ESS troubles.

[DT'sJT]

2021 Mojave, my first Jeep.
27,000 miles.
I bought it new almost 4 years ago.
Zero modifications.

I am not a mechanic. So I'm asking for advice or help.

This is the 3rd time the ESS battery has required attention. In 2022 it went to the dealer to get charged, then in 2023 to be replaced (only the ESS battery not the main battery), both of those were discovered while tires were being rotated, and were taken care of under warranty. The truck never gives me any warning that the battery is low. It does however, every day, give me the warning that the "ESS is not ready." The ESS never functions, and I never turn it off manually. I forget it exists. Now both batteries are dead. I trickle charged it and it started, but only for 1 day, dead again as expected the next day.

Although my experience and thoughts are strongly negative about this ESS system, I'm not here to argue them. I'm here to ask for some of your thoughts. At both prior visits the techs told me I don't drive long enough for the ESS system to fully charge, and it therefore becomes a major and constant drain to the main battery. (with the exception of a cluple of longer trips and a couple off road joy rides I only drive 1-2 miles for work or groceries or whatever...). They told me the batteries would fail, and that it will continue to happen unless I idle the truck for 60 minutes or longer every week to make up for a lack of driving time. The idea of idling my truck weekly to charge the ESS system that exists to save fuel is baffling to me. I can't believe that this is what I bought from Jeep.

So can I:
1- safely delete the ESS system, or
2- can I put a trickle charger under the hood and dangle the cord out of the grill and charge it over night once a week (will that charge the ESS battery?), or
3- is there nothing that can be done and I have to learn to live with it? I am struggling to accept that I'll be replacing the ESS battery every other year, and the main battery every 3 or 4 years, that is unacceptable. I am also struggling accept that I have to live with an ESS system designed to same my planet from the burning of fossil fuels while it requires me to idle my truck weekly negating the very small improvement it makes to the environment...

I appreciate your input.

Dustin

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[Mr._Bill]

2021 Mojave, my first Jeep.
27,000 miles.
I bought it new almost 4 years ago.
Zero modifications.

I am not a mechanic. So I'm asking for advice or help.

This is the 3rd time the ESS battery has required attention. In 2022 it went to the dealer to get charged, then in 2023 to be replaced (only the ESS battery not the main battery), both of those were discovered while tires were being rotated, and were taken care of under warranty. The truck never gives me any warning that the battery is low. It does however, every day, give me the warning that the "ESS is not ready." The ESS never functions, and I never turn it off manually. I forget it exists. Now both batteries are dead. I trickle charged it and it started, but only for 1 day, dead again as expected the next day.

Although my experience and thoughts are strongly negative about this ESS system, I'm not here to argue them. I'm here to ask for some of your thoughts. At both prior visits the techs told me I don't drive long enough for the ESS system to fully charge, and it therefore becomes a major and constant drain to the main battery. (with the exception of a cluple of longer trips and a couple off road joy rides I only drive 1-2 miles for work or groceries or whatever...). They told me the batteries would fail, and that it will continue to happen unless I idle the truck for 60 minutes or longer every week to make up for a lack of driving time. The idea of idling my truck weekly to charge the ESS system that exists to save fuel is baffling to me. I can't believe that this is what I bought from Jeep.

So can I:
1- safely delete the ESS system, or
2- can I put a trickle charger under the hood and dangle the cord out of the grill and charge it over night once a week (will that charge the ESS battery?), or
3- is there nothing that can be done and I have to learn to live with it? I am struggling to accept that I'll be replacing the ESS battery every other year, and the main battery every 3 or 4 years, that is unacceptable. I am also struggling accept that I have to live with an ESS system designed to same my planet from the burning of fossil fuels while it requires me to idle my truck weekly negating the very small improvement it makes to the environment...

I appreciate your input.

Dustin

The 'ESS Not Ready' message was your warning that you had battery issues.

The average life expectancy of batteries in the JT is three years. If it is not driven enough to keep the batteries charged they will fail faster.

The batteries are paralleled together all the time except during the startup test and during ESS restarts. When batteries are changed, both need to be replaced at the same time and fully charged before installation.

If the truck is not driven enough to keep the batteries charged, then it should have a battery maintainer connected when parked. Idling it for an hour a week is not enough to keep the batteries charged, just wastes fuel, and is not good for the oil.

The ESS system is always active. It cannot be disabled or removed. Even if the dash button is always pressed to keep it from turning the engine off, the system is always on. It will provide the ESS warnings that indicate potential battery issues.

There are multiple threads on methods of installing a battery maintainer. They can be mounted under the hood with the cord hanging out, or connected with a plug in the bumper. They can also be hooked up using the tow wiring connector in the rear bumper.

 

[XraytecH]

2021 Mojave, my first Jeep.
27,000 miles.
I bought it new almost 4 years ago.
Zero modifications.

I am not a mechanic. So I'm asking for advice or help.

This is the 3rd time the ESS battery has required attention. In 2022 it went to the dealer to get charged, then in 2023 to be replaced (only the ESS battery not the main battery), both of those were discovered while tires were being rotated, and were taken care of under warranty. The truck never gives me any warning that the battery is low. It does however, every day, give me the warning that the "ESS is not ready." The ESS never functions, and I never turn it off manually. I forget it exists. Now both batteries are dead. I trickle charged it and it started, but only for 1 day, dead again as expected the next day.

Although my experience and thoughts are strongly negative about this ESS system, I'm not here to argue them. I'm here to ask for some of your thoughts. At both prior visits the techs told me I don't drive long enough for the ESS system to fully charge, and it therefore becomes a major and constant drain to the main battery. (with the exception of a cluple of longer trips and a couple off road joy rides I only drive 1-2 miles for work or groceries or whatever...). They told me the batteries would fail, and that it will continue to happen unless I idle the truck for 60 minutes or longer every week to make up for a lack of driving time. The idea of idling my truck weekly to charge the ESS system that exists to save fuel is baffling to me. I can't believe that this is what I bought from Jeep.

So can I:
1- safely delete the ESS system, or
2- can I put a trickle charger under the hood and dangle the cord out of the grill and charge it over night once a week (will that charge the ESS battery?), or
3- is there nothing that can be done and I have to learn to live with it? I am struggling to accept that I'll be replacing the ESS battery every other year, and the main battery every 3 or 4 years, that is unacceptable. I am also struggling accept that I have to live with an ESS system designed to same my planet from the burning of fossil fuels while it requires me to idle my truck weekly negating the very small improvement it makes to the environment...

I appreciate your input.

Dustin

Daily driven but I don't drive long enough for the alternator top off the batteries. Also my Glad has parasitic draw on the batteries so that doesn't help.

I had 4 "Solutions" also I have a TAZER that disables ESS. But I still get the "Aux Switches Disable, Battery Charging" which for all intents and purposes is the same as "ESS is not ready"

1) Replace both the Main and Aux.

Worked for maybe a 6 months before I got the dreaded "Aux Switches Disable, Battery Charging"

2) Delete the Aux Battery and pull fuse F42.

Don't know exactly what pulling fuse F42 does but I guess it forces the "Computer" to skip testing the Aux Battery Voltage. Worked for about a year then got "Aux Switches Disable, Battery Charging".

3) Run two main batteries. One in the Glad while the second is being tendered by a trickle charger.

I live in a Condo and my parking stall is nowhere near a power outlet. So an onboard battery maintainer is not an option. So I got a second battery sitting with a battery maintainer. When I get "Aux Switches Disable, Battery Charging" I swap batteries. Ran that set-up for about 2 years and it worked a treat. But lifting a 50lbs battery out of the engine bay of a lifted Jeep was not helping my 50+ year old back.

4) Solar Powered battery maintainer with a LiFePo4 main battery. For a Daily Driven Glad, this is my best solution.

 

[Flyboy2109]

Stick shift? ESS rarely engages in a manual due to several more 'hoops' the computer has to get through to function..

Me, I use the ESS memory unit that remembers my last choice on the switch-which is off. Then I removed the Aux Batt and pulled its cables up and attached them to the Main Batt. Pulled no fuses. truck has been happy for two years, I have been happy not to have an Aux Batt or ESS.

 

[Gvsukids]

Then I removed the Aux Batt and pulled its cables up and attached them to the Main Batt.

Can that be done even if the aux battery is left in the truck?

 

[djthumper]

I have been having this same issue with my aux battery not maintaining a charge and it tests fine. Could the IBS be bad? If so how do we test it? I know we have to bypass it in order to charge the aux battery.

 

[Flyboy2109]

Can that be done even if the aux battery is left in the truck?

Run the Aux Batt cables up to the main? I would guess so, but why leave the aux batt in the truck then? After digging the aux Batt out of its space i knew I didn't want to uproot all that electrical stuff again. Some pull the Aux batt from the wheel well, but when I looked at that I went down from the top. In my 2023 the cables were just long enough to attach to the main without much effort.

I will state, my JT is a Sport S. Higher models may have more stuff relying on the Aux Batt. Sport S, it's just the ESS. I followed the video of a fella on YouTube for the removal which was quit simple and he reported, as I do, no problems or complications in his Aux Batt removal or following the removal.

Far as I know, with my ESS always selected off, the systems the Aux Batt may power are now all covered by the Main, including the Aux Batt charge monitoring.

 

[Wageslave]

Daily driven but I don't drive long enough for the alternator top off the batteries. Also my Glad has parasitic draw on the batteries so that doesn't help.

I had 4 "Solutions" also I have a TAZER that disables ESS. But I still get the "Aux Switches Disable, Battery Charging" which for all intents and purposes is the same as "ESS is not ready"

1) Replace both the Main and Aux.

Worked for maybe a 6 months before I got the dreaded "Aux Switches Disable, Battery Charging"

2) Delete the Aux Battery and pull fuse F42.

Don't know exactly what pulling fuse F42 does but I guess it forces the "Computer" to skip testing the Aux Battery Voltage. Worked for about a year then got "Aux Switches Disable, Battery Charging".

3) Run two main batteries. One in the Glad while the second is being tendered by a trickle charger.

I live in a Condo and my parking stall is nowhere near a power outlet. So an onboard battery maintainer is not an option. So I got a second battery sitting with a battery maintainer. When I get "Aux Switches Disable, Battery Charging" I swap batteries. Ran that set-up for about 2 years and it worked a treat. But lifting a 50lbs battery out of the engine bay of a lifted Jeep was not helping my 50+ year old back.

4) Solar Powered battery maintainer with a LiFePo4 main battery. For a Daily Driven Glad, this is my best solution.

I went through a similar set of steps on mine when my AUX battery failed twice in a year. I ended up replacing both batteries, then mounting a 100w solar panel to the top of my toolbox and a marine deep cycle battery inside the toolbox. The charge controller charges the deep cycle battery and pushes power to the main batteries through the trailer connector. I don't technically need the deep cycle battery to keep my main batteries charged, but I have an inverter mounted inside the toolbox that I use to charge drill batteries and run trouble lights off of.

Its not super pretty, but the panel and charge controller only cost about $125 and has kept my truck charged enough that the ESS has worked all throughout winter.

 

[Lost1wing]

I have been having this same issue with my aux battery not maintaining a charge and it tests fine. Could the IBS be bad? If so how do we test it? I know we have to bypass it in order to charge the aux battery.

You charge through the IBS (top connector) when both batteriers are installed like normal. You might benefit from removing the Aux ground and charge your Aux by itself. Once that is complete, keep the aux neg cable isolated and place your neg charging cable on the main neg post. While that is charging, remove the connector from the IBS. When that is complete you have a choice to check the battery voltage on the Aux and main or slap the Aux cable back on and plug in the IBS.

 

[ecidiego]

I charge mine once a month through the trailer connector to keep the batteries healthy. The alternator won't ever get these AGM batteries to 12.8 volts which is "fully charged". The "smart charging" logic cuts the battery off from the alternator too early.

 

[DT'sJT]

As mentioned its my first Jeep, and I'm no mechanic. I wanted to thank everyone for the input. I don't know any of you but that didn't stop you from explaining things. I frequently need things explained to me like I'm 5. Thanks. I'm gonna look for a trickle charger to mount under the hood. I expect to plug it in weekly, but probably not daily. I'll set up a routine, however, my oldest kid is just starting to drive. Between be and his mother, I'm certain at some point my the truck is gonna be removed from the garage while still plugged in. Does anyone know if a magnetic or otherwise quick release cord is available to decrease damage from driving off while still plugged in?

 

[Mr._Bill]

There are quick-release plugs available. They are regularly used on Emergency Response vehicles. You should be able to find something on Amazon that will work.

 

[Freems]

As mentioned its my first Jeep, and I'm no mechanic. I wanted to thank everyone for the input. I don't know any of you but that didn't stop you from explaining things. I frequently need things explained to me like I'm 5. Thanks. I'm gonna look for a trickle charger to mount under the hood. I expect to plug it in weekly, but probably not daily. I'll set up a routine, however, my oldest kid is just starting to drive. Between be and his mother, I'm certain at some point my the truck is gonna be removed from the garage while still plugged in. Does anyone know if a magnetic or otherwise quick release cord is available to decrease damage from driving off while still plugged in?

Don’t over think it…Sticky note on the horn button will work just fine.

 

[DT'sJT]

It crossed my mind to hang the cord over the drivers side rear view any time it's getting topped off, as an immediate reminder to unplug it before driving.

 

[Gatorized]

Magnetic disconnect battery tender connector - (Magcode connectors.)

https://hethelsport.com/tools/charger-connection-kit/

Or
use this to connect and charge thru the trailer connector

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002UC8U7G

and a plug like this to connect the charger to the plug above, but get a version for your charger

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0016LA5O8

make sure to use an AGM charger.

i use this: NOCO Genius5 charger

note: I charge my battery whenever it sits idle for a couple days - still on the original batteries installed at the factory in Nov 2019.

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