Main battery and Aux Battery replacement write up

[NC_Overland]

I drove the Gladiator for a couple of hours yesterday doing some errands and had no starting issues. The temperature dropped to low 20s last night and this morning I attempted to remote start the truck and it didn't start. I got in and tried to start it by pressing the button, but all hell broke loose. It turned into a Xmas tree with all lights and all kinds of clicking noises. The only way to reset everything was to disconnect the ground terminal from the main battery and the N1 terminal on the fuse box. Luckily, I had my NOCO jump pack at the ready. It started right up after reconnecting the terminals. Obviously the two battery design is not optimal on these trucks. On our old WK2 Grand Cherokee without ESS the original battery lasted 8 years. The Gladiator's barely made to 4.

It’s not the ESS. It’s the battery location. The underhood heat, especially the aux battery being right next to the exhaust, cooks the battery. Heat is the biggest killer of batteries.

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[NC_Overland]

Just wanted to update

I am not the most mechanical
And over all did not think it was that bad
A little bit of a pain, but not that bad.

Went for the wheel well method

I did the same when I did mine last year. I took the tire off and peeled the liner back so I didn’t have to deal with the plastic rivets.

My mistake was not replacing my main battery at the same time. Even thought it tested fine. It died about a week later and almost left me stranded. I made it home and the next morning it wouldn’t start and kept trying till I disconnected the batteries. I couldn’t stop it otherwise. The day before I got a power steering warning and it stalled on me. Thankfully it restarted and was fine till the next morning. It’s been a year and the power steering warning was a low voltage issue.

 

[Mr Miami]

What happened to the time (I have a JK and a TJ in the yard that still are "simple") when the battery needed to be replaced, you took an open-end wrench, unscrewed the battery cables, mixed a little baking soda with water, poured it on the cables to get the white stuff off as is hissed away, went to the local auto parts store with the old battery, bought a new one, went back home, put the battery back in, tightened the little bolts, placed the little red plastic cap thing on the positive terminal, started the Jeep and didn't think about repeating the process until 5, 6 or 7 years later.

I guess my '24 JTR is more "advanced."

Edit: Or better yet, when auto parts stores did the free wiper blades installation or battery installation in the parking lot for free.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

What happened to the time (I have a JK and a TJ in the yard that still are "simple") when the battery needed to be replaced, you took an open-end wrench, unscrewed the battery cables, mixed a little baking soda with water, poured it on the cables to get the white stuff off as is hissed away, went to the local auto parts store with the old battery, bought a new one, went back home, put the battery back in, tightened the little bolts, placed the little red plastic cap thing on the positive terminal, started the Jeep and didn't think about repeating the process until 5, 6 or 7 years later.

I guess my '24 JTR is more "advanced."

Edit: Or better yet, when auto parts stores did the free wiper blades installation or battery installation in the parking lot for free.

Oooooh - would love to see the store replace the aux battery for free! (no, keep them away!!)

I don't want them messing with my vehicles changing wiper blades - they'd scratch something.

 

[Mr Miami]

Oooooh - would love to see the store replace the aux battery for free! (no, keep them away!!)

I don't want them messing with my vehicles changing wiper blades - they'd scratch something.

You brought back chilling memories about wiper blade replacement by the auto parts store. My wife's previous BMW needed wiper blades and it was out of the warranty/maintenance plan thing so we had to replace our own blades. Took it to Advanced Auto. Overall, good place. But it just started to lightly rain and I didn't recognize the clipping system on the wiper blades so I just thought I would let the guy in the store do it since he has probably done this dozens of times.

Well, you are right. The guy pulled up the blade, took off the old one, and the stem smacked back on the glass. It put a tiny, tiny nick on the glass where the windshield ends and really not visible at all. I told him I was pissed but what more could I do?

In the morning, I wake up, the temperature naturally had changed in the night and that tiny chip started about a 6 inch crack in the windshield. Let me just say, it took the better part of a month getting Advance Auto and State Farm to replace it with the OEM glass instead of some Chinese stuff, more phone calls and estimates than you would believe.

So yes, I can't imagine anyone ever touching my vehicles again for that kind of stuff, free or not.

 

[Mud Pie]

Today I replaced both OEM Main and Aux batteries with ACDelco Pro Golds. The OEM battery had no vents, the ACDelco has two, one on each end of the battery. Of course the positive terminal shipping cover comes with one plug, but does it matter which end I plug, the positive or negative ? Would it be good practice to also run an elbow and vent hose or is it venting into the engine satisfactory ? I've seen it both ways, I just wonder which is best.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Today I replaced both OEM Main and Aux batteries with ACDelco Pro Golds. The OEM battery had no vents, the ACDelco has two, one on each end of the battery. Of course the positive terminal shipping cover comes with one plug, but does it matter which end I plug, the positive or negative ? Would it be good practice to also run an elbow and vent hose or is it venting into the engine satisfactory ? I've seen it both ways, I just wonder which is best.

From what I see, not all of those batteries are AGM, so make sure you put AGM in it. AGM isn't open-vented. They will build some pressure before venting. That's what made me look to see if "all" of those are AGM and the results came back "many are".
NEVER plug battery vents. and if those have open, obvious vents, it does make me wonder.
AGM batteries will vent, but it takes more pressure- in fact, "over-pressure" and it's rare for them to vent because it's pressure regulated.

If I was you - I'd triple check to see that the batteries YOU bought are indeed AGM.
AGM doesn't need any special vent because they so very rarely ever vent or release any gases at all. They are considered "sealed" batteries.

 

[Mud Pie]

Well, the decals on the battery say it's AGM, ACDelco web site says it's AGM, the label says ,"non-spillable", that's all I can go by....

But I did notice the two vent holes. They may be safety valves for all I know... I'm not going to try and press fit the vent plug that came on the positive terminal cover into one of the holes... see vent holes in ACDelco web site pic..

 

[bbilly29]

help
im getting my 4rth aux batt replaced w only 19k on the 23 jeep

after getting "car will shut down errors" i pulled over and tried to charge the Li batt w a back up and also tried to do the delete since the main was at 12.8 v.
the delete didnt work and left the car dead, i tried each neg lead and nothing.
The car would only start w both neg leads connected but would die in 20 seconds showing 8V on the dash battery gauge. So the cars reading the aux under load and ignoring the main.

the weirdest part was when meter testing the aux lead w the pos on the main battery it read 22.8V which is series for the main and the 10v from the aux. How is this possible?

last i noticed they have the small wire grounding the jeep and the fat wire going to the aux

 

[Ssyclone]

I have a 22 Gladiator Rubicon. I purchased it used in March of 24. My AUX battery crapped out just past the 36 month mark like clockwork. I deleted it by removing the battery from the top, and routing the positive cable up to the main battery positive lug and I taped the ground wire up and zip tied it in the auxiliary battery box. It will take a few cycles or days for all the infotainment systems to chill out. This will work and even the auto start/stop bs stays functional.

This winter my main battery started failing so the money I saved on that AUX battery was applied to my main battery price I purchased a larger group size battery, AGM with more CCA. Again your infotainment crap will freak out but in a day or two it's gonna be fine. Expect his anytime you unhook the battery.

There's YouTube videos to help with the AUX battery removal, it's not that hard to do and I have done this myself and it does work.

If your looking for how to kill that AUTO Start crap, don't waste your time trying fuse pulls and wire removal. If you don't want to have freaky shit going on with the dash you need to buy a device to disable the system.

I hope this helps someone.

 

[Jerhemi]

Both my batteries just went; they lasted 5 years/105,000 km (65,xxx miles). It is stupid cold here and I lack garage space at the moment. Had the dealer replace both…wait for it…$1200 Canadian.

 

[Casique]

Replaced my main and deleted the aux last week. The original battery lasted 5 years. I had the Jeep on a battery tender if not driven for 3 days or more.

 

[Mud Pie]

help
im getting my 4rth aux batt replaced w only 19k on the 23 jeep

after getting "car will shut down errors" i pulled over and tried to charge the Li batt w a back up and also tried to do the delete since the main was at 12.8 v.
the delete didnt work and left the car dead, i tried each neg lead and nothing.
The car would only start w both neg leads connected but would die in 20 seconds showing 8V on the dash battery gauge. So the cars reading the aux under load and ignoring the main.

the weirdest part was when meter testing the aux lead w the pos on the main battery it read 22.8V which is series for the main and the 10v from the aux. How is this possible?

last i noticed they have the small wire grounding the jeep and the fat wire going to the aux

I don't mean to sound sarcastic or rude, but I gotta ask these questions....

Are you buying quality batteries ? Is the salesman saying "This battery is just like ___ brand batteries, trust me, no need to pay extra for those fancy names." kinda stuff ?

Are you buying the same battery over and over ? Y'know the old saying, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.".

Are you replacing it yourself or is the same mechanic doing the work repeatedly ?

If I were you, I'd get some quality batteries (yeah, they're gonna cost...a lot), put them in, then go DIRECTLY to a Jeep dealership, NOT a local trusted mechanic and have the dealership run diagnostics on it while the batteries are still alive. Get the paper trail going. For this issue, don't use Local Joe's. Go to the Mothership. There may be an issue the dealer is aware of, but a Local will be clueless.

Either you or your mechanic is doing something wrong (or your Jeep is hosed). FOUR batteries is WAY TOO MUCH. Get the Dealer involved !!

(no, I don't work for Jeep, yada-yada, add all the companies under the umbrella......)

 

[Mud Pie]

Both my batteries just went; they lasted 5 years/105,000 km (65,xxx miles). It is stupid cold here and I lack garage space at the moment. Had the dealer replace both…wait for it…$1200 Canadian.

No shame thrown from me. I've replaced brakes on all my (and my family) vehicles since I was like 10 years old (seriously. My flashlight-holding gig didn't last long with MY Dad...). A few years ago, my wife's 2005 Jeep Liberty was in the shop to get a leaky oil pressure module replaced. I just couldn't reach it. The mechanic called and said I needed new brakes and rotors. I knew that, but being it was over 100* degrees in Texas, I kept putting it off. I said, "Do it." And I paid for it.

But it was done.

 

[McRuss]

This reply is a bit off of the post but....I deleted the Mopar Aux battery and pulled the fuse 42. But I still get the Stop/Start failure warning and the '(A)! light. Is the 'fix' immediate or does it take some time?

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