[Snowhawk2015]

...Are you seeing a message in the center display that says something like "Stop/Start not available Battery charging" ? If so, then yeah it is probably the battery going.

OMG, did I forget to read the fine print? :frown:
My 2015 TH display only said "Stop/Start not available", nothing about the battery. And, it only appeared after driving for more than 90 minutes in one sitting; hence, I didn't see it much. Well, today I'm a believer that it's the battery. I was almost left stranded with a dead battery. After verifying all the accessories were off, I bearly had enough juice to turn the engine over and make it home safely. Apparently, I'm going to need a new battery after 4 years and 98,500 miles.

 

[Snowhawk2015]

OMG, did I forget to read the fine print? :frown:
My 2015 TH display only said "Stop/Start not available", nothing about the battery. And, it only appeared after driving for more than 90 minutes in one sitting; hence, I didn't see it much. Well, today I'm a believer that it's the battery. I was almost left stranded with a dead battery. After verifying all the accessories were off, I bearly had enough juice to turn the engine over and make it home safely. Apparently, I'm going to need a new battery after 4 years and 98,500 miles.

That's an Exide AGM :
https://www.amazon.com/Exide-FP-AGML4-94R-Automotive-Battery/dp/B008QDHJZC

Seems to be a good battery, and it is sold under many different labels too.

13.7V is actually a normal operating voltage for a typical car charging system. The check engine light is normal and will stop after a few days at most.

Keep an eye on voltage just for fun. For example, just after a cold start, it should read above 14V for a short period of time, which means a higher charge rate.

Resting voltage of a healthy car battery is roughly 12.8V (engine off).

I believe the Cherokee's max charging voltage is 14.4V (give or take 0.1V)

Thanks, that link had a good graph. Seems like we're on the same page. This chart jives with the earlier chart I posted, and seems to indicate 12V would be closer to using 55% of the battery, with 60% of capacity being the lowest you would want to go (i.e. 40% charge left). That makes me think sticking with the 12V limit might be a better bet than 11.8V.

I appreciate you looking that stuff up, hopefully this info will also help others in the future who want to run some light electronics, lights, stove, laptop, etc of the battery when camping without having to do a dual setup.

My EVIC said the operating voltage was 13.7v, but I decided to put it on the charger anyway Wednesday night. I got a full 14.4v by morning. Yesterday, the Snowhawk almost stranded me again. After a few words of encouragement it fired up and I was on my way to ski country. The snow level is down to 7000 ft :smile: after the last storm.

This morning it is at 14.4v, resting is at 12.1v. I can't decide if I have a battery problem or an electrical problem. Thoughts? If I don't buy a replacement battery this weekend (recommendations?), I'll have it checked at my next free oil change and rotation.

:
http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/m...ance-agm-deep-cycle-battery-0102796p.html#srp

Compare with a Northstar group 27M : http://northstarbatteries.com/nsb27m.html

But CT prices on Northstars are... nauseating... Their car AGMs are Johnson Controls, like the majority of labels out there, including Mopar OEM (and Exide Edge).

I guess I'll be doing more research in the off hours. :frown:

OEM TH battery
https://www.group1autoparts.com/oem...5PTIwMTUmdD10cmFpbGhhd2smZT0zLTJsLXY2LWdhcw==

 

[Snowhawk2015]

Excellent feedback, thanks @Mark_!!!!

 

[Snowhawk2015]

@Mark_, have you ever heard a steady chirp or beep when said battery is failing?

Mine finally stranded me today. Started at 14.4v, then went to 14.0v when I stopped for gas. Took a few tries to get going again. It was at 13.7v after work and took several tries to get going. Dead at 12.0v after groceries. Started to chirp/beep under the hood; maybe in the location of the PCM. Needed a jump to get going again. Currently on the charger. Beeping stopped after about two minutes on the charger. The beeping makes me think it is something other than the battery; IBS, generator, PCM, ECU, BCM, IRC, VSM, etc.??? Page 1845 of the FSM starts the discussion on the battery. Diagnostics makes no mention of chirp sound. :dodgy:

Battery charger says it is at 14.6v; EVIC says it is at 14.4v after 2 hours.

FYI, the actual EVIC message seen was "Stop/Start not available, Service Stop/Start system". No mention of "battery charging".

 

[Snowhawk2015]

Some Black and Decker smart charger the wife bought 13 years ago.

 

[Snowhawk2015]

Yep, that's the one. No unusual charging. Just says FUL at the end.

I was going to upload an audiophile, but this site only does pictures and PDFs.

 

[Snowhawk2015]

@Mark_, have you ever heard a steady chirp or beep when said battery is failing? ...

Finally got into a dealer. Stupidly, I thought they would help diagnosis the chirp. They all heard it, but didn't know what it was. After 8 hrs, they final just said it was the battery. duh!

I went with the Duralast Platinum Battery H7-AGM Group Size 94R 850 CCA.

 

[Snowhawk2015]

New battery did NOT fix the problem. Photo taken about 48 hours after new battery. The problem I have with lame service techs is that they never drive to root cause; they only do the bandaid approach. :frown:

 

[Snowhawk2015]

New battery did NOT fix the problem. Photo taken about 48 hours after new battery. The problem I have with lame service techs is that they never drive to root cause; they only do the bandaid approach. /images/JeepCherokeeClub_Toucan/smilies/tango_face_sad.png

Does your dealer know what the IBS is, and how to test it with their wiTECH tool ? That would be, to me, the next logical step.

Apparently I needed to wait 72 hours for the SHM to fully work. Who knew?