After leaving my key on all night(don't ask) I went out to find a dead battery this morning.

After about 4 hrs on the charger the Jeep started just fine. After it started though I found that my headlights were stuck on and none of the controls on either stalk functioned at all.

After some research on this forum I'm concluding that my battery isn't up to par and needs a replacement. Of course my meter is MIA, so I can't do any more research myself on the vehicle.

Is this an adequate conclusion, or do folks think I should be poking around at some other possible source for this issue?

I disconnected the battery and have had it charging all day. I'll connect the battery again tonight and see if that takes care of it, and my next step will be to take it in for a drawdown test somewhere.

I will keep everyone posted regarding what I find, but I could use some direction from those in the know.

Thanks,

 

If you have an 07 and that's the original battery it's overdue for replacement. I wouldn't attempt to bring that one back to life at this point since it might not hold a charge anyway. The last thing I would want is to get stuck for not replacing a battery.

 

could just be a coincidence because i had those exact symptoms when my 08' was less than six months old and the dealer replaced the entire stalk assembly which solved both issues?

 

A good battery that is allowed to discharge completely will never be the same. It may recharge and work for a while, but the life and capacity has been reduced.

A battery at the end of its useful life is unlikely to be good for much after a total discharge.

Even so-called "deep cycle" batteries should never be discharged more than about 50%. 50% is around 11.7 to 11.8 volts on a digital volt meter.

 

After a full day of being on the charger, the short-term issue is resolved. After starting the vehicle runs fine and all controls are available via both stalks.

I do believe that the battery is nearing the end of its useful life. I found my meter and I found the following:

12.6 V not running
14.2 V running

The running voltage seems a bit high and makes me think the system is never seeing a full charge from the battery. It looks like it is definitely time to replace the battery, but at least it isn't critical over the next couple of days. I'll keep looking at battery voltage over the next couple of days to see how significant the voltage drop is.

So far, we can at least record another electrical issue the JK has when it isn't seeing a full charge from the battery.

 

i just tested mine, 12.8v off, 14.0 running. 09 rubi, stock battery running a xrc 8 winch. I have "pulled" the battery down a couple of times with the winch to the point that my "voltage warning" dash light has come on, once it stayed on for two days. I took it to Car Quest and they did a battery test and showed that all the cells were (and are) working.
FYI there are i believe,(and someone correct me if I'm wrong) 6 cells in a battery with each making 2.1 volts. so a fully charged battery should show 12.6 at rest.

 

14.2V running is fine.

 

12.6 is low for a battery that is fully charged. Expect 12.7 - 12.8 on a good battery.

Living with the fussy JK electronics would be easier with a built-in digital volt meter and knowledge of how low the voltage can be before the electronics start misbehaving.

 

I wanted to close the loop here on this one and let everyone know how things turned out.

First, I am still running the factory battery, but I figure I'm going to need to replace it before winter.

After that full day of charging, voltages are holding steady:
12.6 not running
14.2 running

Let me know if anyone has additional comments or concerns I should address