[basicxj]

(Tombstone)
JKU factory battery “sparky”
Our little angel taken too soon
July 2017 - November 2020

I suspect COVID and not driving for longer than 5 minutes 3 x a week probably had something to do with it. ... plus an always on OBDII Bluetooth reader

Just picked up a DieHard Platinum AGM Battery, Group Size H7, 850 CCA at autozone. Hopefully it’ll see double digits.

Old thread but just leaving my two cents

Thank you for a well-needed chuckle 😝

 

[jerseyweeds]

 

[Rhoward2632]

My 17JK is three months shy of 4 years and my battery just went. Luckily it was in my garage when it decided not to start. Reading the rest of the comments on here I'm realizing that I probably should have replaced the battery a few months ago.

 

[Old Dogger]

My 17JK is three months shy of 4 years and my battery just went. Luckily it was in my garage when it decided not to start. Reading the rest of the comments on here I'm realizing that I probably should have replaced the battery a few months ago.

Welcome to the Forum, from Cave Creek AZ.

 

[Moodyalaskan]

Mine lasted about 6 months as i pulled it and went with 2 AGM batteries. The one in my 2003 Dodge 1500 lasted 17 years.

 

[cthusker]

Any of you folks installed one of these batteries? My OEM was dead yesterday and figure it's time to change it....

NAPA The Legend Premium AGM Battery BCI No. 48 760 A Glass Mat

 

[Number41]

Jeep is 4 yrs old later this month. It has almost 19k miles on it. I don't drive it too often during the week. Wouldn't start yesterday. Multimeter said 0 volts. Jumped it off with one of those battery pack things and went to advanced. Guy said battery Is fine. I've attached a picture.
On one hand I don't mind replacing because I know it's gonna go sooner or later and probably at a bad time.
On the other hand, the new battery will just sit in the garage as well most if the time. Wwyd?


And if you think I should replace it, what is the consensus on a brand, etc? Advance had a platinum something for maybe 219. It was the smaller of the two they carried. They said the larger wouldn't fit. I do have auto zone and o'reilly's close by.

 

[RoadiJeff]

Jeep is 4 yrs old later this month. It has almost 19k miles on it. I don't drive it too often during the week. Wouldn't start yesterday. Multimeter said 0 volts. Jumped it off with one of those battery pack things and went to advanced. Guy said battery Is fine. I've attached a picture.
On one hand I don't mind replacing because I know it's gonna go sooner or later and probably at a bad time.
On the other hand, the new battery will just sit in the garage as well most if the time. Wwyd?


And if you think I should replace it, what is the consensus on a brand, etc? Advance had a platinum something for maybe 219. It was the smaller of the two they carried. They said the larger wouldn't fit. I do have auto zone and o'reilly's close by.

I had a Chrysler that I thought the battery was going bad. I took it to Autozone and they ran a test and said it was OK. Less than a week later my car would not start due to a dead battery. I bought a replacement from somewhere else (wasn't going to give Autozone my business due to the poor diagnosis) and my car ran fine after that.

As far as what replacement battery to get, there are 7 pages in this thread that talk about all of that.

 

[paradox923]

Bought my Jeep in November 2016. Still stock battery so I am on borrowed time. Last dealer inspection said the battery would need replacing soon. Eh. Was a good run. Probably replace in a few weeks.

 

[AAONMS]

My Jeep was ordered and built in July 2017 and delivered in August. The battery gave indications that all was not well 3 weeks ago on Monday and failed outright on Thursday. It wasn’t a sudden, complete failure as if a cell went bad because it could be charged and hold a charge for a few hours as well as it could be jumped and drive for 30” and the restarted; it just wouldn’t hold a charge more than 12 hours.
Forty-two months from vehicle delivery to failure isn’t too bad on the whole.
I have carried a NOCO Boost Plus GB40 for over three years and it has come in handy a few times. Oddly enough, this was the first time I’ve used it on my own vehicle.

Additional info here: Poll: How Long Has / Did Your FACTORY Battery Last?

 

[11th]

I replaced mine with an AGM at four years and a couple months. Mine had a lot of sitting, driving very little on weekdays. and very hot conditions. It didn't have a failure but i figured it would not have much life left in it and was able to stack a few coupons and pay very little for the AGM, so I went for it.

 

[Smileyor]

Hmmm . . . I picked up my JKUR in August of 2017. I have close to 68,000 miles and so far all has been good. No indication of failure. I had a 2012 Corvette that had a battery that was low, but was considered good by the AAA tow service driver I had called for a tow/jump start.. The electronics are more sensitive to current flow/spikes and drops in the system today than 30 or more years ago. I was able to start the car, but the dash lights, headlights and the turn signals would not operate. Got home and replaced the battery the next day.

 

[11th]

Hmmm . . . I picked up my JKUR in August of 2017. I have close to 68,000 miles and so far all has been good. No indication of failure. I had a 2012 Corvette that had a battery that was low, but was considered good by the AAA tow service driver I had called for a tow/jump start.. The electronics are more sensitive to current flow/spikes and drops in the system today than 30 or more years ago. I was able to start the car, but the dash lights, headlights and the turn signals would not operate. Got home and replaced the battery the next day.

That makes sense. You seem to be slightly higher than average miles/year which generally means your battery will probably last longer than average. We are in a city and our use in all three of our cars is seriously lower per year than average. While we do get out traveling, our vehicles can also sit for three or four days, get driven two miles n city and then sit again. so that is actually worste possible abuse of a battery. Our JK doesn't have much of a vampire draw, but our subaru has a very high vampire draw. That is even worse. with conventional lead acid there is persistent damage from taking the battery down and only half charging it.

if someone lived somewhere cold, which is very good for battery; and five days a week got in the car and drove 20-26 miles at fairly steady highway or rural road 40-70mph, to work and then back they probably have as healthy a battery at six or seven years as someone else might have at three to four years.

 

[RoadiJeff]

Bought my Jeep in November 2016. Still stock battery so I am on borrowed time. Last dealer inspection said the battery would need replacing soon. Eh. Was a good run. Probably replace in a few weeks.

Don't wait too long, replace it on your terms. Would you rather replace it while it is sitting in the garage or when it fails out in the middle of nowhere on a dark, rainy night?

That's why I replaced the one in our old 2013 JK at 35 months. The battery was still working OK but after reading lots of posts on here about how the Wrangler battery can fail without warning after 36 months I decided it was time for a new one. The new battery last for another 4.5 years until we traded it in.

 

[paradox923]

Don't wait too long, replace it on your terms. Would you rather replace it while it is sitting in the garage or when it fails out in the middle of nowhere on a dark, rainy night?

That's why I replaced the one in our old 2013 JK at 35 months. The battery was still working OK but after reading lots of posts on here about how the Wrangler battery can fail without warning after 36 months I decided it was time for a new one. The new battery last for another 4.5 years until we traded it in.

Great point, I will get it done this weekend.

 

[11th]

Great point, I will get it done this weekend.

Check sale and coupons on the major parts stores and order online from one of them for pickup. Usually this is way to get best price and you may just pay a couple bucks more for an AGM that way. The store staff will swap it out for you 99% of the time. On the off chance they are short staff and can't, you should bring wrench for terminal connection size so you can swap it out yourself there and avoid having to go back to return old battery for "core fee."
FYI the terminal connection clamping is thus:

That video also explains how the cone nuts work and why people who wire accessories into wrong post as a shortcut because there is no nut on the actual accessory bolt, often end up with intermittent loss of battery connection (as I and many others did when I put my first connection on using the wrong bolt).

 

[NVJKRubicon]

Bought mine new in September 2017, died last Sunday. Ironically was gong to get new batteries for my Dodge , went to start Jeep in garage and nothing.. So I ended up buying 3 batteries that day.

 

[Knuckle Head]

My rule of thumb. Do not let a battery go past 3 years. Past that, battery issues are just over the horizon and when it happens, it is never at a good time/place. Once I approach the three year mark, the battery replacement is coming and better sooner than later while I have control of the situation.