Aux Battery Died, Weird Results When Doing Fuse 42 / Aux Battery Disconnection

[biodiesel]

All Gladiators come with AGM batteries. They appear to get cooked under the hood. The average life expectancy is about three years.

That doesn't sound good. We only drive the Gladiator maybe 2 - 3 times each month. I guess I better keep the GOOLOO GP4000 Jump Starter in the Jeep at all times, huh?

I have a 7 year/100,000 Max Care warranty, so does that include the battery?

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[ShadowsPapa]

All Gladiators come with AGM batteries. They appear to get cooked under the hood. The average life expectancy is about three years.

That makes some sense - I never compared the proximity of the 4xe battery to that of the JT - but there's a heck of a lot of foil insulation under the hood of a 4xe with that 2.0 turbo. Bet it gets hot enough to roast some chicken legs under there.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

That doesn't sound good. We only drive the Gladiator maybe 2 - 3 times each month. I guess I better keep the GOOLOO GP4000 Jump Starter in the Jeep at all times, huh?

I have a 7 year/100,000 Max Care warranty, so does that include the battery?

Keep that Gladiator on a battery tender. I use a 1500 mA BatteryMinder on my cars, and Jeeps. I have one for each of my cars and for the Jeeps and lawn tractor which sits a lot over the winter now that I have a plow for my Gladiator.
If you keep the batteries closer to fully charged, they'll last a lot longer. Sitting with parasitic drains dropping the voltage is a battery killer.

 

[biodiesel]

Keep that Gladiator on a battery tender. I use a 1500 mA BatteryMinder on my cars, and Jeeps. I have one for each of my cars and for the Jeeps and lawn tractor which sits a lot over the winter now that I have a plow for my Gladiator.
If you keep the batteries closer to fully charged, they'll last a lot longer. Sitting with parasitic drains dropping the voltage is a battery killer.

That's good to know. I also use a BatteryMINDer for all of my equipment (dump trailer, tractor, and both EcoDiesel trucks. I'll have to get one for the Jeep, too.

 

[Mr._Bill]

That doesn't sound good. We only drive the Gladiator maybe 2 - 3 times each month. I guess I better keep the GOOLOO GP4000 Jump Starter in the Jeep at all times, huh?

I have a 7 year/100,000 Max Care warranty, so does that include the battery?

Batteries are only covered under the 3/36 warranty. Jeep has a specific procedure to follow for warranty replacement. They make the decision, not the dealer.

 

[biodiesel]

Batteries are only covered under the 3/36 warranty. Jeep has a specific procedure to follow for warranty replacement. They make the decision, not the dealer.

Gotcha. That's good to know. Hopefully I won't have to go through warranty.

I just purchased another BatteryMINDer from Amazon, so I'll add the Gladiator into the charging/maintaining/desulfating rotation.

Are there two different sized batteries for the Gladiator, or are they all the same size? I thought I remember reading that some Gladiators with the auxiliary switches came with a larger battery? Maybe I'm making that up. Our Gladiator came factory with the auxiliary switches, hence the question.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Gotcha. That's good to know. Hopefully I won't have to go through warranty.

I just purchased another BatteryMINDer from Amazon, so I'll add the Gladiator into the charging/maintaining/desulfating rotation.

Are there two different sized batteries for the Gladiator, or are they all the same size? I thought I remember reading that some Gladiators with the auxiliary switches came with a larger battery? Maybe I'm making that up. Our Gladiator came factory with the auxiliary switches, hence the question.

The Gladiators with the aux switches do come with the larger of the two batteries. Without the aux battery, it's a bit smaller battery and a small spacer in the battery tray.

 

[biodiesel]

The Gladiators with the aux switches do come with the larger of the two batteries. Without the aux battery, it's a bit smaller battery and a small spacer in the battery tray.

This is the best news I've heard all day!

 

[sharpsicle]

From the book "Rube Goldberg electrical wiring 101"



Running the aux battery ground to the fender is going to make things worse. Why would anyone take the battery grounds and separate them by another cable, an extra connection and additional voltage drop? The grounds for batteries should be as close as possible electrically to the ground of the alternator (and the rest of the electrical systems)
Moving that ground flies in the face of all logic electrically, makes no sense and has no purpose. The two batteries are grounded together for a reason - an electrical reason, not to save a dime. To introduce a drop between the two is adding troubles.
That "tip" sounds just like the tech who said he could fix my dropping voltage by moving my winch ground from the battery to the fender - I laughed at the service advisor and said they were totally full of it because they are both battery grounds, just that now the winch ground had to go through another smaller ground cable and extra voltage drop.



Why will the radio reboot? This is basically the same as pulling F42 except you are bypassing the PCR by running a wire from the aux hot to the main battery. They are already connected together through the PCR.
Pulling the fuse may cause the ESS to stop working after about 6 ESS cycles because the voltage detected during start is identical to the main, since the PCR can't open.
No one has ever had a radio reboot from that because the radio isn't seeing anything different at all. It's still getting the power it needs.

Thanks for typing all this out. I was thinking the exact same thing, just couldn’t find a good way to say it.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

This is the best news I've heard all day!

My best news so far is that my memories as a 5 year old are better than those who were 15 or 20 at the time. I was absolutely correct, Wheelwrights DID own a station at Otley and 2nd street and it WAS a Sinclair station! They moved across town shortly after that. Everyone insists no, they were never there and that station was only Texaco, never Sinclair - I just found two old photos proving a 4 or 5 year old at that time was correct.
They are going to love these photos - and I found an old photo of Charter's when it was a Rambler dealership. (I just donated a 1964 trophy from AMC to Charter, Inc for sales numbers to the heirs of the Charter family)

Anyway, that's my totally way out there off topic as far as it can get good news so far today.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Thanks for typing all this out. I was thinking the exact same thing, just couldn’t find a good way to say it.

Once in a blue moon, severe ADHD has its advantages. Not often, but a couple of times in a lifetime.

 

[Mr._Bill]

Gotcha. That's good to know. Hopefully I won't have to go through warranty.

I just purchased another BatteryMINDer from Amazon, so I'll add the Gladiator into the charging/maintaining/desulfating rotation.

Are there two different sized batteries for the Gladiator, or are they all the same size? I thought I remember reading that some Gladiators with the auxiliary switches came with a larger battery? Maybe I'm making that up. Our Gladiator came factory with the auxiliary switches, hence the question.

The standard battery is the H6 (48) and the upgrade is the H7 (94R). Options that increase electrical demand get the battery upgrade.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

The standard battery is the H6 (48) and the upgrade is the H7 (94R). Options that increase electrical demand get the battery upgrade.

Not sure what they consider options that increase electrical demand............ my 2020 was loaded with all options - except the aux switches, and had the smaller battery with spacer.
My 2022 is the same truck options-wise, but has the aux switches, and the larger battery.
Now they are starting to tie the aux switches with the tow package - like they did on Wrangler a model year or two back.
I get tying the tow package to larger battery - you have a camper battery, trailer brakes (that take some power) and extra lighting.
I can get tying the aux switches to larger battery - you will possibly be adding some real power draw if you use those.

 

[@californiajeeping]

From the book "Rube Goldberg electrical wiring 101"



Running the aux battery ground to the fender is going to make things worse. Why would anyone take the battery grounds and separate them by another cable, an extra connection and additional voltage drop? The grounds for batteries should be as close as possible electrically to the ground of the alternator (and the rest of the electrical systems)
Moving that ground flies in the face of all logic electrically, makes no sense and has no purpose. The two batteries are grounded together for a reason - an electrical reason, not to save a dime. To introduce a drop between the two is adding troubles.
That "tip" sounds just like the tech who said he could fix my dropping voltage by moving my winch ground from the battery to the fender - I laughed at the service advisor and said they were totally full of it because they are both battery grounds, just that now the winch ground had to go through another smaller ground cable and extra voltage drop.



Why will the radio reboot? This is basically the same as pulling F42 except you are bypassing the PCR by running a wire from the aux hot to the main battery. They are already connected together through the PCR.
Pulling the fuse may cause the ESS to stop working after about 6 ESS cycles because the voltage detected during start is identical to the main, since the PCR can't open.
No one has ever had a radio reboot from that because the radio isn't seeing anything different at all. It's still getting the power it needs.

The aux negative ground goes from the main down to the aux. By moving it to the fender your just adding another grounding path to the factory location. No harm no foul.

 

[@californiajeeping]

Thanks for typing all this out. I was thinking the exact same thing, just couldn’t find a good way to say it.

I ignore all that after having two of these gladiators. The factory system is designed poorly and defective from the get go.

I did as stated and have consistent voltage and no more battery issues and ESS can function if you want.

40k miles on my diesel with the aux deleted and a larger AGM in place of the factory. Didnt pull any fuses or anything just moved the wiring. there are a bunch of us on the ecodiesel FB page that do this and it cures all of the glitches these jeeps get from electrical. Just because an engineer says a tiny aux battery will work based upon its datasheet doesnt mean it actually works. If you want to replace batteries every year then keep the factory systems in place.

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