[homieBadger]

my 2016 with 37000 miles just started doing that too

I'm glad I've stumbled on this thread!

I've been getting this alert on my 2016 TH w/ 42,000 miles recently as well. I've just been ignoring it because I've always had ESS disabled. Looks like it's time for a new battery. I had recently had my Jeep in the dealership for different issue and mentioned this notification to them and they had no clue what it was, stating they could not reproduce it! Sometimes dealerships know less than the customer!

 

[homieBadger]

Hey there,

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. Most shops, big or small, can do a battery test in 2 minutes with an electronic tester (not the old carbon pile / resistor type). These little testers give numbers like CCA remaining, state of charge, state of health and internal resistance. They also arbritrarily spew out a *healthy* or *replace* result, which isn't very accurate, especially for Cherokee batteries. When state of health falls below roughly 60%, it's time, or when remaining CCA reads below 400.
There is a possibility it could be the intelligent battery sensor at fault here, not the battery, but for a 2016 a new battery wouldn't be a waste of money regardless

No the error I'm seeing is "Stop/Start system unavailable". It goes away after the truck is turned off but it's annoying nonetheless. And it doesn't appear reliably, it's very random. I can't pinpoint any type of condition in which I could repeatably make it happen.

 

[homieBadger]

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.

For a few days ess would work one time after initial startup, then not again during that drive . Shut down, and would work again, once. Now, not at all. Battery does not seem to struggle at all on startups either, yet. I will try a charger overnight this weekend.

Ok, a lot of things to address there :

1) Forget my post about Northstars up here in Canada. That was not relevant, especially about the group 27 Northstars which are crazy expensive and are not OEM fit (it is actually the 27F that will fit a Cherokee, not the 27M (marine) ; I pointed to that one becauswe it is the only (relabelled) group 27 Northstar sold by our Canadian Tire chain stores, was using it as a price example only). You guys can find a premium group 94R Northstar AGM (or the X2 Power clone at Batteries+) for under $300. Now there are very similar premium group 94R Odysseys (pure lead thin plate AGMs) at Autozone for $250.

2) 14.4V or 13.7V running can both be Ok, depending on many factors. *Running* means this is alternator output, not battery voltage per se. We can't determine battery health or state of charge when the engine is running, basically. If you had gotten running voltage in the 12V range or lower, then yeah charging system problem for sure. Not the case here.

12.1V resting voltage, however... is low. If you had zero drain on the battery when you checked it (no key in ignition, no lights etc..) then I'd say your battery is dying for sure.

Problem with these batteries, in a Cherokee, is that when they start to go, they don't neessarily die in a predictable way. I've heard members say they put theirs on a charger overnight with no benefit. That's likely because the BCM monitors battery health, meaning how it handles drains and charges, so even a freshly charged unhealthy battery would not *pass* system checks, and cause problems.

Suggesstions for a battery :

1) If you'd prefer spending under $200 for an OEM clone AGM (Johnson Controls flat plate AGM), then the lowest price I've seen lately is Autozone's Duralast Platinum group 94R ; they had a coupon thing going, not sure it is still in effect.

Ok I see Walmart is still showing some H7 AGMs in stock, for $165 :
https://www.walmart.com/ip/EverStart-Platinum-AGM-Battery-Group-h7/40685088
(that is the exact same Johnson Controls group 94R AGM sold everywhere. H7 = group 94R)

You may find other stores that carry teh group 94R (or H7) AGMs, like Pep Boys, Advanvced Auto Parts, Sam's Club, etc...

2) The Northstar 94R. Hard to find right now, but the X2 Power (it's a Northstar) is available at Batteries+ for $279 (after a $20 mail-in rebate):
https://www.batteriesplus.com/product-details/auto_light-truck/battery/x2power/sli94ragmdp

3) The premium Odyssey 94R (pure lead flat plate) at Autozone. Oh ! It's down from $250 to $225 :
https://www.autozone.com/batteries-...ery-94r-850-group-size-94r-850-cca/937704_0_0
(just note that the price difference with Northstars may be partly because of the warranty : Odyssey is 3 years, Northstars (and X2 Power) are 5 years).

HTH

Thanks Mark_!!

Some great info in your posts! I am going to have to check and see if my battery may be causing this. @ brent, I'm seeing the same thing now, my ESS won't work at all and I haven't seen the notification in a few weeks. I wonder if our Cherokee's are at the same place in their battery lifecycle. I'll try to address this with the dealership but I'm sure they are getting pretty sick of seeing my face. I just picked up my TH from the dealership last week after getting the rear differential replaced... yeah, that's a whole 'nother story!