Aux battery and ess on diesel

[jdoolin]

I have a 2022 gladiator with the Ecodiesel and ever since I have had it I’ve had nothing but problems with the auxiliary battery. The ESS worked for about two weeks after taking delivery and quit working from then on. I took it back to the dealer. They said nothing was wrong with it and they charged it and it worked for a few days and it started failing again. Too shorten the story. I had it in to two different dealerships multiple times and they kept saying there was nothing wrong with the batteries I just told them that there’s something wrong with it because it’s clearly not working properly. Not long after my last visit I decided to pull the batteries out myself and take them to get them independently tested. When I had them independently tested the main battery was Fair at Best and the auxiliary battery was at 8 Volts. This cost me nearly $500 to replace these batteries that should have been replaced under the factory warranty, but they refused to. It’s documented three or four different times between two different dealerships and I ended up solving the problem myself, but it cost me $500. I haven’t had a problem with the system since replacing the batteries three months and going strong still. The ESS works as it should and remote start does too. I couldn’t care less about the ESS but when the batteries deplete down to a certain point, the remote start will no longer work. It will start if you get in and push the button, but it will not start with the remote and replacing the batteries solve that. I’ve been a Jeep Dodge Ram owner for a long time but the way that I have been treated with this it’s making me rethink what my next vehicle will be. But if anybody out there is having this similar problem, don’t trust the dealer if they say the batteries are good take them out and have them independently tested like I did. The batteries have to be separated to test properly. You cannot test them in the vehicle without disconnecting them from each other otherwise you will get a false reading. My sister-in-law works at one of the dealerships and all she would tell me is if their computer says it’s good they can’t replace it. I would like to know how another place that tested the battery and it came in at 8 volts and how the the dealer didn’t find it. And if you don’t know, the auxiliary battery is very easy to remove on the diesel compared to the gas counterpart. The auxiliary battery is directly under the main battery.

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[Mr._Bill]

It should not have cost $500 to replace the batteries, unless you bought something considered 'Premium' like Odyssey.

Your SIL is correct. Jeep provides specific testing instructions to the dealers. Jeep makes the decision on battery replacement based on the results the dealer provides.

 

[NotSo Bright White]

You are completely right! I have a 21 JTRD and the ESS never worked correctly until I put it on a trickle charger. I too had the batteries tested only to be told that they tested good twice. Still running the original batteries but getting nervous. On my 23 JTM, same deal. Bought it on Easter and the ESS didn’t work. Took it back to the dealer and they tested the batteries and said they were good. Put it on a trickle charger and it works perfectly. I have two Jeeps that are plugged in because of the parasitic draw. It sucks that they will not replace the batteries!

 

[jdoolin]

It should not have cost $500 to replace the batteries, unless you bought something considered 'Premium' like Odyssey.

Your SIL is correct. Jeep provides specific testing instructions to the dealers. Jeep makes the decision on battery replacement based on the results the dealer provides.

Batteries at Oreiley Auto were 149 for the aux and 289 the main battery and they were premium batteries. I mean I could have put Walmart or off brand Amazon batteries but it wasn’t that much cheaper and I haven’t had good luck in the past with them. The aux battery had a threaded insert at the terminal that most others didn’t. My point was I’ve had problems with it since I got it but when I took the batteries off they said the aux battery was about 8 volts not tested at the dealer. Even if they said the batteries were good it still was not working. They should have dug further into it as it was still under warranty.

 

[Mr._Bill]

Batteries at Oreiley Auto were 149 for the aux and 289 the main battery and they were premium batteries. I mean I could have put Walmart or off brand Amazon batteries but it wasn’t that much cheaper and I haven’t had good luck in the past with them. The aux battery had a threaded insert at the terminal that most others didn’t. My point was I’ve had problems with it since I got it but when I took the batteries off they said the aux battery was about 8 volts not tested at the dealer. Even if they said the batteries were good it still was not working. They should have dug further into it as it was still under warranty.

Yes, the Aux battery has threaded posts that need to be moved from old to new. That is a Jeep design decision.

I bought a ACDelco 94R AGM battery from Amazon for about $160. Walmart carries an equivalent battery, with a four year warranty, for around $175.

Playing Battery Roulette with the dealer is not fun. That's why many just pay the cost and do it themselves. The dealer just follows Jeep instructions, and you have to keep going back until it fails the test.

The system has a high parasitic draw, especially with a cellular equipped head unit. If the batteries are not kept charged, they fail before reaching their three year life expectancy. They need to be regularly driven or have a battery maintainer connected when parked.

 

[jdoolin]

They did mention that it needed to be driven, but it’s my daily driver. I drive 50 miles a day and I drive quite a bit on the weekend so that should be more than enough to keep it charged up. I drove it to Virginia from Texas when it was six months old and the whole time it said battery charging for the auxiliary battery and the ESS never worked. I remember them telling me well you have to drive it for a ways for the ESS to start working and I said well I drove it 3000 mile round-trip and it never worked. It just said constantly charging. Barely a year old sitting overnight it would not remote start. Once I started it when I got into the vehicle, I could drive it to the store and then it would remote start when I was leaving the store because I just drove it to the store and it charged some and then it would set for two or three hours, and then the remote start would no longer work again. This was telling me that the batteries were depleting pretty quick. I started checking the battery in the mornings after it sat overnight and it would show on my voltmeter 12.1 V. I finally decided to replace the batteries before I got stranded and it’s been three months now and it’s working perfect. ESS is working fine and the remote start has not failed once. I personally think that Stelantis is just trying to save a lot of money because they’re in a bit of a hurt right now. I’ve read where a lot of people have been fighting with warranty repairs not only on jeeps but the other vehicles with them as well. I just accepted. It is what it is. lol it just means I won’t buy another vehicle from them. So far the diesel has been great. I have not had any other issues with it whatsoever. I love the gas mileage it gets, and the torque that it has. I love the vehicle I was just expecting the manufacture to stand behind it a little better than they have. I understand them saying the batteries are good according to their tester which obviously they weren’t. They just should have explored more to figure out why the ESS was not working and the remote start was failing because there was an obvious problem. I felt like they didn’t want to waste their time on it. When they said the batteries were good I replied well then there’s something obviously wrong with it because the system is not working and I need you to fix it

 

[Mr._Bill]

With your daily drive and new batteries, you should not have any more issues for quite a while.

The quality of the OEM batteries is not the best. I would guess your truck sat on the lot for quite a while, or had a defective Aux battery from the beginning.

What you get from dealer to dealer will vary a lot. Many of the good mechanics that can troubleshoot a problem are gone. They have been replaced by part swappers that do what the computer tells them.

 

[biodiesel]

Yeah, the key here is to keep your batteries maintained, although it sounds like you had either a weak or bad battery to begin with. Our Jeep is only driven maybe once or twice per month, and I don't have any battery issues since I keep them on the charger/maintainer/desulfator. I literally have less than 2,000 miles on the Jeep and it's a December 2023 build date. I bought the Jeep on April 12th with, I believe, only 17 miles on the odometer. I'm guessing the Jeep only spent a few months on the lot before I purchased it.

Eventually, I'll switch to Odyssey batteries for the main and auxiliary, but I'm hoping to keep the factory batteries in good shape for at least 5 years. In the picture below, you can see where I installed a connector for the battery charger/maintainer/desulfator. We have three diesel powered vehicles. Once per week, I rotate which batteries gets charged. This is good practice and keeps the batteries in healthy condition.

 

[jdoolin]

Yeah, the key here is to keep your batteries maintained, although it sounds like you had either a weak or bad battery to begin with. Our Jeep is only driven maybe once or twice per month, and I don't have any battery issues since I keep them on the charger/maintainer/desulfator. I literally have less than 2,000 miles on the Jeep and it's a December 2023 build date. I bought the Jeep on April 12th with, I believe, only 17 miles on the odometer. I'm guessing the Jeep only spent a few months on the lot before I purchased it.

Eventually, I'll switch to Odyssey batteries for the main and auxiliary, but I'm hoping to keep the factory batteries in good shape for at least 5 years. In the picture below, you can see where I installed a connector for the battery charger/maintainer/desulfator. We have three diesel powered vehicles. Once per week, I rotate which batteries gets charged. This is good practice and keeps the batteries in healthy condition.

Yeah, the key here is to keep your batteries maintained, although it sounds like you had either a weak or bad battery to begin with. Our Jeep is only driven maybe once or twice per month, and I don't have any battery issues since I keep them on the charger/maintainer/desulfator. I literally have less than 2,000 miles on the Jeep and it's a December 2023 build date. I bought the Jeep on April 12th with, I believe, only 17 miles on the odometer. I'm guessing the Jeep only spent a few months on the lot before I purchased it.

Eventually, I'll switch to Odyssey batteries for the main and auxiliary, but I'm hoping to keep the factory batteries in good shape for at least 5 years. In the picture below, you can see where I installed a connector for the battery charger/maintainer/desulfator. We have three diesel powered vehicles. Once per week, I rotate which batteries gets charged. This is good practice and keeps the batteries in healthy condition.

I just have a quick connect on the battery that requires me to open the hood to connect, but I like your set up there. I’m going to look into that. Hopefully I don’t have any more problems with mine. I had thought about putting one of those hood solar chargers on it and let it maintain it all the time but I may not need that now. I think mine had set on the lot for a while and I’m wondering if it just killed the battery. But they should have caught that. Oh well, it seems to be fixed now.

 

[biodiesel]

I just have a quick connect on the battery that requires me to open the hood to connect

I did the same thing and that got old quick, which is why I installed the quick connect (no pun intended) on the front bumper. I use a 25'-foot cord that connects to the charger/maintainer/desulfator in the garage. This allows me to monitor the charging status.

 

[JTL21]

You can also use 12v adapters through your 7 pin trailer harness connector to run a low amp battery charger through. That’s what I do to top off mine anytime SOC drops below 90%. I run a NOCO 1 overnight to top it off.

 

[jdoolin]

I didn’t think about to trailer connection. That’s a good idea. I was putting a maintainer on it before the new batteries by opening the hood and connecting directly to the battery.

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