Birty Dastards Jeep Club

Tech Forum => Workshop => Topic started by: stuart 3.1 on March 30, 2011, 09:52:57 PM

Title: grand cherokee 3.1d flat battery
Post by: stuart 3.1 on March 30, 2011, 09:52:57 PM
hello can some one help i have just got a grand cherokee 3.1d on a 51 drives very well and goes well to but i park it up and the next day the battery is flat as a pancake what can be draining it :icon_sad:
Title: Re: grand cherokee 3.1d flat battery
Post by: Bulldog67 on March 30, 2011, 09:55:15 PM
dead/dying battery
Title: Re: grand cherokee 3.1d flat battery
Post by: Dutch on March 30, 2011, 09:57:09 PM
Interior lights/dial illumination settings on the stalk, lefthand side of the steering wheel.  Turn it off completely and see what happens.
Title: Re: grand cherokee 3.1d flat battery
Post by: Dutch on March 30, 2011, 09:59:20 PM
dead/dying battery

 :iagree:  Have it checked to see if it holds charge.  Dying batteries on WJ's wreak havoc with the electrickery
Title: Re: grand cherokee 3.1d flat battery
Post by: Bulldog67 on March 30, 2011, 10:03:13 PM
Poor bloke havin me & Dutch advising him  :003:
Title: Re: grand cherokee 3.1d flat battery
Post by: stuart 3.1 on March 30, 2011, 10:06:49 PM
the battery looks new so ill try and turn the illumination stalk first thanks for the help.
Title: Re: grand cherokee 3.1d flat battery
Post by: JamesH on March 31, 2011, 08:34:25 AM
If you have the time, take the battery off, trickle charge it for 24-48 hrs, test it (any of the basic % full testers will do), leave it to stand for a few hours and test again. Quite a few Jeeps seem to be good a killing batteries, the problem is normally a drain coming from alarm, lighting etc. but it's a bugger to try and track if the battery is dying and losing charge on it's own.

My Jeep loves to eat batteries  :icon_sad:
Title: Re: grand cherokee 3.1d flat battery
Post by: stuart 3.1 on March 31, 2011, 04:19:00 PM
hello i charged the battery put it back on and the red light on the dash in on all the time instead of flashing and when i open the door the alarm goes off and it wont turn off do i have to reset the alarn or does it do it itself, i need help  Blues
Title: Re: grand cherokee 3.1d flat battery
Post by: Mike Pavelin on April 01, 2011, 08:22:16 AM
Start the engine and leave it running.
Title: Re: grand cherokee 3.1d flat battery
Post by: 4tom on July 30, 2011, 03:51:45 PM
old thread but I'll add this for other readers who might come across this at later date.

Battery draining when not in use no apparent reason.

The wiring going to the doors is prone to breaking due to been flexed every time the door is opened and closed. Confusing the Body Computer Module (BCM) that will draw more current than is intended when the vehicle is left sitting for few days.  A weak battery will make this more acute and can flatten battery over night.

Un-clip the rubber boot (by hand) from the door and inspect the wiring the thicker black ground, the thick orange/white are most likely to be damaged. This can create havoc with the BCM causing any or all of the following interior lights stay on longer than normal, or come, alarm goes off for no apparent reason, electric windows to stop working, doors not locking with remote etc....

It can happen to any door but the drivers door is most likely because of the extra use.

Repair is easy and the following make the job much easier.
Heat shrink cable
Soldering Iron
Solder
extra flexable cable same rating as cable in door.
Snips / Wire cutter

un-clip and pull back rubber booth covering door wiring going into body.
inspect cables especially the two thicker cables    Black (ground) and Orange/White (positive)

in my case the Positive cable was clearly visibly broken and the Ground cable had a bulge in it about half way along.
 
Removed the plastic cover trim near fuse box (one screw at floor) to gain access to wiring as it goes into body.
I cut the cable at damaged point and pulled one end back inside the body of jeep. The other end is I pulled out of booth stripped back the insulation and soldered (tinned) the end.   slid on about 1-2 inches of heat shrink cable down the cable away from from joint.  Tinned the new cable and soldered it to the original cable moved heat shrink back up over joint and applied a little heat for it to contract in place. Feed the extended cable through the booth into the body.   Repaired joint as before. Repeat for next cable.
Push rubber both back onto door and refit trim cover.

Job done.