Electrical System DEAD

[ckmarble]

So a few days ago I'm driving my 2020 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon to work and I'm stopped at a traffic signal when my Jeep decides to just shutdown. I noticed a warning in the dash "Stop Safely your vehicle will shutdown soon" type of message. I put it in park, tried to start it again and nothing. It would turn on into accessory mode, but wouldn't start. Acted like I didn't have my foot on the brake, when I certainly did.

Got it towed to a nearby parking lot off the main road to troubleshoot. Disconnected the battery (both main and aux) and re-attached and it let me start the Jeep only to have it act like it's either running out of gas or is in bad need of a tune up is all I can describe it as. Couldn't get it in gear, no matter what gear I put it in it would just flash on the gear shift.

I replaced both batteries and things looked good for about 5 minutes. After idling for a bit, I jump back in the Jeep and notice the "Stop Safely, vehicle will shutdown soon" message again. Sure enough it shuts down 3/4 mile down the road again. Same issues as before. So, I decided to remove the battery cables and reconnect again. That gave me intermittently blinking lights on the dash. I couldn't start or get into Aux mode.

Towed it home and now I get nothing. No lights. Can't jump start it and charging it doesn't help. Nothing. The main battery has been checked and was 100% with no bad cells 2 days ago. Not sure if anyone else has seen this and where I can start. Unfortunately I don't trust my local dealer at all. I had it in for a small leak and they gave no communication what-so-ever. Weeks in the shop.

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[FLACRACKER]

Best wishes for a quick fix. Not up on today's newer vehicles (computers) myself. I'm going to monitor your thread. Thanks for posting.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

So a few days ago I'm driving my 2020 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon to work and I'm stopped at a traffic signal when my Jeep decides to just shutdown. I noticed a warning in the dash "Stop Safely your vehicle will shutdown soon" type of message. I put it in park, tried to start it again and nothing. It would turn on into accessory mode, but wouldn't start. Acted like I didn't have my foot on the brake, when I certainly did.

Got it towed to a nearby parking lot off the main road to troubleshoot. Disconnected the battery (both main and aux) and re-attached and it let me start the Jeep only to have it act like it's either running out of gas or is in bad need of a tune up is all I can describe it as. Couldn't get it in gear, no matter what gear I put it in it would just flash on the gear shift.

I replaced both batteries and things looked good for about 5 minutes. After idling for a bit, I jump back in the Jeep and notice the "Stop Safely, vehicle will shutdown soon" message again. Sure enough it shuts down 3/4 mile down the road again. Same issues as before. So, I decided to remove the battery cables and reconnect again. That gave me intermittently blinking lights on the dash. I couldn't start or get into Aux mode.

Towed it home and now I get nothing. No lights. Can't jump start it and charging it doesn't help. Nothing. The main battery has been checked and was 100% with no bad cells 2 days ago. Not sure if anyone else has seen this and where I can start. Unfortunately I don't trust my local dealer at all. I had it in for a small leak and they gave no communication what-so-ever. Weeks in the shop.

There's no single "what do I do to fix this" answer. The answer is - trip to dealer.

Anything else is strictly and purely a guess - tossing mud at the wall to see what sticks. (usually an incorrect waste of time, not always, but usually)
WHO checked the battery? And why only the main battery? Hopefully not a parts store.......
They don't know how to properly test.
Did you charge both of the batteries when replacing them? If not, why not???
Did you reset the IBS?

You should start with charging both the main and aux battery independently.
Pull the ground cables off the IBS, remove the IBS and set it aside.
Use a good AGM charger of at least 10 amps. Let it go through all charging phases, don't stop it until it says it's done.
Do that for each battery. You need to split the two black ground cables apart after taking them off the IBS to do this.
After charging, check the voltage of each - should read 12.7 volts (or higher, depending on the battery)
Do not yet put it back together -after a few hours check the voltage of each battery - should still be up there about 12.7 if they were left disconnected. If either has dropped appreciably, you have a battery issue and little need to do more battery testing.
Put it back together - put the IBS back on, reassemble the ground cables, go from there.

A parts store can't test these batteries unless they remove the ground cable from the IBS, and test each independently. If they just hook to the main, it's trying to look at two batteries.
And why not test the aux battery? That's what the electronics are connected to when the vehicle is started using the big round button on the dash.

I see some missing info - and things not done quite right for best results.

 

[Commodus]

So a few days ago I'm driving my 2020 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon to work and I'm stopped at a traffic signal when my Jeep decides to just shutdown. I noticed a warning in the dash "Stop Safely your vehicle will shutdown soon" type of message. I put it in park, tried to start it again and nothing. It would turn on into accessory mode, but wouldn't start. Acted like I didn't have my foot on the brake, when I certainly did.

Got it towed to a nearby parking lot off the main road to troubleshoot. Disconnected the battery (both main and aux) and re-attached and it let me start the Jeep only to have it act like it's either running out of gas or is in bad need of a tune up is all I can describe it as. Couldn't get it in gear, no matter what gear I put it in it would just flash on the gear shift.

I replaced both batteries and things looked good for about 5 minutes. After idling for a bit, I jump back in the Jeep and notice the "Stop Safely, vehicle will shutdown soon" message again. Sure enough it shuts down 3/4 mile down the road again. Same issues as before. So, I decided to remove the battery cables and reconnect again. That gave me intermittently blinking lights on the dash. I couldn't start or get into Aux mode.

Towed it home and now I get nothing. No lights. Can't jump start it and charging it doesn't help. Nothing. The main battery has been checked and was 100% with no bad cells 2 days ago. Not sure if anyone else has seen this and where I can start. Unfortunately I don't trust my local dealer at all. I had it in for a small leak and they gave no communication what-so-ever. Weeks in the shop.

Chances are you do need both batteries and don,t think just because you replaced the main battery that it is good, I have bought a brand new Delco only to find out it was bad and had an internal short taking out my main fuse array. The only way to test these batteries correctly is have the dealer run their diagnostics or unhook both batteries and have them tested individually.

 

[Killinbill]

So a few days ago I'm driving my 2020 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon to work and I'm stopped at a traffic signal when my Jeep decides to just shutdown. I noticed a warning in the dash "Stop Safely your vehicle will shutdown soon" type of message. I put it in park, tried to start it again and nothing. It would turn on into accessory mode, but wouldn't start. Acted like I didn't have my foot on the brake, when I certainly did.

Got it towed to a nearby parking lot off the main road to troubleshoot. Disconnected the battery (both main and aux) and re-attached and it let me start the Jeep only to have it act like it's either running out of gas or is in bad need of a tune up is all I can describe it as. Couldn't get it in gear, no matter what gear I put it in it would just flash on the gear shift.

I replaced both batteries and things looked good for about 5 minutes. After idling for a bit, I jump back in the Jeep and notice the "Stop Safely, vehicle will shutdown soon" message again. Sure enough it shuts down 3/4 mile down the road again. Same issues as before. So, I decided to remove the battery cables and reconnect again. That gave me intermittently blinking lights on the dash. I couldn't start or get into Aux mode.

Towed it home and now I get nothing. No lights. Can't jump start it and charging it doesn't help. Nothing. The main battery has been checked and was 100% with no bad cells 2 days ago. Not sure if anyone else has seen this and where I can start. Unfortunately I don't trust my local dealer at all. I had it in for a small leak and they gave no communication what-so-ever. Weeks in the shop.

 

[Killinbill]

It was in shop 62 days… got a rental a jeep wave reimbursement every 28 days… shipped Jeep back to me ( died in Ky I live in fl) . 2 months later trouble again… have changed the batteries 3 times ( both). Under warranty… Jeep wave gave me a 6 year 100k warranty. Yesterday it wouldn’t start again.. jumped aux battery ( post 1 under fuse box cap) started up… dealership here has no idea… I’m ready for a different vehicle.

 

[sharpsicle]

That message usually means more than just "you've got a bad battery". All you've been doing is resetting the system, and it lets you run it until the actual fault is detected again. I would suggest you stop focusing on the batteries as there's more here than just a dead battery. Get it properly diagnosed. I'm not saying the batteries don't need replacement, they very well might, but that alone is probably not the solution.

Also consider that if there is a real problem, which is likely, constantly trying to start and run the truck without resolving that isn't a good idea. So stop trying to reset or jump start it repeatedly. Doing that won't magically make it fix itself, it only risks making the problem worse.

 

[ckmarble]

There's no single "what do I do to fix this" answer. The answer is - trip to dealer.

Anything else is strictly and purely a guess - tossing mud at the wall to see what sticks. (usually an incorrect waste of time, not always, but usually)
WHO checked the battery? And why only the main battery? Hopefully not a parts store.......
They don't know how to properly test.
Did you charge both of the batteries when replacing them? If not, why not???
Did you reset the IBS?

You should start with charging both the main and aux battery independently.
Pull the ground cables off the IBS, remove the IBS and set it aside.
Use a good AGM charger of at least 10 amps. Let it go through all charging phases, don't stop it until it says it's done.
Do that for each battery. You need to split the two black ground cables apart after taking them off the IBS to do this.
After charging, check the voltage of each - should read 12.7 volts (or higher, depending on the battery)
Do not yet put it back together -after a few hours check the voltage of each battery - should still be up there about 12.7 if they were left disconnected. If either has dropped appreciably, you have a battery issue and little need to do more battery testing.
Put it back together - put the IBS back on, reassemble the ground cables, go from there.

A parts store can't test these batteries unless they remove the ground cable from the IBS, and test each independently. If they just hook to the main, it's trying to look at two batteries.
And why not test the aux battery? That's what the electronics are connected to when the vehicle is started using the big round button on the dash.

I see some missing info - and things not done quite right for best results.

Thanks for the detail ShadowsPapa. I'm admittedly a noob Jeep owner, at the start of this I had no clue it had 2 batteries.

The main battery was tested at a parts store but while it was off the Jeep. Aside from a faulty tester, I'd assume it was correct. I'll have to dig back in and disconnect the AUX battery and have it tested independently. Or it sounds like I can remove the 2 assembly cables going to the neg IBS and test each battery while in the Jeep?

I had it on a 10A charge overnight connected to the pos and neg IBS on the main battery. It didn't seem to do anything. After 9+ hours it hadn't finished it cycle. I don't have a tester and my charger doesn't show current voltage (Gotta get one that does)

Not looking forward to having my Jeep at the dealer for 2 months and a $9500 bill like Killinbill just posted.

I'll work through these and see what I can find. Thanks for the help.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

So a few days ago I'm driving my 2020 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon to work and I'm stopped at a traffic signal when my Jeep decides to just shutdown. I noticed a warning in the dash "Stop Safely your vehicle will shutdown soon" type of message. I put it in park, tried to start it again and nothing. It would turn on into accessory mode, but wouldn't start. Acted like I didn't have my foot on the brake, when I certainly did.

Got it towed to a nearby parking lot off the main road to troubleshoot. Disconnected the battery (both main and aux) and re-attached and it let me start the Jeep only to have it act like it's either running out of gas or is in bad need of a tune up is all I can describe it as. Couldn't get it in gear, no matter what gear I put it in it would just flash on the gear shift.

I replaced both batteries and things looked good for about 5 minutes. After idling for a bit, I jump back in the Jeep and notice the "Stop Safely, vehicle will shutdown soon" message again. Sure enough it shuts down 3/4 mile down the road again. Same issues as before. So, I decided to remove the battery cables and reconnect again. That gave me intermittently blinking lights on the dash. I couldn't start or get into Aux mode.

Towed it home and now I get nothing. No lights. Can't jump start it and charging it doesn't help. Nothing. The main battery has been checked and was 100% with no bad cells 2 days ago. Not sure if anyone else has seen this and where I can start. Unfortunately I don't trust my local dealer at all. I had it in for a small leak and they gave no communication what-so-ever. Weeks in the shop.

Forgot to ask - you said you disconnect both batteries, then reconnected and it would start.
Did you take apart the two black/ground cables? If not, you didn't actually disconnect both batteries.
Next question - YOU replaced both batteries - did you do it the hard way in from the top or through the wheel opening (a great youtube video shows how easily it's dine without even removing the fender liner - they cut the job in half in that video)
If you went in from the top - good chance you didn't get something quite right in the PDC and fuse holder area. There's a lot of ways to mess that up (and a great reason I'll only go in through the wheel opening - easier and far less risk)

 

[ShadowsPapa]

The main battery was tested at a parts store but while it was off the Jeep. Aside from a faulty tester, I'd assume it was correct. I'll have to dig back in and disconnect the AUX battery and have it tested independently. Or it sounds like I can remove the 2 assembly cables going to the neg IBS and test each battery while in the Jeep?

I had it on a 10A charge overnight connected to the pos and neg IBS on the main battery. It didn't seem to do anything. After 9+ hours it hadn't finished it cycle. I don't have a tester and my charger doesn't show current voltage (Gotta get one that does)

Just because one person had their Jeep at a dealership for weeks and paid thousands doesn't mean you would. Some dealer shops know stuff, others just keep digging and checking and replacing until they finally get it right.

You can have both batteries tested in the Jeep - pull the cable from the top of the IBS, take the two cables apart - separate them. One goes to the chassis ground, the other is the ground cable for the aux battery. You can charge the aux by clipping onto the top of the main battery positive and to the ground cable that goes down to the aux battery.
You can charge the main battery by clipping to the main positive and to the negative battery post.
Normally, if the Jeep didn't have problems, you'd only ever charge through the top of the IBS, but when trying to get things reset and starting over, you disconnect the IBS and set it aside - that resets it when it's disconnected for 10 to 15 seconds or so, and you charge direct to the battery.

If the charger isn't getting them fully charged - there are honestly only 3 possibilities - and don't take offense as we all make boo-boos, (it's just that when I do, it's a WHOPPER!)
1. User error - connecting to the wrong place or don't have batteries isolated
2. Charger error - it's not an AGM charger or has a problem.
3. Battery problem - can't be charged due to battery issue
and those are in no particular order!

 

[ckmarble]

Just because one person had their Jeep at a dealership for weeks and paid thousands doesn't mean you would. Some dealer shops know stuff, others just keep digging and checking and replacing until they finally get it right.

You can have both batteries tested in the Jeep - pull the cable from the top of the IBS, take the two cables apart - separate them. One goes to the chassis ground, the other is the ground cable for the aux battery. You can charge the aux by clipping onto the top of the main battery positive and to the ground cable that goes down to the aux battery.
You can charge the main battery by clipping to the main positive and to the negative battery post.
Normally, if the Jeep didn't have problems, you'd only ever charge through the top of the IBS, but when trying to get things reset and starting over, you disconnect the IBS and set it aside - that resets it when it's disconnected for 10 to 15 seconds or so, and you charge direct to the battery.

If the charger isn't getting them fully charged - there are honestly only 3 possibilities - and don't take offense as we all make boo-boos, (it's just that when I do, it's a WHOPPER!)
1. User error - connecting to the wrong place or don't have batteries isolated
2. Charger error - it's not an AGM charger or has a problem.
3. Battery problem - can't be charged due to battery issue
and those are in no particular order!

Oh, I don't take offense, I'm betting on user error as well I'll take take a look with some better knowledge now.

I know different dealerships have good and bad results, I'll have to try another one here locally as my first experience was terrible with my local dealership.

 

[rharr]

i would start by using a app like Jscan to read all the error codes and track down what they mean and work your way though them looking for physical problems related to the systems that have error codes.

 

[Hootbro]

You are in a bad spot. Since you do not trust your dealership and your skills are lacking in this area, need to try and find a independent shop the specializes in this kind of diagnostics.

You kind of get what you pay for asking random strangers on the internet to include here. Hard to hand carry someone through stuff like this on the internet. A lot of good advice has already been given but the back and forth with things getting lost in translation does not help drilling down on problems like this.

If you were my next door neighbor asking for help, I am pretty confident we could get it isolated and narrowed down. Trying to figure it out over distance is crippling in not being eyes on a problem.

@sharpsicle is right, need to step back from the battery business as you are doing the vehicle equivalent of "Ctrl+Alt+Del" computer key restart that is not changing anything.

 

[ckmarble]

So a few days ago I'm driving my 2020 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon to work and I'm stopped at a traffic signal when my Jeep decides to just shutdown. I noticed a warning in the dash "Stop Safely your vehicle will shutdown soon" type of message. I put it in park, tried to start it again and nothing. It would turn on into accessory mode, but wouldn't start. Acted like I didn't have my foot on the brake, when I certainly did.

Got it towed to a nearby parking lot off the main road to troubleshoot. Disconnected the battery (both main and aux) and re-attached and it let me start the Jeep only to have it act like it's either running out of gas or is in bad need of a tune up is all I can describe it as. Couldn't get it in gear, no matter what gear I put it in it would just flash on the gear shift.

I replaced both batteries and things looked good for about 5 minutes. After idling for a bit, I jump back in the Jeep and notice the "Stop Safely, vehicle will shutdown soon" message again. Sure enough it shuts down 3/4 mile down the road again. Same issues as before. So, I decided to remove the battery cables and reconnect again. That gave me intermittently blinking lights on the dash. I couldn't start or get into Aux mode.

Towed it home and now I get nothing. No lights. Can't jump start it and charging it doesn't help. Nothing. The main battery has been checked and was 100% with no bad cells 2 days ago. Not sure if anyone else has seen this and where I can start. Unfortunately I don't trust my local dealer at all. I had it in for a small leak and they gave no communication what-so-ever. Weeks in the shop.

I'm making progress...

I replaced the Z case high amp fuse array and my Jeep started right up. Everything looked good that evening. Drove it around for a bit. Checked gauges etc. battery charging stayed at 14.2v. Still had an issue with the Auto start/stop and the rear and front cameras not working (the cameras started working about 30 min later)

This morning I went out to give it a drive and the battery was only getting a charge at 14v when I was coasting (foot off the gas). With power on the engine it would drop to 12.6v. I'm going to get the alternator checked today. I suspect that may be the issue.

 

[Commodus]

I'm making progress...

I replaced the Z case high amp fuse array and my Jeep started right up. Everything looked good that evening. Drove it around for a bit. Checked gauges etc. battery charging stayed at 14.2v. Still had an issue with the Auto start/stop and the rear and front cameras not working (the cameras started working about 30 min later)

This morning I went out to give it a drive and the battery was only getting a charge at 14v when I was coasting (foot off the gas). With power on the engine it would drop to 12.6v. I'm going to get the alternator checked today. I suspect that may be the issue.

Those are normal voltages for a fully charged battery. We have smart alternators that only charge when conditions are correct

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