Bad Battery or something else?

CapnMericaMyCopilot

CapnMericaMyCopilot

Member
So this morning tried to leave for work and I couldn't even unlock the doors. Got in manually and tried to start it up and I got nothing... didn't try to turn over, no clicks, nothing. I'm presuming/hoping this this is battery related but seems weird that it literally happened overnight? In the last month the only changes have been wiring CB radio, installing heavy duty battery terminals, replacing headlight harness that had a bad relay, and OBD scanner. Figure I'll stop by Autozone on my way home and have them test it but curious as to what may have happened or if its even actually the battery. I should mention its still the factory battery and just hit two years

I've had the following happen:
Noticed this past weekend that my clock had reset and the compass was up instead of the speedo.

Yesterday evening unlocked fine, had lights, auxiliary power, radio, etc. but didn't start first turn. Second turn no problem started right up. I honestly thought I just didn't turn the key enough because it was so quick but the girlfriend asked what was wrong with the battery.

This morning, like I said, I couldn't even unlock the doors... had absolutely nothing, almost as though the battery was disconnected. The only response I could get was if I tried remote start I would get one honk but not the second for the engine starting. Since trying to lock/unlock from the FOB didn't work, I manually unlocked the driver side, but when I manually unlocked the passenger side to get my 10mm for the battery, I had the alarm go off. Engine didn't even try to turn and nothing on the dash lit up. Called someone for a jump and figured I may as well try again after confirming everything was secure and connected well and it started right up with no struggle after a few turns of the key (there was no trying to start it went right from nothing to ready to go).
 
fiend said:
Loose battery clamps?

Bad ground?

CB hard wired and left on?


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Battery clamps seem fine. Tiny bit of play in the negative terminal but no way the nut could get tighter and can’t pull it off with my hand. I ran through everything I had to undo for the headlight harness and all seems in order. CB is hardwired but wasn’t left on for any period of time. I’ve removed the OBD scanner even tho it says you can leave it in all the time to see if for some reason that was draining too much power but seems unlikely.


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CapnMericaMyCopilot said:
Battery clamps seem fine. Tiny bit of play in the negative terminal but no way the nut could get tighter and can’t pull it off with my hand. I ran through everything I had to undo for the headlight harness and all seems in order. CB is hardwired but wasn’t left on for any period of time. I’ve removed the OBD scanner even tho it says you can leave it in all the time to see if for some reason that was draining too much power but seems unlikely.


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Scanners run off of battery power. Very possible it drained the battery.

How old is the battery?
 
CapnMericaMyCopilot said:
Was 2 years in February. Just went out on lunch break and started right up.


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It will start all day, but if you don't get a new one, it will leave you calling for a jump in the morning.

Every new vehicle I have had over the last ten years or more has shit batteries from new. Two years is average life now, and it sucks.

I carry one of those portable jump start packs for days like this.
 
jdofmemi said:
It will start all day, but if you don't get a new one, it will leave you calling for a jump in the morning.

Every new vehicle I have had over the last ten years or more has shit batteries from new. Two years is average life now, and it sucks.

I carry one of those portable jump start packs for days like this.
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Could be the battery. One of mine just died in less than 3 years. Now, it was a Walmart battery of dubious quality, so who knows.

Any of the chain autoparts places should be able to test the battery for free.


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CapnMericaMyCopilot said:
Battery clamps seem fine. Tiny bit of play in the negative terminal but no way the nut could get tighter and can’t pull it off with my hand. I ran through everything I had to undo for the headlight harness and all seems in order. CB is hardwired but wasn’t left on for any period of time. I’ve removed the OBD scanner even tho it says you can leave it in all the time to see if for some reason that was draining too much power but seems unlikely.


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Assuming that you have a wireless WiFi or Bluetooth adapter, it’s drawing power and broadcasting even when the the vehicle is off. I’d be willing to bet that this is the source of your trouble.
 
I hate to say this but it sounds a lot like the electrical gremlins I fought for a year or so. Randomly some mornings I would leave for work and it would be dead as a doornail, put a jump box on it and it would start right up no issues.

Sometimes it would happen even after just sitting for a couple of hours after I had just been driving it all day. I would go some place for lunch no problem and go to leave and the Jeep would be dead.

Changed the battery and it still happened. Changed the terminals and it still kept happening. Everything was tested multiple times by a shop and my buddy and nothing was pulling power when the Jeep was off. It was so frustrating to say the least.

Finally decided to re-route all the accessories running on the battery and put them on their own “circuit board” (poor word choice, been a long week) and since then I haven’t had any problems.

Hope this helps.

Image1553124697.507274.jpg


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Angry Aussie said:
I hate to say this but it sounds a lot like the electrical gremlins I fought for a year or so. Randomly some mornings I would leave for work and it would be dead as a doornail, put a jump box on it and it would start right up no issues.

Sometimes it would happen even after just sitting for a couple of hours after I had just been driving it all day. I would go some place for lunch no problem and go to leave and the Jeep would be dead.

Changed the battery and it still happened. Changed the terminals and it still kept happening. Everything was tested multiple times by a shop and my buddy and nothing was pulling power when the Jeep was off. It was so frustrating to say the least.

Finally decided to re-route all the accessories running on the battery and put them on their own “circuit board” (poor word choice, been a long week) and since then I haven’t had any problems.

Hope this helps.

View attachment 323346


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Yeah as of now the only thing connected directly to the battery is the CB. I’ve had the OBD unplugged since this morning so I’m gonna see if the problem persists since it’s the most recent thing that changed prior to this problem. I’m wondering if any of the guys in that thread about the phone app have had issues since that’s what I’m using.


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I hope you’re able to find the problem. It was a rough year going through all the issues I had, so annoying. Hopefully you will get yours figured out faster then I did. Good luck man, let me know what you find out.


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I had the same issue with mine. Just touching the terminal would make it start sometimes.

Even with the terminals as tight as they could get they were still loose.

So I cut them off. Problem solved!

20190101_182817.jpg
 
I had a similar issue. Even though the ground side was completely tight, it was just not tight enough to prevent ground issues. Swapped the terminal with an aftermarket one of a different style and all is well. I have also seen the battery posts break or crack just inside the battery causing a similar issue.
 
Well got around to having my battery tested and it’s all good with 99% charge. Thought I’d moved on from the problem but same issue this morning and yesterday. Doing some more googling it seems it can possibly be caused by a fault in the anti-theft system so it’s just not allowing the ignition to turn. I’m going to try my spare key tomorrow to see if it’s any different and then it’s off to the dealer. Think I’ve got about 3k left til I’m out of warranty but not positive about if it’s electrical/computer related.

Is there anything I should try to confirm or any possible reasons it’s only happening with the first start? I manually unlock the door and get nothing (why I thought it was the battery). After about 30 seconds the alarm starts blaring and I can start it up no problem.


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I won’t be much help since I can’t remember which fuse or maybe it was a relay it is, but there is a fuse/relay that is connected to the anti theft that I had pop up from the horrible roads I drive on. The signal from the key wasn’t working properly and my Jeep wouldn’t start. Found a YouTube video about it, pulled it out for 2 min, put it back after the Jeep reset, no problems since. Another time I had the same issues as everyone else with the negative terminal. Tapped on it and it set down on the terminal about 1/8” and clamped better than it ever had before. Maybe this will help?


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Whitarmy said:
I won’t be much help since I can’t remember which fuse or maybe it was a relay it is, but there is a fuse/relay that is connected to the anti theft that I had pop up from the horrible roads I drive on. The signal from the key wasn’t working properly and my Jeep wouldn’t start. Found a YouTube video about it, pulled it out for 2 min, put it back after the Jeep reset, no problems since. Another time I had the same issues as everyone else with the negative terminal. Tapped on it and it set down on the terminal about 1/8” and clamped better than it ever had before. Maybe this will help?


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Thanks I’ll look into this. Come think of it I had a really loud pop a day or two before the issues started but I thought it was a chunk of rubber flying off my tire. Did have that sort of electrical pop sound to it and was loud enough to hear over the radio and road noise at 70mph.


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Two questions:
1- The heavy duty terminals I installed came with little pads to go around the terminals. Are these necessary? I think that’s what is preventing the one from being able to clamp down tight enough on the post and why it has a bit of play in it.

2- Can anyone confirm that when you disconnect the battery it resets your stereo settings (bass, fade, etc.)? I feel like it normally does, and whatever I have going on is only resetting the clock and the digital display from speed to temp.

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