the research. Great battery.
 

txj2go

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I saw that one but it looked like a third party battery the same way that walmart is a third party battery made by Johnson Controls, and the X2 is a very expensive third party battery. These days a 5 year warranty may say something about it considering that most of the batteries you find are going to 3 year warranty. I've been accustomed to the 5 year and 6 year warranties that were pro-rated after the first 3 years, but that type of warranty is almost gone now. I think Deka is another third party brand made by East Penn that gets good reviews.

I guess the first question is- is this better than the Duracell made by East Penn that is $60 less? Or the Interstate by Johnson Controls?

And second would we see any significant difference to a group 94R battery vs. a group 48 battery?
(It seems that at least in the AGM batteries, the nomenclature H6 and H7 have taken over for group 48 and group 94R respectively.)

For a vehicle that you travel with to remote places, I'm not sure what good the warranty is. Can you buy this third party Northstar (or should we say Odyssey since Northstar is owned by Odyssey) in Moab? Walmart would probably be the best for nationwide warranty service, with Autozone somewhat behind that. Any other brand you won't find in a small town and if it fails you are likely to be buying a new battery outright.
 

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OldGuyNewJeep

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I saw that one but it looked like a third party battery the same way that walmart is a third party battery made by Johnson Controls, and the X2 is a very expensive third party battery. These days a 5 year warranty may say something about it considering that most of the batteries you find are going to 3 year warranty. I've been accustomed to the 5 year and 6 year warranties that were pro-rated after the first 3 years, but that type of warranty is almost gone now. I think Deka is another third party brand made by East Penn that gets good reviews.

I guess the first question is- is this better than the Duracell made by East Penn that is $60 less? Or the Interstate by Johnson Controls?

And second would we see any significant difference to a group 94R battery vs. a group 48 battery?
(It seems that at least in the AGM batteries, the nomenclature H6 and H7 have taken over for group 48 and group 94R respectively.)

For a vehicle that you travel with to remote places, I'm not sure what good the warranty is. Can you buy this third party Northstar (or should we say Odyssey since Northstar is owned by Odyssey) in Moab? Walmart would probably be the best for nationwide warranty service, with Autozone somewhat behind that. Any other brand you won't find in a small town and if it fails you are likely to be buying a new battery outright.
At the gym without glasses. I canā€™t read all of that very well, but this bookmark I have should help with regard to the Northstar: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/battery-replacement-question-for-the-experts.66343/
 

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OldGuyNewJeep

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@OldGuyNewJeep

How do you take a piss, if you do not have your glasses with you... 8-)
I am not ashamed to admit that I sit more often than stand! Younger guys will laugh... their day will come.

Itā€™s more comfortable
Enlarged prostate makes the whole affair take longer
Donā€™t have to aim
Can look at Jeep forum in parallel šŸ˜‚
 

txj2go

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Today I bought the X2Power battery (group 48 battery by Northstar) from BatteriesPlus, $285 less 10% online discount. Installed it, left the negative of the small battery off and taped up the terminal on the end of that wire. Pushed the start button once, nothing, pushed a second time and it started proving that my 2018 has the flash update. The battery I pulled out had a sticker on it indicating that it was 24 months old, coming out of a 38 month old car. I don't know the story behind that but I had already purchased the new battery so it was too late to worry about it.
 

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My OEM battery only lasted a little over a year. We'll see on the new vehicles... new JTRD and new JLR all built/new within a month of each other.

That said I carry a portable jumper (that can also power small USB devices) with me at all times after the JLUR had battery issues.
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