Cold Start Issues 22 Ecodiesel

[22ecoJT]

The water in fuel light was coming on in my Jeep also when the battery was failing. The remote start would start the Jeep, the light would come on, then my Jeep would shut off.

Since you had them replaced so recently I can see why you suspect another electrical issue. It's too bad that replacement didn't work out.

I’ve heard the aux battery can cause electrical gremlins so that is the rabbit hole I’m going down. I’ve used the valve to drain the filter and inspected what came out and it was perfect. I run additive every fill up. This is the only thing that is really making any sense. Did you need a scanner to clear the codes after removing the aux battery? I don’t have one and I can’t have my truck go into limp mode on a Sunday.

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[CliffordTheBigRedJeep]

I’ve heard the aux battery can cause electrical gremlins so that is the rabbit hole I’m going down. I’ve used the valve to drain the filter and inspected what came out and it was perfect. I run additive every fill up. This is the only thing that is really making any sense. Did you need a scanner to clear the codes after removing the aux battery? I don’t have one and I can’t have my truck go into limp mode on a Sunday.

I drained it a couple times too and the fuel was perfect. I had to take a trip through Nebraska when it started acting up so I was worried about this too. The light went out when the voltage stabilized for me but I wasn't thrilled about not being able to trust the light on the road. It didn't set off the CEL, I didn't hook up a scanner, and it didn't go into limp mode. Your mileage may vary, especially if the light stays on when you drive it.

 

[DylanM]

FWIW, I had a similar experience two years ago with remote start intermittently not working, ESS status page would always read "ESS Not Ready" with no reason listed, and a water in fuel warning at startup every so often despite there being no water to be found in the filter assembly. The problems got progressively more frequent until both batteries would no longer hold a decent charge and had to be replaced. In the end, the root cause of all problems was the weak state of charge and state of health of the batteries.

 

[raypla]

When you guys took aux off the loop, does your auto start still work/work again?

 

[22ecoJT]

I drained it a couple times too and the fuel was perfect. I had to take a trip through Nebraska when it started acting up so I was worried about this too. The light went out when the voltage stabilized for me but I wasn't thrilled about not being able to trust the light on the road. It didn't set off the CEL, I didn't hook up a scanner, and it didn't go into limp mode. Your mileage may vary, especially if the light stays on when you drive it.

FWIW, I had a similar experience two years ago with remote start intermittently not working, ESS status page would always read "ESS Not Ready" with no reason listed, and a water in fuel warning at startup every so often despite there being no water to be found in the filter assembly. The problems got progressively more frequent until both batteries would no longer hold a decent charge and had to be replaced. In the end, the root cause of all problems was the weak state of charge and state of health of the batteries.

that is what I suspected. I just removed both batteries to confirm what date they had. Both are factory Mopar agm batteries dated January of 24 so they are 2 years old. I decided to leave the aux out rape up both lead and pull the fuse. Just took the truck for a ride and I did not see the water in fuel light. Time will tell if this solved it or not as it was intermittent.

 

[CliffordTheBigRedJeep]

When you guys took aux off the loop, does your auto start still work/work again?

The remote start does, but I removed the fuse for the auto stop/start when I removed the aux battery. No CEL and no auto stop/start.

 

[Gregj]

When you guys took aux off the loop, does your auto start still work/work again?

ESS started working again, it hadn’t been working for some time. I usually let it do the ESS once so I know the battery’s state of health and state of charge is “good” then hit the button to stop it.
Removing fuse 42 does not stop the ESS from working, all it does is prevent the PCR from separating the batteries, this would be a problem since the aux battery is gone.
Gregj

 

[biodiesel]

I'm not sure that shaming people who have different experiences than you will help you feel better, you may need to look into that biodiesel.

It's not shaming. It's called educating. People who charge, maintain, and desulfate their batteries regularly will get 7+ years out of their batteries.

 

[Gregj]

It's not shaming. It's called educating. People who charge, maintain, and desulfate their batteries regularly will get 7+ years out of their batteries.

If you drive your vehicle regularly shouldn’t it do it on its own? It worked that way for 60 plus years and then “smart” charging came out and now lots of folks are have expensive batteries fail regularly.
Gregj

 

[biodiesel]

In the end, the root cause of all problems was the weak state of charge and state of health of the batteries.

Bingo! The key is to charge, maintain, and desulfate the batteries as much as possible. The battery in my 2015 Ram EcoDiesel is still testing good at 11 years! I keep the maintainer/desulfator on the 2020 and 2023 EcoDiesel when I'm not driving it. I've never had a battery issue or any issues that come from a weak battery.

 

[biodiesel]

If you drive your vehicle regularly shouldn’t it do it on its own?

Should it? Yes. Does it? No. A lot has changed with modern vehicles. There's a significant amount of electronics and there's much more parasitic draw. To increase fuel economy, some auto manufacturers actually reduce charging under certain driving conditions. The 5th gen Ram 1500 has been known to pull juice from a trailer battery going down the road. There's been cases where people showed up to a campground with a dead RV battery because of this issue!

 

[22ecoJT]

Bingo! The key is to charge, maintain, and desulfate the batteries as much as possible. The battery in my 2015 Ram EcoDiesel is still testing good at 11 years! I keep the maintainer/desulfator on the 2020 and 2023 EcoDiesel when I'm not driving it. I've never had a battery issue or any issues that come from a weak battery.

Is that all necessary if you’re driving your vehicle every day? I have a 25-45 minute commute daily that spans on local roads and highways. My batteries just turned 2 and I’m starting to have these issues. It’s parked in a heated garage every night.

 

[biodiesel]

My 2023 Jeep Gladiator EcoDiesel has 8,000 miles on it. It sometimes sits for weeks without being driven. I have no battery issues. Why? Because I keep the battery maintained and desulfated.

 

[biodiesel]

Is that all necessary if you’re driving your vehicle every day?

Yes, you need to charge, maintain, and desulfate the battery because the system is constantly stressing your battery making it weaker and weaker until it dies.

 

[Gregj]

Should it? Yes. Does it? No. A lot has changed with modern vehicles. There's a significant amount of electronics and there's much more parasitic draw. To increase fuel economy, some auto manufacturers actually reduce charging under certain driving conditions. The 5th gen Ram 1500 has been known to pull juice from a trailer battery going down the road. There's been cases where people showed up to a campground with a dead RV battery because of this issue!

Yes, you need to charge, maintain, and desulfate the battery because the system is constantly stressing your battery making it weaker and weaker until it dies.

So this is a design problem, this didn’t start happening until the advent of “smart” charging systems. The fuel savings claimed by having these so called “smart” charging systems is dubious at best. I can buy a lot of fuel for what it cost to replace the batteries.
Gregj

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