Jeep Factory AGM batteries

LeakySeals

LeakySeals

Joined
Feb 18, 2011
Messages
8,190
Location
Hudson, NH
Purchased a 2019 Cherokee limited 3.2 the other day. I joined a Jeep Cherokee forum to see what issues owners are having. Battery failures are high on the list. Just being low can cause various electrical issues including shifting!. The factory AGM batteries start failing frequently in the third year. Can somebody answer my questions.

Do I have to stay with AGM for some reason?
Can I go back to regular lead acid?
Can I still use my batteryminder 1510 to maintain AGM?

Thanks
 
Stick with AGM, as there are more and more electronics that came as standard equipment in every modern vehicles. It's cheaper to buy them at WM but avoid their AGM H7 at all cost as it's the only battery size that's always OoS.
Flooded batteries leak & cause corrosion. I would suggest getting the AGM as it does not cause any white powder residue and will not corrode your battery holder. Plus AGM lasts a lot longer. At WM, it's only $20 more than the flooded batteries.
I googled your battery trickle charger & it's AGM compatible. Yes, you can use this.
 
The JL Wrangler forums are loaded with battery issues. I'm sure the ESS/Auxiliary battery on the Cherokee is identical or close enough. The JL did require an AGM.
 
Strommen95 said:
The JL Wrangler forums are loaded with battery issues. I'm sure the ESS/Auxiliary battery on the Cherokee is identical or close enough. The JL did require an AGM.
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incorrect. you know what assume is right?

Cherokee uses a 1 battery system with no secondary battery.
Low quality OEM battery combined with high underhood temps and heavy use lead to short life.

The OP does need to use an AGM but can upgrade to a TPPL style such as the batteries plus "X2 power"

Alternatively an h7 agm at sams club runs 169-189$ I had to replace my factory battery at 3.5 years old.

Additional info group 94r and h7 is same battery.. also same identical battery is sold under 5 different brands (or more)
there are only a few different makers of normal AGM batteries
 
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LeakySeals said:
Are Duralast Gold AGM batteries any good?
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Yes, AZ Duralast batteries are either made by Clarios or EastPenn depending on the location you are in. Upon reading the comments here, East Penn batteries gets the best reviews. But, AZ's warranty is top notch as far as I am concerned. Bought batteries there in the past and never had a problem on their warranty.
My suggestion is, if your Jeep is not driven in a week, attach a trickle to it, It will last longer that way.
 
Escape08 said:
Stick with AGM, as there are more and more electronics that came as standard equipment in every modern vehicles. It's cheaper to buy them at WM but avoid their AGM H7 at all cost as it's the only battery size that's always OoS.
Flooded batteries leak & cause corrosion. I would suggest getting the AGM as it does not cause any white powder residue and will not corrode your battery holder. Plus AGM lasts a lot longer. At WM, it's only $20 more than the flooded batteries.
I googled your battery trickle charger & it's AGM compatible. Yes, you can use this.
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The only thing that I would add to this is to make sure you have a battery charger that is AGM compatible. Also if you do not use the vehicle for a sustained period (maybe 2weeks or longer) use a trickle charger while the vehicle is parked for that time period.
 
Put the 1510 on about 3:30pm. The overnight resting voltage at the start was 12.4v. Not sure if this is good or bad.
 

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You’ll need to stick with agm because it has a different charging profile than a flooded cell. It will presumably slightly overcharge a flooded battery. I’ve had good service with the autozone variants which I believe are Johnson. Now, I’m an east Penn fan over Johnson, but some test reports I came across at one point showed east Penn AGMs to be a little more sensitive with slightly inferior recovery to JCI. I also like the X2m which does have an H7, but they are $$. I’d imagine you’d be fine with any of these three, frankly. I would avoid optima and exide.
 
AGM has more CCA than flooded. About 50 or 100 more. Modern vehicles are hungry of power because they are equipped with a lot of electronics added to it (power seats, power mirrors, power lift gate release, full-time key pod detection, parking and lane assists, heated seats/steering wheel, stop/start traffic operation, USB connections for laptops and other personal electronics, etc). It has more sensors and cameras added compared to vehicles made in the last 10 or 5 years. More & more modern vehicles made in the future will be equipped with AGM.
 
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It might be my age, but I have noticed over the last 40 years that as time goes on, auto batteries tend to last shorter and shorter intervals. The longest I went was a few months shy of 10 years on the factory Motorcraft battery in my 1992 Explorer. Subsequent batteries never made it past 5 years, with the last one only barely making 3 years. I realize that modern electronic demands on batteries have required stronger batteries, and higher amp alternator outputs to keep pace. Even then, everything should (more or less) be equal.

My current Jeep (2016 JK) had the original factory MOPAR battery replaced last summer with a NAPA AGM (48) and now that one is already dead in the morning.

I guess it's time to learn to live with a portable jump start battery pack in the vehicles.
 
HouseTiger said:
It might be my age, but I have noticed over the last 40 years that as time goes on, auto batteries tend to last shorter and shorter intervals. The longest I went was a few months shy of 10 years on the factory Motorcraft battery in my 1992 Explorer. Subsequent batteries never made it past 5 years, with the last one only barely making 3 years. I realize that modern electronic demands on batteries have required stronger batteries, and higher amp alternator outputs to keep pace. Even then, everything should (more or less) be equal.

My current Jeep (2016 JK) had the original factory MOPAR battery replaced last summer with a NAPA AGM (48) and now that one is already dead in the morning.

I guess it's time to learn to live with a portable jump start battery pack in the vehicles.
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Have your alt check (such as belt could be lose/slipping) or your Jeep might have a parasitic drain. Or possibly you've got a defective AGM.
 
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I have a 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee. It came with a AGM battery that lasted until last Summer. (7 years, which is phenomenal out here in the desert). I replaced it with another AGM from AutoZone that they claimed, "Fits Your Vehicle Exactly".... Except it had more CCA.

They were right. It fit perfectly. And the vent tube was located in the exact same place. (Important). I believe the reason Jeep uses an AGM is because the battery resides under the passenger seat, and has a vent tube, to vent any gasses outside the passenger compartment.

I'm also pretty sure the charging system is set up for a AGM battery. So I wouldn't use anything else.

For what it's worth, I called the dealer about having a replacement battery installed, and they quoted me $400.00 and change. I questioned it and they told me it requires removal of the front seat to install it.

That is complete B.S. All that's required is to move the front seat all the way forward, and tilt it up as far as the motorized system will take it. You can then unhook the terminals and clamp, and lift it right out.

Just be careful lifting because your back is in a bad position, and it's heavy. If my wife and I can do it, (I'm 70 and she's 67), anyone can. And we saved almost $200.00 in the process. The whole thing took less than 30 minutes, start to finish.

(EDIT). I use a Noco Genius 1 Battery Maintainer on mine, and have no problem. The starter always spins like a banshee.
 
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My son’s friend has a ‘19 Compass with the stop start system, she kept getting the warning for the stop start battery and we wound up having to replace that (also an AGM) but not the main battery (not yet at least).
 
Escape08 said:
Have your alt check (such as belt could be lose/slipping) or your Jeep might have a parasitic drain. Or possibly you've got a defective AGM.
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Serpentine belt has automatic tensioner - belt tension is solid. OBD diagnostics shows full alternator output, and positive charging.
 
Cleaning both (+) & (-) posts of the battery and cables as well with sandpaper.
Have you driven your car on short distances? If it is battery will not charge fully even if alt is working properly.
 
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LeakySeals said:
Put the 1510 on about 3:30pm. The overnight resting voltage at the start was 12.4v. Not sure if this is good or bad.
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That is not good. 12.4vt is 75% capacity

Either the battery is on the way out, or you have a sizeable drain going on, or both.
Understand that with a 2019 model year, that battery could be up to four years old. If you bought the jeep used, it could have sat on the lot for a few months, which is not good for the battery...and in addition, we have no idea how the previous owner used the jeep.

Using a battery tender regularly now, may eak out a few more months or years of service. But you may want to consider replacing the battery with a quality AGM as suggested above, just for peace of mind. But using a battery tender shouldn't really be necessary on a daily driving vehicle.
 
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