I recently bought a 2002 Wrangler and have been having battery charge issues. When I bought it, they had a set of speakers in the back that I wanted to remove and got rid of them a couple days ago. They had a box connected directly to the battery which powered the speakers, but the box was also grounded in the trunk. After I removed the setup, I started getting the Check Gauges light and noticed the battery wasn’t charging. Today, the battery died. I just moved out to Guam and don’t have my stuff or many tools to troubleshoot a lot (also am fairly new to working on cars). Can removing the setup cause the issue or is it most likely an alternator issue that coincidentally happened at the same time? I also just got a new battery about a month ago.
Battery issues (Code P1682)
- Thread starter Puddlepirate
- Start date
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- Tags
- alternator battery charge p1682
Disconnect anything modified to the battery. I would guess there was an amp in the "box" that was drawing power. What was connected to the back should be a ground, tho for an amp it should have been pulled back up to the battery (-) post.
If the stereo is a cobbled up mess then there may be something in the dash radio wiring causing an unauthorized ground (a short) inside there. I'm not an electronics wizard, but when I start with an electrical project I like to get rid of other people's messes and start all new making my own mess. I understand my mess, and am sure no oddball wire is causing a problem.
With a multimeter on the battery check your voltage across the two posts. You should have ~12.5v. If you don't then either the battery is poor or something is draining the battery. Start the Jeep and now check voltage across the posts. You should be getting ~14v. At minimum a good 13.5v.
After the battery is fully charged back up you could pull the ground cable and see if the battery will now hold a good charge for a few days. If yes then there is something draining it down when the engine isn't running. If it still drains and can't keep a charge then the battery has a problem.
There are guys that can do a much better and quicker survey of the problem, but this has worked for me for many decades ( long before all this modern crap has made me obsolete
)
If the stereo is a cobbled up mess then there may be something in the dash radio wiring causing an unauthorized ground (a short) inside there. I'm not an electronics wizard, but when I start with an electrical project I like to get rid of other people's messes and start all new making my own mess. I understand my mess, and am sure no oddball wire is causing a problem.
With a multimeter on the battery check your voltage across the two posts. You should have ~12.5v. If you don't then either the battery is poor or something is draining the battery. Start the Jeep and now check voltage across the posts. You should be getting ~14v. At minimum a good 13.5v.
After the battery is fully charged back up you could pull the ground cable and see if the battery will now hold a good charge for a few days. If yes then there is something draining it down when the engine isn't running. If it still drains and can't keep a charge then the battery has a problem.
There are guys that can do a much better and quicker survey of the problem, but this has worked for me for many decades ( long before all this modern crap has made me obsolete
)
You will need to get the battery recharged so you can start the Jeep. Once the Jeep has been restarted; you will need to verify the voltage coming from the output stud on the back of the alternator (usually covered with a black 90* rubber boot. Should be 13.8+; if its below 13.0V... then either the alternator has a problem OR the ECU isn't controlling the voltage properly.
There is also an outside chance the voltage regulator section of the ECU may have a problem.
You should also check the (3) 32 harness connector pins at the ECU for oxidation and verify the connectors are firmly snapped into the ECU receptacles.
There is also an outside chance the voltage regulator section of the ECU may have a problem.
You should also check the (3) 32 harness connector pins at the ECU for oxidation and verify the connectors are firmly snapped into the ECU receptacles.
Sounds like maybe the wire you disconnected that connected the box (likely an amplifier) to the battery could be causing the issue. Disconnect the other end of that wire at the battery itself, recharge the battery OVERNIGHT, and see what happens.
In view of the fact the problem started after you removed the speaker amplifier I seriously doubt the dead battery is caused by a problem with the alternator.