Dead battery then wacko stuff happened

mark6437

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Joined
Jun 19, 2022
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6
Location
Chappell Hill, TX
We have a 2018 Jeep Wrangler JK willy edition. We drove it about 700 miles and the next morning the battery was dead. I got a jump from someone using one of those little portable packs. It started up and I pulled out of the parking space and within about 5 seconds all the dashboard lights started going off the lights in the interior started flickering and then the Jeep turned itself off. I tried jumping it again and letting it run for about 20 minutes to charge the batteries all the lights on the dashboard when off except for the check engine light the interior lights stopped flickering so I figured I was good I was going to go to AutoZone and get the check engine light cleared I pulled out of the space within about 3 seconds all the lights on the dash started coming on again and then I pulled into a space and turned it off myself this time. Any ideas? Bad battery or is my alternator dead? Jeep has 29000 miles. Thx!
 
No idea if either is bad or if you might have dirty battery connections. Or you could have possibly left a dome light on or something else to draw the battery down.
 
No idea if either is bad or if you might have dirty battery connections. Or you could have possibly left a dome light on or something else to draw the battery down.
We did not leave any lights on overnight. For me who knows nothing about cars it seemed like to me the fact that it turned off on its own after I jumped it is very odd I've never seen a vehicle do that.
 
We did not leave any lights on overnight. For me who knows nothing about cars it seemed like to me the fact that it turned off on its own after I jumped it is very odd I've never seen a vehicle do that.

If it shut off on it's own then the battery could be bad or the alternator, AZ or a similar place can check those for you.
 
Okay thank you for the advice we're having it towed to Jeep tomorrow because we're 1500 miles from home

You mean there is no repair shops closer then a Dealer 1,500 miles away? It's going to be really expensive to do that and then on top of that pay a high priced Dealer to check it out. Also aren't you going to have to get a rental to drive home?
 
We did. Dealership said the battery was over volting the computer. Changed the battery and everything was fine.

Avoiding voltage spikes​

When you connect jumper cables from a running vehicle to a dead battery, the alternator in the running vehicle instantly puts out maximum charging voltage. That can create a voltage spike of up to 15.5 volts in both vehicles. And it’s that voltage spike that can fry computers and digital devices.

One way to eliminate the voltage spike is to leave the engine off in the donor car. That will prevent frying computers in the donor car. But if the car won’t start right up, don’t grind away to the point that you end up with dead batteries in both cars!

Jump-starting with a jumper pack (also called a booster pack or a juice pack) is a better alternative. The battery inside the jumper pack provides the boost to the dead battery at a safe voltage. When used properly, it’s the safest way to protect the electronics in the dead vehicle while providing enough boost to get the engine running.
 
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Avoiding voltage spikes​

When you connect jumper cables from a running vehicle to a dead battery, the alternator in the running vehicle instantly puts out maximum charging voltage. That can create a voltage spike of up to 15.5 volts in both vehicles. And it’s that voltage spike that can fry computers and digital devices.

One way to eliminate the voltage spike is to leave the engine off in the donor car. That will prevent frying computers in the donor car. But if the car won’t start right up, don’t grind away to the point that you end up with dead batteries in both cars!

Jump-starting with a jumper pack (also called a booster pack or a juice pack) is a better alternative. The battery inside the jumper pack provides the boost to the dead battery at a safe voltage. When used properly, it’s the safest way to protect the electronics in the dead vehicle while providing enough boost to get the engine running.
We did use a battery pack. Not another car.
 
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