Only 1 battery in a Cherokee that I know of...


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Thanks for the input.


The mechanic seemed pretty certain that the auto start/stop has a separate battery. I found this video on Youtube (link below) showing the location of a separate battery but this was in the 2017 model. My Jeep is a 2019 and there isn't any type of compartment in the same location of my vehicle that's shown in the video.


[ame]https://youtu.be/JeivukfYDps?t=57[/ame]

 

Have it towed in If it’s 5 months old it’s under warranty unless you drive an AWFUL lot...lol


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Thanks for the input.



My problem with just doing that is that I live on a narrow, long dirt road that I'm not sure a tow truck could get to. I'd have to somehow get it down a 1.5 stretch of road to where a tow truck could get to it. I can't even get the thing into Neutral right now though because I can't get it to even try to turn over.

 

The video is for a GRAND Cherokee. Brothers but different.

Again, as far as I know there is only 1AGM battery, under the hood. Maybe you could swap something in to get it to the end of the road? I know most tow drivers around here are generally able to put the truck in places you wouldn’t think possible. Maybe give the dealer a call, have them send one, and go from there....

Also, I think there is a way to get the gear shift into neutral by pressing something...

Someone else help out???


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Yep just one battery in these Cherokees ; the one under the hood. I would definitely get it towed, even if getting to it may not be easy for a tow truck (these people are resourceful..). No power means no power brakes and no power steering, so any maneuvers with a rolling Jeep could be very... dicey. There is a way to put it in Neutral but... I wouldn't, or maybe just to get it up on the tow truck flatbed..

 

Procedure to get the shifter out of Park in cases like this : 2019 owner's manual pages 432-433 (this is from the second edition, so perhaps different pages on other editions of the manual). It's in the "IN CASE OF EMERGENCY" chapter of the manual under "GEAR SELECTOR OVERRIDE".

 

Thank you. I figured out how to get it out of park.

 

Any chance you can get a boost? If you battery is shot, and you could get a jump start, could it run off the Alternator long enough for you to get it down your dirt lane and either get it towed from there or drive it into the dealer?

Like others have said, the KL only has one battery.

 

Tried jumping it and had no luck. Put a battery charger on it for over a day and still no luck.

 

As others have said, *one* battery in the KL. The WK2 has 2. A Cherokee isn't a Grand Cherokee and vice versa but several others have reported the same confusion and misinformation from the dealer.

If you have a 2nd vehicle you can try to jump start (be really careful with polarity because you can smoke some really expensive electronics).

If you have a battery charger, even if it's not a boost/starting charger, leave it on for a couple of hours and try again. I had a similar problem with the e-brake on and stuck in the garage. My "smart" battery charger wanted to charge at 6v because the battery was so low. I had hacked a 12v power supply and eventually got enough power for the smart charger to activate.

Turn the headlights all the way off before trying to start.

 

Thanks for the information and advice. Can you explain what WK2 and 2 means? I'm assuming you're referring to Cherokee vs Grand Cherokee but not sure what those abbreviations mean.


I tried jumping it and had no luck. Put a battery charger on it for over a day and still no luck.

 

Thanks everyone that replied!


The general consensus seem to be very clear that my Jeep Cherokee Latitude does NOT have a second battery for the auto stop/start feature and only the Grand Cherokee model does.


I was hoping it was that battery as it would have been a fix that I'm capable of handling on my own. Now I don't even know where to look next to figure out the issue. I guess it could be the starter? Seems odd it would go out so soon. I was told that the Jeeps with the auto stop/start feature were manufactured with heavy duty starters that compensate for the additional starts that the auto stop/start causes. Does anyone know if I would hear some type of click or noise when I push the start button if it was a bad starter?



So frustrating, I traded in my old truck and bought a brand new vehicle for the first time in my life to avoid problems like this.

 

I wonder if the BCM fuse (F40?) is blown or something got jostled loose in the fuse block under the hood.

Do you have a voltmeter to check the battery? If it's not somewhere around 13V you have a battery problem. If it's about 13V and drops significantly when you try to start, it's a battery problem. If it doesn't drop, it *could* be a failed module, fuse, or circuit breaker. Even if the starter isn't cranking, there's still a significant load on the electronics when you try to start.

 

Thank you for the thoughts.



I do live on a rough, dirt road so something getting jostled lose is a definite possibility.

I'd been trying to jump and charge and start the jeep several times before my dad came up and check the battery. By the time he came up here it was only at 11.7 when he first tested it. He said when he tried to jump it, it was at 12.6 volts.

I will check that fuse though. According to a website I found F41 is a 60 amp "Body Control Module (BCM) - Feed 2" is that the one you're suggesting?

F40 is a 20 amp fuse trailer tow park light.

 

Just have it towed to the dealer. It’s under warranty. It’s not your problem. to fix. And the tow truck driver won’t have a problem getting to you. They’ve been in plenty of worse spots than your driveway. It comes with the job.


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Be glad it's not a JL. The separate ESS battery is under the main battery in the engine compartment and to get at it requires removal of the main battery, main fuse block, main fuse block tray, battery hold down, and battery tray! At least the Grand has both batteries under the powered passenger seat. Oops! Both are dead and the seat won't move - now what?? Need to power the terminals under the hood to get the seat to move. So, be glad it's not a Grand either!

As complicated as the Cherokee is, it's at least a bit simpler when it comes to batteries than the JL or Grand.

 

Just to add to my above message, after remembering you live in a remote area. So... tell me more about how you attempted to jump start the Cherokee ? Did you use a small Li-ion booster pack, a bigger (conventional) booster pack or another vehicle ? Have you talked with a local tow truck operator, to see if they can get in there ? Like I said earlier, they are resourceful... They could also go in with a smaller truck to just try a boost...

Disabling the EPB (park brake) would require getting under the Jeep and removing some hardware, if it is removeable... If you need to go that route, talk with the service people at the dealership and ask for the correct procedure.

 

Ok, so I have done all of the above. I jumped it with my own vehicle. I jumped it with my dad's truck. I have one of those jump box things and I tried that. Three days ago I went and bought this from autozone https://www.autozone.com/test-scan-and-specialty-tools/battery-charger/duralast-50-amp-12-volt-battery-charger/412270_0_0

I had that hooked up for over 48 hours and then tried to start it with no luck. It did something though because previously the interior and headlights had stopped working. After having that charger hooked up both of those lights worked and the dash lit up with the normal "press brake and push start button" message. Unfortunately I still couldn't use the menu on the dash to disable the parking brake or do anything at all really. I pressed the select button and the arrow buttons but the message never changes.

I hooked up my cheap diagnostic code reader but it didn't work because the vehicle needs to be started for it to read any codes.

Lastly, two days ago a brave tow truck driver made it 90% of the way to my house but gave up because he was in a huge two wheel drive flatbed. He walked the last 1/4 mile to my house with his jumpbox but his didn't work either.

One last thing about the battery charger I bought. When the car battery becomes fully charged the light on the charging unit is supposed to change from "charging" to "charged/maintaining." After at least 48 hours of being hooked up to my jeep though, it never changed, it still said "charging."

 

Remote area or not. It’s a new vehicle. Stop fooling with it and having it sent to the dealer. It’s not your problem it’s the service departments.


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Yep. Though this may be a bit of a special case, because of possible access restrictions to said vehicle. If a tow truck really can't get in there, then getting the Jeep out on its own power *may be* the only viable option. Do dealership techs make house calls ? Yeah maybe not..

 

This got me wondering why is there a second battery for ESS in some vehicles. From what I can read it is apparently to operate accessories while the engine is stopped, but why not just have a larger main battery vs. the extra expense and complexity of a second battery? And why only in some vehicles? One potential explanation I have seen is that in some vehicles there wasn't room to increase the size of the main battery so it was more practical to add a second battery in some other underutilized space, but not certain if that is correct or not. Another possibility is that larger engines (such as the V8) require more starting power, but as far as I can tell the WK2 is not the only vehicle that uses two batteries (another is the Pacifica I think) and other these vehicles do not necessarily have larger engines than the Cherokee. So why bother with two batteries in some vehicles but not others?

 

This got me wondering why is there a second battery for ESS in some vehicles. From what I can read it is apparently to operate accessories while the engine is stopped, but why not just have a larger main battery vs. the extra expense and complexity of a second battery? And why only in some vehicles?

I think (not confirmed) that there is some form of battery isolator between the main and the ESS battery. If you drain the battery that runs the electronics, you can still start with the main battery which will then start charging the ESS battery. The small battery is taking the accessory load so the big battery isn't drained and can activate ESS quicker and more often.

 

If the battery is damaged and shorted internally, you may not be able to jump it no matter what you do. Can you temporarily replace the battery?

Or, get a 4WD tow truck. You must be on an interesting road if 2WD can't get up.

 

Ya, the road I'm on is pretty sketchy. I'm used to it and have no issues getting up there in 2 wheel drive. There's a crazy hairpin turn though that is an issue for longer tow trucks. Another issue I'm having is that the manual seems to say that the only way to tow my vehicle is with a flat bed. I can't use a tow dollie or the type of tow truck that just lifts two of the wheels off the ground. My Jeep's default setting is auto 4-wheel drive and there's no way to take it out of that and have it in just two-wheel drive. I believe that's why the manual seems to say to use a flatbed only. I say "seems to say" because it's a little confusing.

I'd love some input on this as well actually. Am I reading this correctly for my model?

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I’m kinda leaning towards the shorted battery since the charger never was able to charge it.

I would try putting any battery in just to get it down the hill. Watch your connections as mentioned. Then once down the hill put the bad battery in and get a repair from the dealer.

I don’t think I’d go the no battery hooked up route. Too many electronics....


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I’m kinda leaning towards the shorted battery since the charger never was able to charge it.

I would try putting any battery in just to get it down the hill. Watch your connections as mentioned. Then once down the hill put the bad battery in and get a repair from the dealer.

I don’t think I’d go the no battery hooked up route. Too many electronics....

I was thinking more like hooking up a conventional battery pack directly to the KL battery cables, and leave it there until the Jeep is down the hill, This is a not a pretty proposition... heh, and requires crafty work.

Thanks for the advice and warning. I got lent a 2017 Grand Cherokee today and my thought was that I'd be able to swap that battery out and connect it to my Cherokee. Then I remembered that the battery might be under the passenger seat. Not sure I trust myself to tackle that. I'm not very savvy with that kind of stuff (if that wasn't obvious already)!

Looking quickly at the Autozone fitment guide, it looks like a recent GC would have an H6 or H7 battery, so those are a match for the KLs. However... I wouldn't touch a battery in a loaner, just in case something happens and the dealership would get mad at you...

Just for kicks : can you get another vehicle to boost you again ? If so, remove your battery connectors and hook up the booster cables from their battery to your battery cables/connectors directly. If that works, then your battery is toast and you can ask the dealership for a new one ; if they hesitate, bring in your old one so they can test it and they'll see...

 

Here's a picture of the battery in your Jeep, below. I highlighted the nuts you need to loosen to remove each connector. I had removed the negative connector there when I took the pic, so you are not hallucinating The nut on the negative connector sits at an angle, as you'll notice. The IBS (intelligent battery sensor) is highlighted there too (it is rather large).


Good luck...

 

Thank you so much for the detailed instructions and warnings. I'll give that a shot as soon as I get a chance and let you know how it goes.

 

Would it be easier? Go to auto zone and buy a new battery. Put it in and try it. If it does not cure the problem = return it.. Rough start - with your new Jeep. Bummer

 

I thought of that but I assumed that autopart stores like Autozone wouldn't accept returns on things like a battery. How would they know I'm returning the one I bought and that I'm not ripping them off and returning an identical but old battery?

Do you know for sure that Autozone accepts returns on batteries?

 

Just spoke with Autozone.

They said that if I hook a newly purchased battery up to my vehicle it is no longer able to be returned. It's been awhile since I bought a new battery myself, do they come with some type of plastic caps or a seal or something that they could use to know if I hooked the battery up or not?

 

Just spoke with Autozone.

They said that if I hook a newly purchased battery up to my vehicle it is no longer able to be returned. It's been awhile since I bought a new battery myself, do they come with some type of plastic caps or a seal or something that they could use to know if I hooked the battery up or not?

Yeah that figures... New batteries often come with removable plastic caps ; mine had them (different battery manufacturer though) and I can easily put them back on. However... new battery post are all nice and shiny, adn when you put on a connector on them you scratch them up immediately. And since you've already asked, they'll probably look very closely if you ever to bring one back... But to be honest, some storesa actually charge batteries that sit on shelves for a while, and that alone would scratch up the posts with the little clamps... so I'm not really sure they can actually *prove* you hooked it up. Some of us are better than others at BS-ing our way out of things like this... and I know I'm not one of them, heh. So let's not get your hopes up you could pull this off with Autozone... Trying a boost is, in my humble opinion, the easier option right now. A boost without your battery in the circuit, I mean (= disconnected).

Edit to add : I have another idea. Since you have the loaner now, why not bring your Cherokee battery in so the dealership can load test it ?

 

Yes batteries do have plastic caps on the posts you have to pull off but more than likely they would look at the lead posts for marks which would identify if the new battery had been installed. Would be up to the employee if they check and enforce that policy though...
If you have any friend or family with a spare car you can always snag a battery from it just to test. Of course that battery needs to be known good. And make sure you connect the cables correctly to the battery posts. Dont mix them up. Sparks and bad things happen aka fried vehicle computers.

 

Go to Walmart - they'll take it back no questions asked..

 

We can do that here too... or so I've heard.

Just in case you do decide to hit Walmart, I've looked again on their site and, burried somewhere, I found that they have the AGM H7 battery in stock again, after months of *out of stock*. And it's only $165.
If your local Walmart doesn't have the AGM, then they will likely stock the regular H7 (= group 94R) Everstart, for $150.

AGM (Walmart) : https://www.walmart.com/ip/EverStart-Platinum-AGM-Battery-Group-h7/40685088
Regular H7 : https://www.walmart.com/ip/EverStart-Maxx-Lead-Acid-Automotive-Battery-Group-H7/20531542

If you go that route (Walmart) and it does work, I suggest you drive the Cherokee to the dealership, take out the Walmart battery right there and return it. Tell them you didn't know your old one was under warranty...

 

Can you help me figure out which setting should be selected on this charger in order to charge my battery? I want to make sure that I'm doing it correctly and I have my doubts. There's very limited instructions on the unit itself and it says to refer to the instruction manual. Well, mine didn't come with a manual and I gave up looking for one online after an hour.

I had it set on the top position which is "Charge/Maintain 6*2A" but my uncle told me that's not what I should have done because that setting is for maintaining a charge or what he called a trickle charge. He thinks that I should have the middle one selected that says "Boost 10A."

When I first used this charger and had it on the top setting (Charge/Maintain 6*2A) the middle button on the right column that says "charging" lit up. Once the battery is fully charged that "charging" light is supposed to go out and the "Charged/Maintaining" light is supposed to come on and pulse. Well I had it hooked up for about 2 days on that setting and the light never changed or went out.

What's weird is that when I hooked it up this morning and selected the middle setting (Boost) none of the lights on the right side lit up at all. I was expecting to see the middle button on the right column to turn on and indicate that my battery was charging but I got nothing. I googled this and found 1 similar but vague scenario with one answer to it. They said that this same thing happened to them and that the button on the right under "charging" never came on because that meant that his battery was NOT holding a charge at all.

Here's the charger in question. On a side note, at the end of the 2nd day of having this thing connnected and running on charge/maintain, I did drop the selection down to "engine start" and gave it a try. Of course it didn't work at all.

https://www.autozone.com/test-scan-and-specialty-tools/battery-charger/duralast-50-amp-12-volt-battery-charger/412270_0_0

 

Can you help me figure out which setting should be selected on this charger in order to charge my battery? I want to make sure that I'm doing it correctly and I have my doubts. There's very limited instructions on the unit itself and it says to refer to the instruction manual. Well, mine didn't come with a manual and I gave up looking for one online after an hour.

I had it set on the top position which is "Charge/Maintain 6*2A" but my uncle told me that's not what I should have done because that setting is for maintaining a charge or what he called a trickle charge. He thinks that I should have the middle one selected that says "Boost 10A."

When I first used this charger and had it on the top setting (Charge/Maintain 6*2A) the middle button on the right column that says "charging" lit up. Once the battery is fully charged that "charging" light is supposed to go out and the "Charged/Maintaining" light is supposed to come on and pulse. Well I had it hooked up for about 2 days on that setting and the light never changed or went out.

What's weird is that when I hooked it up this morning and selected the middle setting (Boost) none of the lights on the right side lit up at all. I was expecting to see the middle button on the right column to turn on and indicate that my battery was charging but I got nothing. I googled this and found 1 similar but vague scenario with one answer to it. They said that this same thing happened to them and that the button on the right under "charging" never came on because that meant that his battery was NOT holding a charge at all.

Here's the charger in question. On a side note, at the end of the 2nd day of having this thing connnected and running on charge/maintain, I did drop the selection down to "engine start" and gave it a try. Of course it didn't work at all.

https://www.autozone.com/test-scan-...cialty-tools/battery-charger/duralast-50-amp-12-volt-battery-charger/412270_0_0

I'll make this quick because I have to scoot... but I will return to this later. In the meantime, I have a manual for your charger. See where it has an alternate part number in that Autozone description ? Yeah that number means it's a relabelled Schumacher charger, which are sold everywhere. Here's the PDF :
https://www.batterychargers.com/sites/default/files/manuals/0099001890-R0.pdf

One thing for sure, you definitely want the 10A setting, in your case, though 6A charging would get most discharged batteries back up in 2 days...

Back later.

 

Well I just got off the phone with a Schumacher rep (technical service), because I don,t understand what the "10A Boost" mode does, exactly. And having talked to this person, I am now even more confused. I've looked online and cannot find anything about these *boost* or *fast charge* settings on newer automotic chargers/maintainers. With older gen chargers, the answer was easy : any *boost* or high Amp charge setting meant it was manual, so not to be set there and forgotten (so to speak). I asked this person if she could tell me whether the 10A boost setting on the SC1361 was in fact an automatic mode and she didn't seem to understand my question... I then went through was the manual says for each mode and how it doesn't say anywhere if this *boost* mode is automatic or not, meaning if the charger will go to maintain after a full charge is achieved. She finally said that yes, this charger is fully automatic so no worries, but... that didn't totally satisfy me just from the way she answered.

For that 10A boost setting, the manual says :

For quickly adding
energy to a severely discharged or large
capacity battery prior to Engine Start.

... nowhere does it say if this mode is automatic, or not. If it tunrs out to be a manual mode, then leaving it there too long could damage a battery, though that may take a very long time.

Bottom line here : the manual shows the 2 - 6A charge/maintainer mode can charge a 50% discharged 1000 CCA (yours is 800 CCA) car battery in 10 hours, so there is definitely a problem with the battery if you didn't get it fully charged in 48 hours...
According to the manual, you should get a RED light if the charger detects reverse polarity OR a defective battery, but that is not a 100% reliable feature, depending on the type of battery failure I guess. Yellow/orange light means the battery is charging, and Green light means it is charged and in maintain mode.
I looked everywhere in the manual for a blinking charger light, but this unit doesn't appear to produce a blinking light, ever.

After looking at the manual again, I would not advise using the 10A boost setting for too long, they say to use it only for a few minutes on a heavily discharged battery, which tells me it is probably a manual mode, not included in the auto muti-stage scheme.

 

Well I just got off the phone with a Schumacher rep (technical service), because I don,t understand what the "10A Boost" mode does, exactly. And having talked to this person, I am now even more confused. I've looked online and cannot find anything about these *boost* or *fast charge* settings on newer automotic chargers/maintainers. With older gen chargers, the answer was easy : any *boost* or high Amp charge setting meant it was manual, so not to be set there and forgotten (so to speak). I asked this person if she could tell me whether the 10A boost setting on the SC1361 was in fact an automatic mode and she didn't seem to understand my question... I then went through was the manual says for each mode and how it doesn't say anywhere if this *boost* mode is automatic or not, meaning if the charger will go to maintain after a full charge is achieved. She finally said that yes, this charger is fully automatic so no worries, but... that didn't totally satisfy me just from the way she answered.

For that 10A boost setting, the manual says : ... nowhere does it say if this mode is automatic, or not. If it tunrs out to be a manual mode, then leaving it there too long could damage a battery, though that may take a very long time.

Bottom line here : the manual shows the 2 - 6A charge/maintainer mode can charge a 50% discharged 1000 CCA (yours is 800 CCA) car battery in 10 hours, so there is definitely a problem with the battery if you didn't get it fully charged in 48 hours...
According to the manual, you should get a RED light if the charger detects reverse polarity OR a defective battery, but that is not a 100% reliable feature, depending on the type of battery failure I guess. Yellow/orange light means the battery is charging, and Green light means it is charged and in maintain mode.
I looked everywhere in the manual for a blinking charger light, but this unit doesn't appear to produce a blinking light, ever.

After looking at the manual again, I would not advise using the 10A boost setting for too long, they say to use it only for a few minutes on a heavily discharged battery, which tells me it is probably a manual mode, not included in the auto muti-stage scheme.

I can't thank you enough for all of your help on this. You've gone way above and beyond what I'd expect from a stranger, even going as far as calling a dreaded customer service number.

I think I'll just leave it on the 10A for a while. What concerns me though is that when it's on this 10A boost mode, the light on the righthand side that says "charging" does not light up at all. When I put it on the other mode, that charging light does light up, like one would expect it to. Do you think that my concern is valid about this or if the charging button isn't supposed to light under up the 10A mode? If it is in fact manual under the 10A mode then I'd expect that at some point, when the battery is fully charged, the light under "battery charged" would light up so you know when to take it off.

I'm going to put some work in on this over the weekend. Either taking the battery out of the loaner car or doing what you suggested and hooking some jumper cables up to the cables of the disabled jeep. I'm not sure if the first option will work because I quickly wanted to look at the battery in my loaner jeep which is under the seat and I couldn't figure out how to remove the plastic lid to the battery compartment. It didn't seem to want to come off easily and I was worried that I was going to break one of the tabs that holds it in place if I yanked on it too hard. It certainly wasn't coming off as easily as the older gentleman in the Youtube video (post #5 in this thread) showed his coming off.

 

@Mark_, the manual you linked shows manual selection for 10A as well as a 50A engine start.

@Brandaloo if that's the right charger, you should try the engine start mode. Do not leave it in that mode for more than about 30 seconds with a 5 minute rest in between attempts.

You can also see if it gives you enough power to at least release the brake.

 

Thanks. I did try the engine start mode, no luck. I don't believe I attempted to release the brake while in that mode though so I'll give that a shot tonight.