Battery loosing its charge?

Westtown Willy

TJ dummy
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I put a new Interstate AGM battery in 2 years ago & since then have put maybe a few thousand miles on the TJ, I drive it on average once a week which is most often a 30 to 60 minute drive around town or through winding country roads with the occasional 12 hour wheeling day. Lately I’ve noticed the battery is loosing power, it’s struggling to crank the engine & yesterday barely got it started. Once I drive as above & shut it off it’ll crank right up no problem. I’m pretty sure on the trajectory it’s been on when I go to start it next weekend it probably won’t have enough juice to turn it over.

I’ve never owned a vehicle I’ve driven so infrequently so I’m not sure if this is normal or should I be bringing this battery back to Interstate for a replacement? If it’s normal I’m assuming I can just toss a trickle charger on there between drives?
 
Have the battery load tested after a bona fide full charge. That will end speculation. While batteries in your climate typically last longer, some are crap hence the warranty. I am three decades out of date with brands, but Interstate used to prodce a very good battery and they always stood behind them.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000AMBOI0/?tag=wranglerorg-20
 
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X2 having it load tested by someone who knows what he's doing.

Also, remove both battery connections and wire brush them a battery post cleaner until they're bright and shiny clean. Even if they look fine. Bad/dirty/corroded/loose battery connections can and DO cause this kind of problem... even when they look fine.
 
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If you have a multimeter, turn it to volts, it should read above 12v. Watching the meter, have someone crank the motor over and if the volt reading drops into the 10v or lower, replace the battery. You lost a cell. Once the temps start to get high or very low, you will see a cell drop if it is going bad.
 
You should show well over 12v when the engine is running. 13.5 to 14.5 is very good. It could be that the alternator isn't putting out enouf voltage to put a good charge back into the battery. Plus add in the vampire drains and after a week the battery is low. All above posts should be followed. It could be 1 or all above conditions.
 
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most AGMs have a up to 5 yr warranty, check to see what yours is,
I returned an AGM that was over 4yrs old for replacement.
 
My TJ sits in the garage all winter and I've never experienced an issue with the battery losing its charge.
you are lucky, I have a 2 door Yukon with a dual battery set up. I have had to replace multiple AGM batteries, both Red top and Yellow top
 
epilogue: so the weekend after posting this I had planned on a trip to the mountains, was concerned so I put my charger on it the night before. That morning (June 15) it barely started but past experience said it would charge nicely during the ride so I chanced it. Arrived 2 hours later in the mountains & shut it off to air down & head into the office to pay the entrance fee, on re-start it was just as slow. I kept it running all day just to be sure, stalled a few times but it managed to start back up just as slow each time.

Pulled it out & brought it back to Interstate on Thursday, they said they'd put it on their charger & call me when it was done, figured it would be Friday. I called them Friday & they said it was still charging & they were planning on leaving it that way over the weekend. They called me today and said it's dead on arrival & won't hold a charge so come on in & grab your brand new replacement under warranty.

Happy about that of course, but I've never had a battery croak that prematurely, I'm wondering if this was just a freak thing or is Interstate not what they used to be, I always heard good things? Hoping it's just a freak thing
 
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It is not unusual for a battery issue to manifest when summer weather arrives, however your posts suggest that your issue first manifested several months ago.

I use one of these on every vehicle I own that isn't driven daily. It is a Costo-only model. Since I began using trickle chargers conscientiously I have yet to lose a battery.

022-0202-3A-Power-Tender-Series-Costco_3.jpg
 
It is not unusual for a battery issue to manifest when summer weather arrives, however your posts suggest that your issue first manifested several months ago.

I use one of these on every vehicle I own that isn't driven daily. It is a Costo-only model. Since I began using trickle chargers conscientiously I have yet to lose a battery.

yup, I noticed it was going down hill before any kind of heat showed up, & it's been a cool spring. I have a trickle charger, I'll be popping it on during the week long periods when it's just sitting. I had suspected something was wrong with the battery itself rather than some external issue given that for a while even after a slow crank over it would come back to life after I drove it for a while & would crank right up like it was new with subsequent starts that same day only to then slow crank the next weekend, so when it stopped charging during long runs it seemed obvious. I explained that to the guy at Interstate when I brought it in & suggested they just swap it on the spot, he didn't like that idea hahaha, explained to me that they have 'real' chargers... oh well, whatever the return protocol is it is...
 
I was at an Interstate store just one hour ago and had a similar conversation. My neighbor's battery was showing only 2 volts and my "smart" 2/6/10 amp charger would not charge it. The protocol at the Interstate store is to fully charge the battery and then let it sit at least overnight before load testing it. Only then are store personnel permitted to do a warranty exchange.

Fortunately my neighbor's battery tested good. I just finished putting it back in her car.

I should have mentioned earlier that some AGM batteries cannot be fully charged with a vehicle alternator and need a periodic charge with a bench charger, preferably a 3-stage charger. The Diehard Platinum Group 31 AGM batteries come to mind and being particularly finicky (oddly, other sizes don't have that reputation). I don't recall anything in particular about Interstate AGMs.
 
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