New JT with less than 100 miles. Batteries Dead.

[MGCFitz]

Bought the wife a new Gladiator. Drove it about 3 times locally. Sat in the driveway last week. Went to drive it and nothing. Fob wouldn't even unlock the doors. Checked battery voltage and read 4.3 volts. Something running the batteries down.

Anyone else have this issue?

Wife's old car was starting to have issues so wanted to get her something I didn't have worry about it leaving her stuck somewhere. I work out of town a lot and am not always around to help her if she is stranded.

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[Tourenwagen]

Had mine parked at the airport for a week back in January, Had the same experience as you. Absolutely dead. Had to get triple A to jump it with their industrial jumper as my Amazon jumper didn't even make a dent.

 

[MGCFitz]

So, something has to be pulling some current to kill both the main battery and the auxiliary battery. This isn't going to work if I can't leave it sit for several weeks or months. There are times when it will while we are traveling.

 

[WXman]

I'm pretty sure the owners manual specifically states that if you're going to store the vehicle for extended periods of time there is a procedure you should follow and disconnecting the batteries is one of the steps.

There is simply too much electronic draw on batteries these days to expect them to stay charged long term.

Having said that, a few days shouldn't kill them both.

 

[jebiruph]

Bought the wife a new Gladiator. Drove it about 3 times locally. Sat in the driveway last week. Went to drive it and nothing. Fob wouldn't even unlock the doors. Checked battery voltage and read 4.3 volts. Something running the batteries down.

Anyone else have this issue?

Wife's old car was starting to have issues so wanted to get her something I didn't have worry about it leaving her stuck somewhere. I work out of town a lot and am not always around to help her if she is stranded.

It's hard to tell what the status of the batteries was when you took possession, but you'll probably want to get the batteries checked by the dealer. You may want to leave a trickle charger connected if it will be sitting for weeks or months, or disconnect the batteries as suggested.

 

[one2doo]

Are we going to have to put a battery tender on these? Is this a big problem?

 

[jebiruph]

Are we going to have to put a battery tender on these? Is this a big problem?

There's lots of discussion about this in the wrangler forums. https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/ , especially in the 3.6L suforum https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...star-exhaust-maintenance-mods-discussions.25/ I don't see as many battery problems reported with the Gladiator, don't know if it's because it's improved or because there's not as many out there..

 

[MGCFitz]

Dealer picked it up yesterday and took it in for testing. Said both batteries were bad and they have both been replaced. Said they tested system and stated there were no current draws. We'll see. If the weather is ok tomorrow I might put my DC amp clamp on it to see. Going to let it sit for a week and see what happens.

 

[jebiruph]

Dealer picked it up yesterday and took it in for testing. Said both batteries were bad and they have both been replaced. Said they tested system and stated there were no current draws. We'll see. If the weather is ok tomorrow I might put my DC amp clamp on it to see. Going to let it sit for a week and see what happens.

Some who work for dealers have commented that if the vehicles sit on the dealers lot for a while and the batteries get drained, the batteries tend to have a high failure rate after that. Maybe that's what happened to yours.

 

[Jake]

Dealership should check the alternator. Could be why the battery does not charge, gets drained. Good thing about it is that it’s a warranty problem for Jeep, not a money problem for you.

 

[Rulf]

I know this doesn’t help your situation.

I left the JTR for 8 days outside in -30 Celsius. Had no issues starting first time when I got back.

Maybe they had a few sent out with bad batteries?

 

[Jay Gatsby]

Some who work for dealers have commented that if the vehicles sit on the dealers lot for a while and the batteries get drained, the batteries tend to have a high failure rate after that. Maybe that's what happened to yours.

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My $ on this

 

[BigRed97]

I used to work at a Jeep dealer in the early-mid 2000s.
I don't know if the quality(or supplier) has changed since. But at the time Chrysler batteries were the worst I have ever seen. We would be regularly be jump starting new vehicles on the delivery truck. And this is while they were all still in transport configuration (certain fuses pulled to stop static power consumption)
Countless jump starts before test drives and deliveries for the sales Dept. And we COULD NOT replace a battery before a customer took delivery because it wasn't technically in warranty yet. We would have to just make sure it was charged and then wait for the customer to bring it back. Sometime with in days or sometimes the first cold Night in the fall.

Would not surprise me at all if this is still a regular occurrence

 

[Hootbro]

Given that both batteries are in parallel, I can see one battery going bad and bringing the other one with it.

That being said, I regularly rotate my Gladiator with another vehicle for my daily work commutes with my Gladiator setting for 2 weeks and used for a week and repeating the cycle. Have never had a issue starting it after sitting for two weeks or any charge related issues doing this.

 

[JeepCares]

Bought the wife a new Gladiator. Drove it about 3 times locally. Sat in the driveway last week. Went to drive it and nothing. Fob wouldn't even unlock the doors. Checked battery voltage and read 4.3 volts. Something running the batteries down.

Anyone else have this issue?

Wife's old car was starting to have issues so wanted to get her something I didn't have worry about it leaving her stuck somewhere. I work out of town a lot and am not always around to help her if she is stranded.

Hi MGCFitz,
We are happy to see that your dealer is resolving this for you. If you ever need additional assistance during a future service, feel free to send us a private message.

Kathryn
JeepCares

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