Joined
·
69 Posts
Recently had some slow cranking problems accompanied by numerous service prompts on the evic. Additionally, the wipers started flapping for no reason & once the shift knob was locked in park & couldn't shift it. I'm sure all these maladies were the results of the various sensors being starved for adequate voltage & sending false alarms to the ecu. I was concerned that something was draining the batt & dreaded the vicious cycle of trial & error attempts to rectify it by the service dept. carried it to the shop yesterday & the good news was the battery tested defective. The bad news was they didn't have one. They offered to fetch one from a dealer in an adjoining town & it would take a couple of hours if I'd like to wait. I consented & the 2 hr wait turned into 4. After a miserable total of 6 1/2 hr wait I had a new batt & was on my way. Something even more concerning to me is the fact that our batteries are actually agm's rather than wet cell. Agm's have been around for a long while & are excellent batteries in the right environment. Their use has been primarily limited to rv house batteries, golf carts & marine applications but this is the first time I've seen it used in an engine compartment from the factory. These batteries are infamously susceptible to damage due to exposure to heat. Unless things have changed in the last 5 years, excessive heat could cause malfunction & possible damage. One manufacturer recommended charging be halted if temps exceeded 120 degrees!! Why in the world is this batt living beside a diesel engine?? I can't imagine that mama chrysler thinks that cheesy little blanket is going to be an adequate safeguard. I found this info when searching for an rv house batt about 4 years ago. If we've got a batt guru on board that knows of improvements on the heat issue of the agm please chime in.