Stop/Start not working - battery charging

[WranglerMan]

The Genesis response (above) was helpful.

I don’t plan to leave a vehicle for months without a trickle charger, but a month of sitting in long term parking is a possibility. A newer vehicle with a fully charged and augmented/oversized battery system should be able to tolerate that without having to screw with disconnecting the battery.

My keep has been parked at the airport for 10-12 days before and I had zero issues with it starting, maybe the next time it’s parked for that long I need to see what my full size aux resting voltage is before I hit that start button.

I do know I have be out in Sam Houston park and had lights on with music playing and ran my crank battery down to the point of getting that ‘click of death’ but I carry a jump pack but wanted to see how it went using the boost button on my Genesis system so popped the hood, pushed the button and then hit the start and it fired right up and that was worth the whole investment right there.

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[IAMTHEBEASTIWORSHIP]

so i had some ESS weirdness, maybe someone can try to offer an explanation. my start/stop system stopped working, didn't really care about it until i read on here that it could be a battery issue. i bought a new aux battery, ESS still didn't work. load tested the old aux, the battery was fine. reinstalled the old battery, returned the new one. i then thought it might be a fuse issue, but life happened and i let the issue go to the wayside. last wednesday, i'm driving through the neighborhood and see an old co-worker. i stop to talk to her and the ESS engages! it's been working ever since. the only correlation i can discern is possibly tied to the use of the air conditioning in the vehicle (it's starting to get hot here). not sure how/why that'd be related to the ESS. any ideas?

 

[jjvincent]

On a side note, if you live in an area with emissions, when that 2nd battery goes south and you just get the click, it throws a code and you need to do the drive cycles to reset the rediness monitors. I discovered that with mine as when I went to run the emissions, it was rejected. Now a week later, I have one that needs to be set and I should pass.

 

[TheNewGuy]

so i had some ESS weirdness, maybe someone can try to offer an explanation. my start/stop system stopped working, didn't really care about it until i read on here that it could be a battery issue. i bought a new aux battery, ESS still didn't work. load tested the old aux, the battery was fine. reinstalled the old battery, returned the new one. i then thought it might be a fuse issue, but life happened and i let the issue go to the wayside. last wednesday, i'm driving through the neighborhood and see an old co-worker. i stop to talk to her and the ESS engages! it's been working ever since. the only correlation i can discern is possibly tied to the use of the air conditioning in the vehicle (it's starting to get hot here). not sure how/why that'd be related to the ESS. any ideas?

If it's not working, toggle thru the EVIC screens and it will tell you why it's not ready. And yes, running AC to cool the cabin can prevent ESS from engaging.

 

[Jeepsmashin]

If it says "stop start not ready - battery charging" try taking it on a long drive like at 1.5 hours drive

OP are the majority of your commutes in your JL short distances?

 

[IAMTHEBEASTIWORSHIP]

If it's not working, toggle thru the EVIC screens and it will tell you why it's not ready. And yes, running AC to cool the cabin can prevent ESS from engaging.

I think you misread my post (or maybe I wasn’t clear - I wrote it this morning pre-coffee). My ESS system had *not* been working for the past ~6+ months. The dash screen only said “Stop/Start Not Ready.” I tried to diagnose with an aux battery swap, no change.

Then, as if by magic, it started working again last week. Only change to my driving habits has been using the A/C

 

[Sean L]

I think you misread my post (or maybe I wasn’t clear - I wrote it this morning pre-coffee). My ESS system had *not* been working for the past ~6+ months. The dash screen only said “Stop/Start Not Ready.” I tried to diagnose with an aux battery swap, no change.

Then, as if by magic, it started working again last week. Only change to my driving habits has been using the A/C

If it stops working again, I would check both batteries to be sure. My main battery went out on me before the aux did. The dealer only replaced the main under warranty but then they both went dead only about a year and a half later.

I replaced both at the same time, so hopefully i won't have any more issues.

 

[Chupacabra]

I think you misread my post (or maybe I wasn’t clear - I wrote it this morning pre-coffee). My ESS system had *not* been working for the past ~6+ months. The dash screen only said “Stop/Start Not Ready.” I tried to diagnose with an aux battery swap, no change.

Then, as if by magic, it started working again last week. Only change to my driving habits has been using the A/C

That's pretty much how mine went. Just quit working, no messages other than "Stop/Start Not Ready". Mine quit working about 1 year after I got it.

I changed the AUX battery, it worked again for a week or two, then quit. If I put trickle charge on system, it might work for 2-3 weeks then quit.

So finally I figured I'd replace the main battery. It tested fine at auto parts store, as did the AUX when I replaced it. Anyway, after replacing main, ESS still didn't work but after a day or two it came back on and has worked fine ever since.

My conclusion was that it was probably my main battery all along, but now that I've replaced them both hopefully I'm good again for a while. The quick (non-load) test they must do at auto parts stores showed both batteries were in good health but clearly they were just failing enough to stop ESS from working.

 

[jeepoch]

All,

I had a similar issue where I was getting intermittent ESS functionality with all three of these complaints:

Start Stop not ready
Battery Charging
Battery Protection Mode

I load tested my batteries, always without issue. Finally hooked in an ammeter and discovered a parasitic draw from a satellite receiver that I had professionally installed. They wired it up to the battery (unswitched). After I rewired it to be powered off switched ignition my ESS has been working flawlessly ever since.

I found out the hard way that it doesn't take much current draw with the ignition off (~500 milliamps) to really make this ESS system unhappy. With the Jeep parked in the garage more than overnight, caused just enough charge capacity loss to keep ESS disabled. The voltage thresholds from the IBS sensor are likely set much too high.

Also, once I corrected this parasitic draw, I very seldom see the alternator output voltage above 14.2 volts. Before, it was almost always stuck at 14.5 volts.

So don't just assume it's got to be a battery problem. That damn little crappy AUX should never have been implemented (at all period). Shame on FCA for doing so and worse for not doing something about it. I'm actively researching a solution with two similar batteries, but not one with a cole-hersee solenoid with sophisticated connection / disconnection strategies based on voltage.

I'm leaning towards the Genesis tray without their logic and wiring. Just the tray. I'll then add two similar group 25 AGM's and wire them like it was from the factory. Just now with a bigger AUX. But I'm in no hurry because everything is working just peachy. I'll tackle this when it's about time to replace either.

I'll likely pull the trigger soon on ordering the tray just to be ready. It will be great to be done with this stupid little hidden AUX though, once and for all!

Jay

 

[Chupacabra]

So don't just assume it's got to be a battery problem. That damn little crappy AUX should never have been implemented (at all period). Shame on FCA for doing so and worse for not doing something about it. I'm actively researching a solution with two similar batteries, but not one with a cole-hersee solenoid with sophisticated connection / disconnection strategies based on voltage.

Agreed! I have had 3 previous vehicles with ESS/ASS and they all worked just fine with a single battery (2 BMWs and a Subie).

I never had a single issue with it working/not working or charging issues either. Everyone else seems to be able to figure out how to make it work reliably with a single battery. This stupid little AUX battery is just unnecessarily complicated.

 

[mwilk012]

My Jeep works just fine. The battery complaints are really overblown, as our vehicles are too new to have many real problems.

 

[FossAK]

All,

I had a similar issue where I was getting intermittent ESS functionality with all three of these complaints:

Start Stop not ready
Battery Charging
Battery Protection Mode

I load tested my batteries, always without issue. Finally hooked in an ammeter and discovered a parasitic draw from a satellite receiver that I had professionally installed. They wired it up to the battery (unswitched). After I rewired it to be powered off switched ignition my ESS has been working flawlessly ever since.

I found out the hard way that it doesn't take much current draw with the ignition off (~500 milliamps) to really make this ESS system unhappy. With the Jeep parked in the garage more than overnight, caused just enough charge capacity loss to keep ESS disabled. The voltage thresholds from the IBS sensor are likely set much too high.

Also, once I corrected this parasitic draw, I very seldom see the alternator output voltage above 14.2 volts. Before, it was almost always stuck at 14.5 volts.

So don't just assume it's got to be a battery problem. That damn little crappy AUX should never have been implemented (at all period). Shame on FCA for doing so and worse for not doing something about it. I'm actively researching a solution with two similar batteries, but not one with a cole-hersee solenoid with sophisticated connection / disconnection strategies based on voltage.

I'm leaning towards the Genesis tray without their logic and wiring. Just the tray. I'll then add two similar group 25 AGM's and wire them like it was from the factory. Just now with a bigger AUX. But I'm in no hurry because everything is working just peachy. I'll tackle this when it's about time to replace either.

I'll likely pull the trigger soon on ordering the tray just to be ready. It will be great to be done with this stupid little hidden AUX though, once and for all!

Jay

Hmm wonder if my AutoStart is causing my issue. I am getting ready to install the genesis kit, though the Group 25 AGMs are hard to find here in Alaska lately at a price point I can live with.

 

[Vanburi]

Genesis has them in stock.

 

[STW]

What are the prevention ideas for this problem? use a Tazer to turn it off? (I understand you have to do that at each start up.)

I don't mind having ESS if it's going to work reliably, but I don't want it killing the batteries.

 

[Sean L]

What are the prevention ideas for this problem? use a Tazer to turn it off? (I understand you have to do that at each start up.)

I don't mind having ESS if it's going to work reliably, but I don't want it killing the batteries.

The ESS itself works reliably and isn't the issue. The Batteries the Jeep comes with don't seem to last long, especially when they like to replace one at a time instead of both.

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