My 2020 Cherokee Trailhawk is having issues starting in cold weather. To be more specific, it's having issues STAYING started in cold weather.

If the outside temp is under ~12-degrees (F), the car starts fine without strain, but immediately shuts off and displays multiple error messages on the dash. Things like, service parking brake, SDW Unavailable, etc. The battery shows 11.6 volts in this condition.

If I start it while attached to jumper cables, it stays started and I can remove the jumpers and drive it normally. After this, the battery shows 14.4 volts, but the check engine light remains on (steady).

I assume this is a bad battery. Problem is, the dealer won't replace it under warranty since it's not failing in front of them. If it fails in my driveway, and I jump it and drive it there, it's fine. It will start normally for them since it has been running to drive it there. It seems to only fail after sitting for awhile in cold temps.

So, I let them keep it on their lot overnight, but according to them, it started normally the next day (it was only in the 20s last night) and the battery passed the test. There's apparently some official battery tester they hook it up to for 3 hours. If, and only if the battery fails this test, they can put a new battery in under warranty.

I'm to the point where I would be willing to just buy a new battery, but what if this isn't a battery issue? They said everything is checking out, so they can't troubleshoot it otherwise. I'd hate to drop $300 on a new battery just to have the problem continue.

Thoughts? Is 11.6 volts too low for a successful start?


Dash after a failed start in cold weather.

 

Just replaced my battery in a 2019 v6 and you are correct, it's the battery. A good battery should be some where between 12 and 14v. I would have the battery bench tested and they will be able to tell if it is bad. Sad thing, most warranties do not cover the battery (like brakes and tires) so you'll need to replace it, out of pocket. I got a good deal at AdvancedAuto and went with a 48 month warranty which was not prorated, so if it fails within 48 months of the purchase date, i get a new one. Month 49, I'm on my own dime. Good Luck.

 

Thanks. I'm hearing from other sources that this is probably the battery, too. My dealer said the battery is replaceable under warranty, but it has to fail in their garage. Problem is, it hasn't failed for them to see -- it passed their tests. I may just get them to install a new battery regardless.

Someone else said it could be the start/stop solenoid or relay, but I'm leaning towards the battery.

 

your dash looks perfectly normal for a stalled engine. Is your door on for this? Is it 12 or lower when this pic was taken? My professional opinion you have partially discharged battery or a parasitic drain and nothing else.

You need to see what the check engine light says.

Charge your battery 100%. Check the connections.

Your IPC is displaying circuit "bulb" checks. Thats the same at key on engine off. when car stalls thats key on engine off just through different means.

Is your car got 2 batteries or just 1?

 

I don't know what the temp was when I took the picture. If I had to guess, I'd say it was in the upper teens by 10am that morning.

The car doesn't stall. It just turns off after 5 seconds and shows a multitude of error messages on the display, like service parking brake, SDW unavailable, etc. The dealer said those are phantom errors due to a bad battery.

I have the start/stop engine, so yes, I believe there are two batteries.

I'm going to video the process should it happen again.

Can I use one of these overnight during cold nights? : Battery Charger

Example error shown:

 

Your car turnign off after 5 seconds without your input is the defintion of a stall, just the stall cause isnt like driving a manual and forgetting to hit the clutch when braking.

SDW, im not sure what that is. Its Possible it be battery, but low voltage wrecks havoc on these vehicles, and thats hwy i suggest charging. whats your driving consist of?


Also my 2017 jeep cherokee is start-stop but it only has 1 battery, if i Were you I would verify.

We personally bought a module to disable start stop and all it does is it retains the "turn off" selection when you turn off your car so when you turn it on, its still turned off. it plugs into the OBD2 port. if you have just a single battery like us, and you had the Start-stop get used relatively often, your battery may very well be toast because of it. Ours was toast last year and that was a year after I disabled start stop. Start stop is a joke, its bad on your engine and it is hell on your battery even if you have a dedicated one. The fact it cant be turned off and forgotten from factory constitutes a racketeering crime as far as im concerned, but not something we deal with anymore.Our battery failure was pretty instant, one morning it was just click click and no boosting would even work.

Did a google, “SDW Not Available” — This message is displayed if the Side Distance Warning system is not available. The failed operation of the system might be due to the insufficient voltage from the battery or other failures on the electrical system.

I would charge your battery to full, get in the habit of cancelling the start stop thing every time you start, write a note on steering wheel. If your problems go away, I would say it was a discharged battery. If your problems return, Id say its a failed battery or charging system. I would check your posts for corrosion, your fuse box junction, etc. Also the steering gears on these vehicles are absolutely trash garbage abysmal POS low quality FCA garbo(I probably am not making any friends on a cherokee forum disparaging FCA rip) and they have issues with current draw over time I read in a TSB one day. I had good luck fixing some low speed turning and not moving turning drawing too much on the system by recalibrating the throttle and the power steering with my scan tool, but you unlikely have that ability. It made a difference I noticed, our voltages were dipping to 11, 10 and everything pulled low sometimes. now it idles more appropiate and the steering doesnt get heavy.

Just things to think about.

 

Wait youre at 14,000 miles. Are you city driving this or is it sitting a lot, trips are short? Thats nothing for a 2017, we have 60k for example. Also I just realized you dont have a 2017, you have a 2020. Hmm. everything i said may still apply but the mileage isnt too far off the question about driving habits still applys

 

Mostly city driving on a daily basis, if you can call this "city" driving: western Pennsylvania area -- Pittsburgh suburbs.

Going on a long, 600-mile road trip tomorrow to North Carolina. Supposed to get to 1-F tonight. We'll see if it starts tomorrow without a jump. I will, of course, bring my portable jumper with me.

What about these things to help on cold nights? Battery Charger to keep it charged overnight, and this for a portable jumper.

 

A battery tender couldnt hurt on a cold night, My suggestion is if you have a lot of city driving for stop n go and overall not much cruising/sustained driving would be thats not a bad idea. If your battery stays charged, a battery heater blanket would be better. if youre going on that trip, thats a great opportunity to get it all charged up and your car to make it all fine and dandy assuming it is. maybe budget 200 ish dollars for a group size 92 or whatever size battery it is at a store along your path just in case.You may even bring a socket and extension and ratchet of the hold down and the posts too if you would replace it yourself. Thats just me thinking paranoid tho, and being 23 lol. Im the kind of person replacing starter motors in parking lots when they fail lol.

Anyway, turn off start stop when you get in and before you drive. try and remember to cancel it after start up.
If you want to permanently disable ESS, Here is a link to the website I purchased mine through

https://www.smartstopstart.com/jeep-...-products.html

Being you primarily drive city unlike our driving rural 20+ minute trips and also being your area gets cold, you will save an enormous amount of wear on your engine, battery life should realistically be extended by large amounts, and you wont have hesitation from take off when the start stop obviously stops lol. Most engine wear is at startup of an engine, starting is hard on a battery. Simple equation


there are other products and companies that make them now but figured to share one I knew worked.

Do you know where your start stop button is? If its like a 2017 its under your hvac buttons and it has a circle with an arrow on it and it presses and a light indicator turns on to indicate its turned off and your center area should say something to that effect possibly. screen off button is in the same row.

Goodluck on trip
edit:
I see that you are on trip already, hope its working

 

I made the 600-mile trip from Pittsburgh to Jacksonville, NC today with the battery as-is. It got down to -1 last night and this morning, the Jeep started on the second attempt without the need for a jump. But, it still displayed various errors on the dash. The second start cleared all errors but one (traction control). That remained on for several engine cycles. After a few stops on the trip, both the traction control and the check engine light cleared.

So I think I'll get this Walmart trickle charger and use it on cold nights. Is it safe to keep it on the battery all night? Do these chargers stop charging when done?

 

That screen shot shows either a bad battery, something draining the battery overnight, or a charging problem. I'd take a video of the stalling, and then escalate this with Chrysler.

 

at this point, to maintain the ability to say you havent messed with your jeep, hold off on the trickle charger. The guy above makes a good point/idea about escalating with chrysler, you have a warranty still(I did not think about this despite you saying so) the CustomerCares or JeepCares seemingly does a decent job finding solutions for some people esp with a dealer who may seem unyielding as well.

The traction thing tells me the system probably couldnt initialize or had problems with ABS module/traction thing, which I have seen the "implausible data from ____" codes on our jeep before, and i know there was a TSB for other years, not sure about 20, so a call with them might be the wisest first move. basically, since you drove your trip, you can be assured a normal charging system would have fully charged your jeep. If there is still problems, there is a non-working system or component. Hopefully it aint too bad

 

The one remaining error after a successful start after a failed start seems random. This time is was the traction control. Last time it was the start/stop. These errors always clear after a couple engine cycles.

Someone one Facebook said they had a similar problem that ended up was a "faulty relay." He said Chrysler is aware of this problem but hasn't yet issued an official recall.

 

its normal for non OBD2 faults that have lights to go out after a couple ignition cycles that are temporary, like low voltage. (assuming issue is not present when the car checks) for example gm vehicles 2 sucessful passes after a hard fault was detected will clear lights on some of my gm stuff. Obd2 emisssions stuff will go out on its own too if you fix a oxygen sensor, for example. They just take more cycles.

 

OK, it was cold last night and I was able to record my problem. I'm going to show this to the dealer and perhaps Chrysler (or whatever they call themselves these days).

Thoughts? Does this change anyone's opinions?