Jeep Wrangler Forum banner

Battery Dead With Doors Off

23K views 23 replies 16 participants last post by  jason_r 
#1 ·
Hoping to see if anyone has had a similar issue. I have a '16 JKU with about 4000 miles on it. This morning when leaving for work I found the battery was dead. This is the second time this has happened, and both times I've had the doors and top off.

I don't have any accessories like lights or a winch which use battery power, and the lights and radio all turn off when I turn off the Jeep. I also have a cover over the Jeep when I leave them off overnight. I don't understand why the battery would die specifically when the doors and top are off.

I'm going to get the battery tested today after work. It's still the stock one so I wouldn't be surprised if it is bad.
 
#2 ·
I would definitely get the battery tested, especially while it's under warranty. I'd doubt the dealer would try to blame you, but maybe don't necessarily mention too strongly the doors-off thing....just "some mornings the Jeep needs a jump start" and let them diagnose it.

A few things I could think of you might want to check:

---The vehicle is designed so that actually the radio should not be turning off when you turn off the key and remove it. The radio should stay on for a period of time until you open the door.

It would eventually time out if you fail to open the door. The time is set at about one minute from the factory, but can be extended to 10 minutes in the steering wheel menu.

When you have your doors off, the Jeep "thinks" that a door has never been opened. So, the radio actually should stay on for 1-10 minutes after shutting off. Which wouldn't be enough to hurt a good battery.....but might hurt an already-bad battery.

---Again, I know you said that all lights turn off. But I think if you park with the headlights on, turn the key off and remove it, then turn the headlight switch off, I think the lights stay on for a short time to help you see as you walk away.

Also, since you have no doors, if you forgot the headlights on when parking, you'd never hear the warning chime to remind you to turn them off.

---The power outlet in the center console, and I believe the one in the cargo area, only have power with the key turned on when you take the car home from the dealer. But by moving the fuses under the hood, you can make these outlets keep power even with the engine off.

(They also stay on at shutdown until you open the door, or until the 1-10 minute timeout.)

Take your phone charger or anything that lights up, and verify that the outlets go dead with the key off. If they stay on all the time, either move the fuse the other way, or be sure not to leave stuff plugged in when parked.

Sorry for the long story..............short version is double check your radio, lights, and lighter sockets.

Also wiggle the battery cables and make sure they're tight.
 
#6 ·
I would definitely get the battery tested, especially while it's under warranty.
Got it tested at Advance Auto and the results were good. He tested it about 10 times and the CCA stayed within the same normal range.

---The vehicle is designed so that actually the radio should not be turning off when you turn off the key and remove it. The radio should stay on for a period of time until you open the door.

It would eventually time out if you fail to open the door. The time is set at about one minute from the factory, but can be extended to 10 minutes in the steering wheel menu.
I have it setup via the console to turn off immediately. I was annoyed by the radio continuing to play after I walked away with the doors off. (Yes I know I can turn the radio off, but I'm lazy)

---Again, I know you said that all lights turn off. But I think if you park with the headlights on, turn the key off and remove it, then turn the headlight switch off, I think the lights stay on for a short time to help you see as you walk away.
Yeah, this was the very first thing I checked on both occasions. I always have the lights set to Auto, and that's where they were set when the battery died.

---The power outlet in the center console, and I believe the one in the cargo area, only have power with the key turned on when you take the car home from the dealer. But by moving the fuses under the hood, you can make these outlets keep power even with the engine off.
I do have a dash cam and a USB connected to the dash cigarette lighter, however this should be automatically turning off since it is linked to the ignition. I'll have to double check that this is indeed turning off properly.
 
#4 ·
The doors off shouldn't be an issue. When you disconnect them you take them out of the loop like they never where there. Take the battery to auto parts store and they will test it for you.
I also change my shut down time to zero when the doors are off. It is fast and easy to do.
 
#11 ·
Okay so I did some more testing overnight. Last night I left the Jeep alone and the battery was good, at 12.86v. This morning I wake up and check it (about 10 hours later) and it is at 11.67v, but still started fine.

I started testing the amperage to see what was drawing the most amount of power, and long story short it is the radio. Once I pulled the radio fuse the power draw dropped considerably. The radio is a 430 RBZ, however it was added after purchase (it had a 130 from the factory).

So I guess I at least know the source.
 
#13 ·
Okay so I did some more testing overnight. Last night I left the Jeep alone and the battery was good, at 12.86v. This morning I wake up and check it (about 10 hours later) and it is at 11.67v, but still started fine.

I started testing the amperage to see what was drawing the most amount of power, and long story short it is the radio. Once I pulled the radio fuse the power draw dropped considerably. The radio is a 430 RBZ, however it was added after purchase (it had a 130 from the factory).

So I guess I at least know the source.
But it still should not be draining you battery overnight if its off. Is there some aspect of that stereo that stays live after turning off? This has me curious as I just added the 430 to mine after replacing a 130 as well.
 
#18 ·
This is one of those threads that come up frequently, as frequent as the "what tires will fit if i have a ......" thread, everyone always suggest the obvious, lights, other add on accessories, radio etc, but from what I've found more than once, is a few people determined the OEM radio amp doesn't always shut off, especially if the radio has been changed, something to look into. We're about ready for the first time to remove the doors on my wife's JKU and will be monitoring the battery as this is a common draining problem with doors off, too many threads for it to be coincidental bad batteries.
 
#19 ·
I don't think the radio shuts off until you arm your alarm, which most people don't when the doors are off. Mine's an OEM radio, and never stuck around to see how long it stays on for, but easily for several minutes. I would imagine, like @armyvet25 says, that it could possibly be worse with aftermarket stereo gear.
 
#20 ·
I'm having the same issue on my 2008 JKU. I installed an aftermarket radio and backup camera, everything works as it's supposed to when the hard top is on, but as soon as I take the doors off, the battery is completely dead if it sits for a few days. Doing some trial and error, I completely removed the stereo and camera, however, the battery still drained. I'm throughly stumped now.

I know in theory it should recognize that the doors are removed, but is there a way to trick the Jeep into thinking the doors are on?

Any thoughts on what else could be causing this? A previous post mentioned the factory amp still drawing power, would this still happen with the radio and harness completely removed?

Thanks everyone for the help!
 
#23 ·
I think I'm getting closer. It's been over 2 weeks and the battery hasn't drained, but that being said, it hasn't sat un-driven for more than 48 hours in that time.

Since my post a couple weeks ago, I have unplugged the amp, and always make sure I lock the doors with the remote when I get out in case that alerts something in the car to shut down. Fingers are crossed!

We have an upcoming trip, so I know it will sit for over a week while we're gone. If it starts after that, I'll consider it a win. I'll then reinstall the stereo and see if the battery holds its charge. Then I'll add the camera, then the Amp back in. Process of elimination.

LMK if you try anything and have any success.
 
#24 ·
I think I'm getting closer. It's been over 2 weeks and the battery hasn't drained, but that being said, it hasn't sat un-driven for more than 48 hours in that time.

Since my post a couple weeks ago, I have unplugged the amp, and always make sure I lock the doors with the remote when I get out in case that alerts something in the car to shut down. Fingers are crossed!

We have an upcoming trip, so I know it will sit for over a week while we're gone. If it starts after that, I'll consider it a win. I'll then reinstall the stereo and see if the battery holds its charge. Then I'll add the camera, then the Amp back in. Process of elimination.

LMK if you try anything and have any success.
I've got the same issue happening with my 2017 JKU. I had it happen last fall when I took the doors off, but we were finishing building a house so I didn't have time to dig into it so I threw the doors back on, charged the battery and haven't had an issue until last week when I took the doors off again. Sure enough, with 48 hours the battery was dead.

My suspicion all along has been something to do with the radio, probably because that's the only electronic component that isn't factory and doesn't have a separate power switch like my OBA, winch or aux lights. I replaced the head unit with an Insane Audio unit about a year and a half ago. Never had battery issues taking the doors off prior to installing that unit, but theoretically it should behave the same as the factory radio regardless of whether the doors are on or off. And from what I can tell visually it does. It shuts down moments after shutting off the Jeep, it doesn't keep playing in any situation, it's specifically made for the JKU and came with a harness that plugs into the factory connector for the radio providing functionality for all the steering wheel controls, etc.

So now I'm going to try and figure this out. I guess the first thing is to try "locking the doors" every time I shut it off. That would be really odd, but this whole thing is kind of odd. You'd think if leaving the doors unlocked killed the battery it would do it whether the doors were on or off, but maybe not.

I'm curious how things went your on your trip and what your experience has been since, if you've let the Jeep sit for more than 48 hours without resulting in a dead battery, or if you've found anything else?

Thanks,
Jason
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top