Possible battery dying...

[Aramis76]

Ok, so I know how this Jeep is supposed to charge the batteries.

Normally, the voltage is high until the alternator has fully charged the battery and then the voltage will lower as it only needs to maintain the battery and run the various accessories while the Jeep is running.

This is what I've been observing since I got it new in late august.

This week, it's a bit different.
Monday I drove 6 hours straight to visit the in-laws for the holidays.
The next morning, while running errands, I see the "ESS not ready battery charging".
I thought that was weird as it should have gotten plenty of charge the day before.

Yesterday, as we were driving back, I noticed the voltage was at 14.7 for the entire 6 hours back.
Never once dropped.

I have the 240 amp alternator. We were running the heater on the lowest fan speed, no radio and no defroster.
So I'm pretty sure one of the batteries is going away.

This morning I took a reading with a meter on the battery and it reads 12.7 with engine off, which seems normal to me for a battery who's fully charged.

I have an appointment for next week, hopefully they will find something obvious.


***Update***
Decided to have a look under the hood for loose battery terminals.
I didn't find anything loose, but both the positive and negative post I was able to torque down some more.
Went out for dinner after.
All the way to the restaurant 14.3v
After dinner, the first 30 secs 14.2v and then it dropped to 13.8v
During the drive home, it would occasionally kick up to 14.2v and then back to 13.7 or 13.8v

I think it may have been just that, some loose terminals from factory. I'll keep an eye on it for a few days.

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[Gremluc]

Ok, so I know how this Jeep is supposed to charge the batteries.

Normally, the voltage is high until the alternator has fully charged the battery and then the voltage will lower as it only needs to maintain the battery and run the various accessories while the Jeep is running.

This is what I've been observing since I got it new in late august.

This week, it's a bit different.
Monday I drove 6 hours straight to visit the in-laws for the holidays.
The next morning, while running errands, I see the "ESS not ready battery charging".
I thought that was weird as it should have gotten plenty of charge the day before.

Yesterday, as we were driving back, I noticed the voltage was at 14.7 for the entire 6 hours back.
Never once dropped.

I have the 240 amp alternator. We were running the heater on the lowest fan speed, no radio and no defroster.
So I'm pretty sure one of the batteries is going away.

This morning I took a reading with a meter on the battery and it reads 12.7 with engine off, which seems normal to me for a battery who's fully charged.

I have an appointment for next week, hopefully they will find something obvious.


***Update***
Decided to have a look under the hood for loose battery terminals.
I didn't find anything loose, but both the positive and negative post I was able to torque down some more.
Went out for dinner after.
All the way to the restaurant 14.3v
After dinner, the first 30 secs 14.2v and then it dropped to 13.8v
During the drive home, it would occasionally kick up to 14.2v and then back to 13.7 or 13.8v

I think it may have been just that, some loose terminals from factory. I'll keep an eye on it for a few days.

Interesting. The last couple of days my remote start hasn't worked. However the jeep will start via brake/button, this am it did crank somewhat slow. Any my meter has always run 14.2v or 14.1v - don't recall seeing it in the 13.s but not sure about that. All that being said the jeep will be 2 yrs old in Febuary. And heat kills batteries in SW Florida. I'll check my terminals. ----Update--- Terminals were tight - went out with my wife in her rubicon and she was running in the 13.s - I don't drive much so I'll put a few miles on sunday. We'll see how it works out.

 

[ArmyCrawler]

Interesting. The last couple of days my remote start hasn't worked. However the jeep will start via brake/button, this am it did crank somewhat slow. Any my meter has always run 14.2v or 14.1v - don't recall seeing it in the 13.s but not sure about that. All that being said the jeep will be 2 yrs old in Febuary. And heat kills batteries in SW Florida. I'll check my terminals. ----Update--- Terminals were tight - went out with my wife in her rubicon and she was running in the 13.s - I don't drive much so I'll put a few miles on sunday. We'll see how it works out.

This is happening to me as well. Running in the 14s, but ESS says battery issue. Slow to start. Went to sleep and woke up and Today it’s in the 11s and it won’t start.

 

[Aramis76]

Check your main battery post, possibly loosen them and wiggle before re-tightening. This could clean up some crud and ensure a better contact.

I've kept an eye on mine all weekend and it's behaving normal again.

 

[Jebiruph]

Check your main battery post, possibly loosen them and wiggle before re-tightening. This could clean up some crud and ensure a better contact.

I've kept an eye on mine all weekend and it's behaving normal again.

Especially check the main battery negative post, it seems to loosen easily.

 

[WranglerMan]

What I do was removed both positive and negative cables of the main and cleaned each one with a battery terminal/cable brush and then coated all with a light coat of dielectric grease and then and I know some won’t do this I put one drop of blue loctite on the threads of each cable bolt and torqued down and when I put my smart charger on once a month I always check the connections

 

[BRuby]

Normally, the voltage is high until the alternator has fully charged the battery and then the voltage will lower as it only needs to maintain the battery and run the various accessories while the Jeep is running.

Decided to have a look under the hood for loose battery terminals.
I didn't find anything loose, but both the positive and negative post I was able to torque down some more.

I think it may have been just that, some loose terminals from factory. I'll keep an eye on it for a few days.

Yeah sometimes the terminals just need to be properly torqued down. That alone can cause the alternator voltage to always stay high. Sounds like you found your problem.

 

[CoolToys]

So the question I have is are any of you driving the 2.0T? There is another thread about low battery and can't jump start.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...-any-jumpstart-tips.12316/page-10#post-981774

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