Remove Auxiliary Battery

[mbrose1994]

Can I get rid of the Auxiliary Battery on my 2018 Jeep Unlimited Sahara JL?
Of course means a proper and safe way to handle the disconnected cable ends.

How can this be done? Or is it not possible?

Yes, correct guess, a primary benefit is the ESS is permanently disabled.
And reduced cost of no auxiliary battery replacement.

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[shane h.]

2019 JLUR. I removed the aux battery (took off the fender flare - easy, but have some new clips). I re-routed the HOT wire from the AUX battery up to the main battery (new H7 AGM battery). I removed the GROUND that ran from the main battery down to the AUX battery and covered the end. Done. Did that about three years ago now.

This DOES NOT disable ESS. You need a Tazer or one of the other ESS bypass tricks to do away with ESS.

 

[mbrose1994]

This DOES NOT disable ESS. You need a Tazer or one of the other ESS bypass tricks to do away with ESS.

Okay, thanks for pointing out ESS still active.

One result is your primary battery is the source for ESS starts?
Which is more demand than original Jeep design.

In theory, the primary battery will wear out sooner?
Was you purpose to reduce battery replacement cost to just 1 battery?
Do you have other benefits expected from eliminating the auxiliary battery?

 

[shane h.]

I did it so I would have a one battery system. I already had a Tazer and had ESS "turned off" using that. I just didn't want to be stuck out in the wild with a dead Jeep due to a undersized motorcycle battery.

 

[Renostever]

2019 JLUR. I removed the aux battery (took off the fender flare - easy, but have some new clips). I re-routed the HOT wire from the AUX battery up to the main battery (new H7 AGM battery). I removed the GROUND that ran from the main battery down to the AUX battery and covered the end. Done. Did that about three years ago now.

This DOES NOT disable ESS. You need a Tazer or one of the other ESS bypass tricks to do away with ESS.

I removed the auxiliary battery, taped up the cable ends, and removed fuse 42. No ESS now and no warning lights. To access the aux. battery I just partially removed the fender liner and bent it back; no need to fully remove anything.

 

[mbrose1994]

I removed the auxiliary battery, taped up the cable ends, and removed fuse 42. No ESS now and no warning lights. To access the aux. battery I just partially removed the fender liner and bent it back; no need to fully remove anything.

Wow! This is the info I was hoping for, thank you. After following this procedure, will confirm the end result here. Maybe you could put this into a YouTube video? The others do not have this.

 

[Stuckinthesand]

Wow! This is the info I was hoping for, thank you. After following this procedure, will confirm the end result here. Maybe you could put this into a YouTube video? The others do not have this.

Can guarantee 99% that you will still need to push the button to disable the ess every time you start the Jeep. Unless there is another parameter not met which I can guarantee the poster has the ess will still work as intended except it will use your main battery now.

 

[VKSheridan]

Michael, my Jeep has been without the auxiliary battery for several years now and my battery consumption has fallen to zero. Prior, I went through 2 main batteries and 3 auxiliary batteries before surrendering.

You don’t need to mess with the fender to remove the auxiliary battery from the bottom. It makes it easier but it’s not necessary. If you’re a big boy like me, remove the R/F tire and you’ll have all the room you need plus room to drink your beer. You’ll need a 10mm socket on an extension to unbolt the lil’ plastic battery box for the auxiliary battery. Once you drop the cover and the battery is dangling, either remove the battery cables entirely to eliminate mouse kibble or tape the ends off to make them sexy. Put the cover back on before you slide out from under the fender.

Pull fuse 42 to disable the battery isolator and you‘re officially a single battery user.

To finish the job, install an Autostart Eliminator to prevent your Jeep from commanding start/stop events.

The Autostart Eliminator remembers the last position of your ESS switch so if you’re shut the Jeep of with ESS disabled, it will automatically be in the “off” position when you fire it up every time after.

If you get drunk and want to restore ESS functionality with the Autostart Eliminator installed, just push the button like you normally would. If you turn the Jeep off with ESS set in the “On” position, it will be in the on position the next time you fire up your ride. Just don’t drive drunk. Sit in the driveway and make vroom vroom sounds with your mouth.

Easy peasy. 20 minutes from start to finish and that included looking for that damn 10 mm socket that always disappears when you need it…..

 

[LHSmith]

Can I get rid of the Auxiliary Battery on my 2018 Jeep Unlimited Sahara JL?
Of course means a proper and safe way to handle the disconnected cable ends.

How can this be done? Or is it not possible?

Yes, correct guess, a primary benefit is the ESS is permanently disabled.
And reduced cost of no auxiliary battery replacement.

Yes, remove fuse 42 in the main fuse box, and remove the negative battery cable for the auxiliary battery. Then tape the removed battery cable end with electrical tape or heat shrink tubing. You may or may not have the ESS light on the dash. I did this procedure on my 2018 JLU, and the dash light is still there?

 

[Renostever]

Can guarantee 99% that you will still need to push the button to disable the ess every time you start the Jeep. Unless there is another parameter not met which I can guarantee the poster has the ess will still work as intended except it will use your main battery now.

Not sure what parameter isn’t being met but all seems normal so I’m letting sleeping dogs nap.

 

[R3TRO]

I removed the auxiliary battery, taped up the cable ends, and removed fuse 42. No ESS now and no warning lights. To access the aux. battery I just partially removed the fender liner and bent it back; no need to fully remove anything.

This is the correct answer.

See this too: LINK

 

[VKSheridan]

Not sure what parameter isn’t being met but all seems normal so I’m letting sleeping dogs nap.

Steve, no need to pet the pitbull with a polyester glove, I’ll explain his comment.

Pulling the aux battery changes the voltage sources while cranking from a pair of batteries to just a single source; The main battery. The removal of the auxiliary battery doesn’t eliminate ESS, it just makes everything reliant on the main battery like a lot of cars.

I’m running just a single AGM battery and my ESS functions as if both batteries were still in chassis. When that happens, I bop my wife for sneakily pushing the button just to watch me cuss when it “dies” at a stoplight. She knows I despise ESS and she torments me with it at the most brutal times…..LOL

 

[jludave]

I removed the auxiliary battery, taped up the cable ends, and removed fuse 42. No ESS now

This is incorrect info. With the aux removed or bypassed and fuse F42 pulled, ESS will continue to work off the main battery unless the button is pushed to disable or a device like a Tazer is used to permanently remember the ESS off state.

 

[jludave]

Maybe you could put this into a YouTube video?

There are plenty of videos that show how to properly remove or bypass the aux battery.

 

[Renostever]

This is incorrect info. With the aux removed or bypassed and fuse F42 pulled, ESS will continue to work off the main battery unless the button is pushed to disable or a device like a Tazer is used to permanently remember the ESS off state.

Like I said, I can’t explain why but it all works the way I want it to...no ESS, no aux battery, no need to push ESS button, no warning lights. Magic?

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