Battery saver mode

[Phoenie77]

The message came up not long after starting and then within say 10mins or so the other stuff started shutting down. Alternator display on the EVIC showed it was charging still. And it never stopped or anything else, just shut off those ancillary systems. Managed to get it into the dealer within a few days and left it with them as I was away for business anyway.


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[2bad4u]

So an update on this situation. Car hasn't been driven since last week and got the warning message again this morning (this is only the 2nd time). Again the car started OK, message came on about 5 mins later and then all was good. So I rung the dealer and spoke to a technician there and explained what was happening and bottom line is I don't drive the car enough.

The system that monitors the battery voltage is also part of the stop / start system (even though my car is diesel and doesn't have stop / start) and it has it's own backup battery separate from the car battery. However, this battery only charges whilst the engine is running and won't charge from the battery even when hooked up to a charger. So hooking the car up to a charger helps the main battery but not the system one. He suspects that not only is the main battery a bit low but also the system monitoring one and because I do a lot of short trips and don't drive the car often, neither are getting a good charge and using a battery charger won't help (it will only help the main battery).

His recommendation was that at least once every two weeks I drive the car for a minimum of 45min - 1hr, but still use the battery charger in between as it will prolong the life of the main battery.

Now this may not be the fix for everyone, but based on my driving habits (short trips and long periods in between - car is 18 months old and only done 6000km) he thinks this may be the solution. So I will give it a go and see what happens. And a big thumbs up to John Hughes Jeep for the time they spent with me in trying to come up with a solution.

[SouthernComfort]

Good, hope that works for you mate. I only drive mine once every 10 days or so but I try to do longer runs with it. I've always been conscious that these cars don't like sitting around, or doing too many short trips. We use our small runabout for local runs.

[OLMATE]

Where is this so called second battery located ? any hints on size and capacity

[TR Laredo]

If the car is fitted with a stop/start system I’m pretty sure the second battery is co located with the main battery under the drivers seat.

Cheers

[drover]

I wasn't aware diesel models came with ESS stop/start rubbish, thought only petrol ones, certainly no other batteries in mine....... but the battery saver does come on when I've been working on it with acc\ign on...... From what Ive read no ESS then no extra battery and its supposed to be under the passengers seat on a LH drive so our drivers seat..

[OLMATE]

Yeah the stop/start is dedicated Petrol only, NO battery under our passenger foot well, Imagine a diesel with stop start, it would kill the thing, far better off in my opinion letting them keep ticking over when up to operating temp