Having trouble removing the main battery. Help. Please.

[ShadowsPapa]

Yeah, it was the negative that sparked. Positive just kinda stayed in the red rubbery protector.

Here is the tech behind the warnings -
When you remove the cable assembly from the main battery, the small aux battery is still connected down below. The positive of it can feed back through the fuses to the positive cable you removed from the main battery. And since the aux battery grounds to the cable you removed,. the other end of which is still connected to the chassis and block, letting that red cable end touch ground can blow that fuse. That fuse is part of a long array of fuses and it's somewhere just south of $200 as I recall.
I usually wrap a rag about the positive if I remove it - even tape the rag onto it. Call me paranoid, or just assume I hate it when I break something that wasn't broken before I started fixing the other thing!
Again, I think you are fine since it was the negative that sparked and that's normal.
I had the negative off mine today to test a theory and it sparked when it touched the terminal again to reconnect it. Normal.

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[Jabakkarabbit]

Great news!

I couldn't wait till the morn so I walked out and started the Jeep. Everything is back to normal! Back-up cam works as does Sirius.

Thanks to all!

 

[Jabakkarabbit]

I'm scheduled to take her in to the dealership to test the aux battery in a week. They quoted me $55 to install. After all the clumsy mistakes I've made I learned some too.

Yeah, I could do the aux install myself, but it seems pretty risky considering I could have blown the barn up just changing out the regular battery.

In this case I'm thinking it's worth the money to not make a big mistake.

 

[Jabakkarabbit]

One more thing........dashboard still says 'stop/start not ready'. I read on another thread that this prob means the aux is indeed about dead.

Ya'll think it will even last a week so I can get it to the dealership appt? Or should I just buy the battery and change it out myself (very carefully)?

 

[Gatorized]

One more thing........dashboard still says 'stop/start not ready'. I read on another thread that this prob means the aux is indeed about dead.

Ya'll think it will even last a week so I can get it to the dealership appt? Or should I just buy the battery and change it out myself (very carefully)?

Hook up a charger to the main positive and ground and it will charge both the Aux and Crank batteries… tHen you should know if the aux really has bit the dust, before replacing something that you may not need to replace.

 

[Jabakkarabbit]

Innocent question, though:

Will charging up thru the brand new battery cause any problems? I'd hate to over-charge it.

 

[Gatorized]

shouldn’t be a problem, but you could disconnect both positive and negative from the main battery to charge just the Aux battery.

again, don’t let the positive touch ground While it is disconnected.

 

[jebiruph]

One more thing........dashboard still says 'stop/start not ready'. I read on another thread that this prob means the aux is indeed about dead.

Ya'll think it will even last a week so I can get it to the dealership appt? Or should I just buy the battery and change it out myself (very carefully)?

'Stop/start not ready' does not mean a bad aux. If the aux fails it's only test during a cold start, the ESS error light turns on and ESS is disabled.

 

[hivol13]

Check the ESS screen on the dash to see why it's not active as it will tell you. I just replaced both batteries due to the fact that the error was constantly "not ready, battery charging" for about the last month. Immediately began working again (after engine warm up) after the change.

 

[Gatorized]

Check the ESS screen on the dash to see why it's not active as it will tell you. I just replaced both batteries due to the fact that the error was constantly "not ready, battery charging" for about the last month. Immediately began working again (after engine warm up) after the change.

That is the “just throw money at it” solution. You should charge each battery independently then determine if either is not taking or holding a charge before replacing.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Innocent question, though:

Will charging up thru the brand new battery cause any problems? I'd hate to over-charge it.

Nope, no problems at all. But DO use a charger that is AGM capable - for example, has a button to choose for AGM batteries.
It won't over-charge it. A good charger can sense what's going on.

shouldn’t be a problem, but you could disconnect both positive and negative from the main battery to charge just the Aux battery.

again, don’t let the positive touch ground While it is disconnected.

Actually, if he only disconnects the ground cable from the top of the IBS, he can connect to it and the positive terminal and charge only the aux battery.
OR - charge both by connecting to the terminals on the main battery.
But if you take the negative cable assembly off the top of the IBS and connect the negative charger clamp to the end of the negative cable you just removed and keep it from touching the main battery terminal, it will charge only the aux battery.
Real simple to charge each alone by simply removing that negative cable assy from the top of the IBS.
But when charging the main battery, ALWAYS charge through the IBS, not under it.

 

[Gatorized]

shouldn’t be a problem, but you could disconnect both positive and negative from the main battery to charge just the Aux battery.

again, don’t let the positive touch ground While it is disconnected.

Nope, no problems at all. But DO use a charger that is AGM capable - for example, has a button to choose for AGM batteries.
It won't over-charge it. A good charger can sense what's going on.



Actually, if he only disconnects the ground cable from the top of the IBS, he can connect to it and the positive terminal and charge only the aux battery.
OR - charge both by connecting to the terminals on the main battery.
But if you take the negative cable assembly off the top of the IBS and connect the negative charger clamp to the end of the negative cable you just removed and keep it from touching the main battery terminal, it will charge only the aux battery.
Real simple to charge each alone by simply removing that negative cable assy from the top of the IBS.
But when charging the main battery, ALWAYS charge through the IBS, not under it.

Thanks for clarifying- I was trying to over simplify it (and hope I got it right) by isolating the main battery completely so those confused by the dual battery issue would know they were just charging the Aux.

 

[Deleted member 28696]

I had battery issues on my JTR both went bad twice, I fixed this issue once and for all with the Genesis dual battery system. I haven't had a dead or bad battery since installing it. Everything works like it should and start stop works with no issues. I went with full throttle batteries ordered from Genesis these are both full sized group 25 batteries. You may want to look into this system if you have this issue again.

 

[Jabakkarabbit]

I'll look into it, but it is kind of late this go-round. I bought a 4 year battery and am getting the aux battery checked out at the dealer in the morning. If they go bad again, I may go the Genesis route.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Batteries "going bad" can be the result of the care and/or driving habits as much as other factors. It appears a number of these trucks don't see the miles, lengths of drives or frequency of being driven that contribute to battery health.

Typical life-span is 3 years unless they receive good care.

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