Check gauges after battery boost

[Michael Roberson]

Doors are off. Pulled fuse #4 to disable door switch. No ding dong reminder for headlights. And this morning I left the headlights on after I parked. So I had to get a boost around lunchtime. Let the battery take a charge during boost and it started up fine. Drove for one minute and the check gauges light came on. Switched off after I drove for about ten minutes and it started up fine. Then the check gauge light came back on. Took to auto zone and they didn't see a code. Started back up and it's not came back. Should I even worry about this?


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[Jerry Bransford]

Your alternator cannot recharge battery that has gone dead. You need to connect it to a battery charger overnight to get it fully recharged. A low battery can cause all kinds of strange problems since the alternator requires a good solid 12 volts from the battery to produce power. Yes, that is true on all modern Jeeps and most cars too.

A Jeep with a truly dead battery may not even idle after being jump-started when the jump start battery is disconnected. Your battery currently barely has any charge on it and you'll continue to see strange symptoms until it has a good overnight (not just a couple hours) charge with a bench charger.

The bottom line is your battery needs an overnight charge from a battery charger capable of putting out at least 6-10 amps. The days of being able to rely on our alternators and generators to easily charge up dead batteries are over.

 

[Chris]

Jerry is correct. An alternator cannot recharge a battery that has gone dead. That's a common myth that you'll hear a lot of people throw around, but it's no true.

But to answer your question, no, I wouldn't worry about it. With things like this, if they go away, I don't worry about them at all unless they come back. Often times something can end up getting tripped, cause a warning light to go off, and then go away immediately. Unless it comes back, you're just worrying about nothing.

That's my advice.

 

[JWjeepSask]

Same thing happened to mine After a boost I just tightened up my terminals good. Check gauges light came on I ignored it and it went away on its own


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[LeePTI]

I am curious. I have left lights on in both my 2005 TJ and my 2007 Escalade resulting in the morning "starter clicks". Each time I jump started one vehicle with the other. After driving 15-20 minutes, everything is good. Apparently I am missing something? Or do my older vehicles not apply? I even carry a small emergency jump battery for these situations...

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[Jerry Bransford]

I am curious. I have left lights on in both my 2005 TJ and my 2007 Escalade resulting in the morning "starter clicks". Each time I jump started one vehicle with the other. After driving 15-20 minutes, everything is good. Apparently I am missing something? Or do my older vehicles not apply? I even carry a small emergency jump battery for these situations...

Keep in mind that our alternators require (!) 12 volts from the battery before they can put out power. The days of alternators and generators being able to put out power with a dead or even a missing battery are long gone for all modern Jeeps and most modern cars as well.

Jump starting a Jeep with a dead battery won't always produce anything but an engine that runs until the jump start battery is disconnected, after which the engine dies again. If a battery is so dead that the starter solenoid chatters, it needs some serious time on a real battery charger... overnight is my standard recommendation.

Also, starters clicking and not being able to start the engine are often not caused from a dead battery. That symptom is often regularly caused by bad connections between the battery post and battery connection. EVEN IF THE CONNECTIONS LOOK 100% GOOD. At least once a year I remove my battery connections and clean the posts and inside of the connectors with a wire battery brush as shown here. They only cost $3-5 at any auto parts store.

Lastly, as battery posts and connectors wear, you may not be able to tighten the connectors so they are on tightly enough. The bolt can't be tightened any more because the adjustment gap in the connector has closed up preventing it being tightened any more. You should not be able to move the connector on the battery post even with considerable hand pressure. If it can be moved, it's not tight enough.

The good news is that can be fixed in just a few minutes. With the clamp bolt removed from the battery connection, shave the lead from between the gap that the bolt squeezes closer together which will give it more adjustment so it can be clamped around the battery post tightly enough. I use a Dremel cutting wheel to shave a layer of lead out on both sides of the gap in my connectors.

 

[LeePTI]

I think I experienced this today. 3 week old battery in my Escalade. Left a 12v plugged in overnight and killed the battery. Used jumper battery. It turned over fine but would not start at first. So I let it sit for 5 minutes. It evidently charged the battery a little because it then started right up. Learned something again.
[emoji6]

Lee - 2005 TJ 4.0 Auto - Las Vegas

 

[Michael Roberson]

Your alternator cannot recharge battery that has gone dead. You need to connect it to a battery charger overnight to get it fully recharged. A low battery can cause all kinds of strange problems since the alternator requires a good solid 12 volts from the battery to produce power. Yes, that is true on all modern Jeeps and most cars too.

A Jeep with a truly dead battery may not even idle after being jump-started when the jump start battery is disconnected. Your battery currently barely has any charge on it and you'll continue to see strange symptoms until it has a good overnight (not just a couple hours) charge with a bench charger.

The bottom line is your battery needs an overnight charge from a battery charger capable of putting out at least 6-10 amps. The days of being able to rely on our alternators and generators to easily charge up dead batteries are over.

Just a quick question about that. I have an older model century 10 amp charger with a small gauge that slowly moves to 100% as the battery charges. Is it safe to let it sit overnight even when the gauge is reading 3/4 fully charged as it is attached and turned on? I'm running it at 10 amps now. The other choice is 2amp.


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[Jerry Bransford]

Just a quick question about that. I have an older model century 10 amp charger with a small gauge that slowly moves to 100% as the battery charges. Is it safe to let it sit overnight even when the gauge is reading 3/4 fully charged as it is attached and turned on? I'm running it at 10 amps now. The other choice is 2amp.


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If it says it's an automatic charger, which means it will cut its charge rate down as the battery gets charged, yes it'd be fine to leave it on the 10 amp charge setting.

My 8 amp charger tapers its charge down to nothing when the battery is fully charged. It's probably 25 years old so its technology is not new. I would expect yours is an automatic model too but no guarantees.