Question about 2.0L Turbo JLs WITHOUT eTorque...

[Segmaster01]

Hello all! I've been around the forum for the last few months (and increasingly more so recently as I anticipate my '23 JLUS order, haha) and I've read many threads about the various engine options (which greatly helped me make my decision), but I haven't found an answer for this particular question.

I ultimately chose the 2.0L engine for two reasons-- the extra torque, and also to avoid the "eTorque" system that comes with the 3.6L. (which apparently used to be only on the 2.0L)

I plan to daily drive this Wrangler for at least ~5 years, so in my mind less complexity = less things to fail over time.

My question is-- will my Jeep have just a single 12V battery like every other car, or will it have an auxiliary/ESS/48v battery somewhere I have to maintain/keep up with? I'm very technical by nature and I want to learn as much as I can about this vehicle so I can take care of it properly.

In case it matters, I ordered it with both safety groups, the LED lighting group, and the Trailer/HD Electrical group.


Thanks in advance!

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[Chrismeece74]

Wife has. 2.0 and it has the aux battery.

 

[falcon241073]

Most newer vehicles have a small auxiliary battery and a start/stop feature.
But yes your 2.0 turbo will have it.

 

[cs2k]

The 2.0 without the eTorque is the best combination. I went with that for the same reason as you. The eTorque adds complexity of another cooling circuit, causes extra electrical problems, adds a heavy low-hanging battery on the belly and is expensive to replace.

Your jeep has an Aux battery which is a small 12v motorcycle battery which powers your car during auto start stop events. However that small battery is pretty unreliable and is prone to failure. Because the small battery is connected in parallel with your main battery, a failure means that it will also cause rapid discharge of your main battery. See this thread for details. (its for the 3.6 but the wiring is identical for our 2.0)

The best way I have found to deal with this is to

1) Disable the ESS feature permanently with a Tazer
2) Do the jumper-less Aux battery bypass
3) Physically remove your Aux battery

Now you have normal car with just one 12V battery and less complexity and points of failure.

 

[Reinen]

It's pretty simple, just consider both Main and Aux as parts of a single battery system. When one goes replace both (because the other battery is not far behind).

The root cause of most dual battery complaints is when you only replace one and think the other is "still good". It's actually not because batteries fail progressively, not suddenly. That will leave you in a state where one battery is constantly overstressing the other and you'll go through batteries like crazy.

Converting to a single battery has one major drawback. That battery will go bad (at about the same timeframe as dual batteries) and when it does you'll be stuck without warning. With dual batteries, ESS is always the first thing to stop working and it's non-essential. That gives you a 2-3 month warning before the batteries fail to the point where you're stuck.

 

[Obi Wan]

 

[Xspurt]

Those second batteries sound just like the ones that go to my riding mower and jet ski. Those last about 3 years then they're done. However, they do make good ones. The last mower battery is now a couple of years past when it "should" have died and is still going. I went with the auto part's store recommendations. It's a slightly larger battery than I need. Will the space where this goes fit the next size up? The width is the same but instead of a drastic rectangle (where the short side is less than 1/2 the long) mine is still a rectangle but much closer to square. I guess I could have just said it's "fatter," LOL!

 

[Shibadog]

They use two batteries because using ONE bigger one would have been too easy. . That stupid start / stop thing drove me nuts’until I disabled it. Best $$ I’ve spent of the Jeep. The whole start/stop thing reminds me of the “cross bolt safety” the lawyers decided we needed on Marlin lever rifles (even though folks had been doing just fine using the half cock for more than 100 years). After I lost a shot on a very nice buck because of that, mine was permanently eliminated.

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