Is my thinking right here with what my issue is?

[WILDHOBO]

Only "too small" if you drive short or infrequent drives.
For many of us, they are fine.
I only put a tender on when it sits for several days.

And in the OP's case - he's going to have the same problems going forward - short battery life, low battery voltages.
So he puts in a larger main battery - that will be the same as the two originals combined.
Since they run in parallel, he has no more capacity than before, even with the aux battery delete.
So all he's gained is the removal of one battery. It won't resolve the short drive or low voltage issues. It's just that now he's got one battery and it will do the same thing if he operates the vehicle the same way.

Remember, the two batteries combined is the actual battery capacity. He's likely not gaining capacity at all with just one battery. It's probably the same as the two originals combined.

This^^. 100 percent. Everyone wants to modify the battery setup instead of maintaining the system. It’s not broken or flawed. It works fine. I do use a maintainer, but it also gives me great information that confirms this. If I drive an hour, when I plug in the maintainer it only charges for a couple minutes. If I take the kids to school 2 miles away and back, it shows charging for 20 or more.

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[mtudb24]

This^^. 100 percent. Everyone wants to modify the battery setup instead of maintaining the system. It’s not broken or flawed. It works fine. I do use a maintainer, but it also gives me great information that confirms this. If I drive an hour, when I plug in the maintainer it only charges for a couple minutes. If I take the kids to school 2 miles away and back, it shows charging for 20 or more.

My opinion and my opinion only, it seems there is a fault in the architecture of this vehicle.

If we have to put a battery tender / charger on a $50K+ vehicle if it sets a few days a week without being used or driven less then a hour a day, that seems wrong.

My mom has a 4 year old equinox with start stop. 18K miles later and still running original batteries. So you can do the math on how long that thing sets between uses. Sister has a 2016 Malibu with aux battery in the trunk, she had to replace her aux and main battery in 2022 and now has 54,000 miles. That's 6 years and very few miles for the years. It sat way more then a couple days a week and they've never had to trickle charge their system to keep it operational.

Our family's modern farm Tractors / Harvesters / Sprayers which can cost all have J1939 Can Bus, and going to CAN FD, and the ethernet systems. We have as many modules as the Jeep does if not more on many Harvesters, and we don't see battery failures as much as these Jeeps do. And they set for much longer then days / weeks in-between uses, and we don't always run trickle charger on them.

Not trying to be disrespectful or argumentative , but I think there is a flaw on how Jeep approached this system.

 

[judojosh]

Yes and Yes. Go with a group 94. You'll have to pop out a little spacer on the battery tray to allow the larger battery to fit.
Tape terminal end or put a heat shrink on it and then zip tie back the cable to prevent it from bouncing around.

Isn't group 94r essentially the same as H7?

 

[judojosh]

This^^. 100 percent. Everyone wants to modify the battery setup instead of maintaining the system. It’s not broken or flawed. It works fine. I do use a maintainer, but it also gives me great information that confirms this. If I drive an hour, when I plug in the maintainer it only charges for a couple minutes. If I take the kids to school 2 miles away and back, it shows charging for 20 or more.

Do I need a specific kind of battery tender for an AGM battery or would any trickle charger work just fine?

 

[mtudb24]

Isn't group 94r essentially the same as H7?

yes, they are the same.

 

[mtudb24]

Do I need a specific kind of battery tender for an AGM battery or would any trickle charger work just fine?

Find one that is specific to AGM (Absorbed glass matt) batteries to be 100% efficient

 

[WILDHOBO]

My opinion and my opinion only, it seems there is a fault in the architecture of this vehicle.

If we have to put a battery tender / charger on a $50K+ vehicle if it sets a few days a week without being used or driven less then a hour a day, that seems wrong.

My mom has a 4 year old equinox with start stop. 18K miles later and still running original batteries. So you can do the math on how long that thing sets between uses. Sister has a 2016 Malibu with aux battery in the trunk, she had to replace her aux and main battery in 2022 and now has 54,000 miles. That's 6 years and very few miles for the years. It sat way more then a couple days a week and they've never had to trickle charge their system to keep it operational.

Our family's modern farm Tractors / Harvesters / Sprayers which can cost all have J1939 Can Bus, and going to CAN FD, and the ethernet systems. We have as many modules as the Jeep does if not more on many Harvesters, and we don't see battery failures as much as these Jeeps do. And they set for much longer then days / weeks in-between uses, and we don't always run trickle charger on them.

Not trying to be disrespectful or argumentative , but I think there is a flaw on how Jeep approached this system.

I get it, but I think these are apples to oranges with equinox and Malibu. I’m certainly not a harvester expert, so I won’t speak to that. But so many more accessories than a standard sedan or tall station wagon.

Btw, I absolutely didn’t think you were being argumentative. I could easily be wrong. Happens daily. I hope I didn’t come off that way to you.

 

[Maximus Gladius]

This is the upgrade to my batteries. For the main I went with deep cycle/starter Optima DH7. I wanted it to be the biggest I could get to fit the space. I believe in the 2 battery system as it’s designed. It works just fine if the AUX battery is healthy and LORDCO Auto recommended one that was 220 crank amps as a pose to the 200 Mopar’s is. This was back in 2023 and batteries are still working as they should.

I got tired of having to plug in the trickle charger every couple of days or so and the noticeable low V was always a concern, so it was time for them to go.

Now, after all these months, I rarely go in to load test it but they do get topped up every couple of months.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Just some random thoughts and points -

1 Equinox is a single example or data point, and we don't know what equipment is has vs. a JT.

Battery quality is at issue as much as some of the other issues - go to various 4xe forums and see how many have lost batteries from 1 month to 2 years into ownership. Architecture? There's only one battery and no aux battery and no ESS. (and no alternator)

Example of non-Jeep people with battery "issues" - was in NAPA store, one guy brought up, and others chimed in "can't get a battery in a car to last over 4 years these days". There was other discussion as well. Safe to assume parasitic loads, OEM battery quality or battery quality overall, and other factors.

I've had one instance of batteries failing at 3 years.

When driven regularly, I don't have a voltage issue.

I noticed that my 2022 voltages ALWAYS ran higher than my 2020 did. Will be keeping close watch on the 2025 to see if I note a difference, so far, it's a bit higher than the others as well.
My 2020 always ran a deficit as far as amps out vs. amps in watching the IBS numbers.

 

[WILDHOBO]

This is the upgrade to my batteries. For the main I went with deep cycle/starter Optima DH7. I wanted it to be the biggest I could get to fit the space. I believe in the 2 battery system as it’s designed. It works just fine if the AUX battery is healthy and LORDCO Auto recommended one that was 220 crank amps as a pose to the 200 Mopar’s is. This was back in 2023 and batteries are still working as they should.

I got tired of having to plug in the trickle charger every couple of days or so and the noticeable low V was always a concern, so it was time for them to go.

Now, after all these months, I rarely go in to load test it but they do get topped up every couple of months.

I switched to a yellow top for my main 2.5 years ago as well. I don’t remember the cranking amps on the die hard aux 14 I installed at the same time. I think the biggest suggestion we can give, and we just keep doing it, is REPLACE BOTH OF THEM.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I switched to a yellow top for my main 2.5 years ago as well. I don’t remember the cranking amps on the die hard aux 14 I installed at the same time. I think the biggest suggestion we can give, and we just keep doing it, is REPLACE BOTH OF THEM.

One of the biggest things on lists out there on battery sites, battery manufacturing sites, battery selling sites - when charging in parallel, it's best if both batteries are of the same health, same age.
Yes "you can" do it otherwise and many many do, many have replaced just the main or just the aux and waited until the other went bad, but that's a "it might work ok" vs. "ideal for the batteries".

 

[judojosh]

So I replaced my main with a H7. Disconnected the aux negative (labeled 2020 in the picture) and pulled the ess fuse.

Car has no power whatsoever. I'm thinking maybe the IBs? I'm on my way to AutoZone to replace that.

Any ideas????

 

[WILDHOBO]

One of the biggest things on lists out there on battery sites, battery manufacturing sites, battery selling sites - when charging in parallel, it's best if both batteries are of the same health, same age.
Yes "you can" do it otherwise and many many do, many have replaced just the main or just the aux and waited until the other went bad, but that's a "it might work ok" vs. "ideal for the batteries".

 

[WILDHOBO]

So I replaced my main with a H7. Disconnected the aux negative (labeled 2020 in the picture) and pulled the ess fuse.

Car has no power whatsoever. I'm thinking maybe the IBs? I'm on my way to AutoZone to replace that.

Any ideas????

I don’t think AutoZone is that great at dealing with irritable bowel syndrome. I’ve found that Napa is your best bet for that. They’re not worth a crap for much else though.

 

[WILDHOBO]

So I replaced my main with a H7. Disconnected the aux negative (labeled 2020 in the picture) and pulled the ess fuse.

Car has no power whatsoever. I'm thinking maybe the IBs? I'm on my way to AutoZone to replace that.

Any ideas????

ASS is auto start stop, if that’s what you’re referring to. Don’t pull the fuse for that.

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