Battery Has Discharged!

[timberwolf]

Ah, I forgot about the newer generation. As you say, Toyota are still not doing something correctly when charging the 12 V Battery.

On my older generation Prius, the charging voltage is 13.8 V and that usually drops to 13.6 V. I can't recall if I've ever seen it go higher than 13.8 V. If I charge the Battery from the mains CTEK charger, when I use the car again it will drop the charging voltage to 13.5 V.

On my SGII, I have one of the gauges set to display the Voltage and I've checked that voltage against a DVM at the front jump-start point/

[jonesbach]

Timberwolf,

Yes, you really do seem to have almost permanent trickle charge. Another mistake I'm making is assuming the new Auris and Prius are similar. The charging voltage does seem to have been improved on the Auris, though it obviously hasn't sorted out the problem.

[Dasbob]

Well despite my careful management of the Battery, leaving it for one day (sunday) caused it to be dead as a dodo this morning.

I gave it 3 hours of charging from the Ctek device (which prob was not enough) and it did nothing, so i jump started it with my step dads car and it worked fine... and did when i came home from work today.

I rang Toyota and have booked it in tomorrow lunch time, the guy said they would probably just change the Battery...so lets see how that goes!

[timberwolf]

Hopefully, it turns out to be a defective 12 V Battery from new.

On the charger front, assuming the Battery will still hold a charge, it would probably take 10-12 hours bulk charging to reach 80% charged, and then another 12 hours plus to top it off.

[RunningInPleasePass]

Hi, I have a brand new Auris Excel Hybrid and this morning the car was dead.

Opened the car with the emergency key but the car did not come to life, no interior lights, and no dashboard lights.

Called Toyota Assist and the AA came out, they jump started the car from under the bonnet, so it was a completely flat Battery.

With the car running the voltage at the Battery was showing 14.4v on his multimeter so it was charging ok, his ammeter showed a load of 0.6A with the car stopped and with everything turned off, even took the key fob out of range.

The car has only done 600 miles but that was two long runs, then I parked it up for three days, with a background load of 0.6A and a 35Ah Battery after three days it would be flat.

I've had to use the car today for what will be a 200 mile round trip, so it should be recharged after that.

Booked it in to the Dealer for this afternoon and will leave it for them to investigate, very disappointed with what I think is a very good car, but not much good if it will not start reliably.

I'll keep you informed of what the Dealer finds.

Regards

Kevin

[AGL]

Not sure if the Auris has a light in the boot that can sometimes get caught and stay on - like the Prius?

[Aceshigh84]

That is strange, and I hope they find and fix a problem.

I have the same car and have left mine for more than 3 days before now and have returned to it and started it up first time without any problem.

To be honest, nowadays I'd think nothing of leaving a car for two weeks whilst on holiday, I would still expect it to start first time when I return.

[jonesbach]

Not sure if the Auris has a light in the boot that can sometimes get caught and stay on - like the Prius?

The light will turn itself off if left on for a period so that is not the problem. From reading the manual I believe it is fairly difficult to accidentally drain the Battery.

As I and others have had the same problem, admittedly for me after 3 months from new, it increasingly looks as if Toyota have a real Battery issue. It's a shame they couldn't accept this from the start preferring to regard the customer as the problem rather than investigate the fault.

[timberwolf]

Maybe the computer doing the active monitoring to make sure the cargo light is off draws 600 mA?

Seriously, if that 600 mA is all the time then it is got to be a problem with an ECU.

[RunningInPleasePass]

Still waiting for the Dealer to look at the problem, they have lent me a petrol Auris while they do this.

I have been thinking about what is, or can be left on, when the ignition is off, and I thought of: alarm, door sensors when the fob is in range, boot light etc, then I wondered if the vanity mirror light could be left on, that would account for a background load of 0.6A.

Unable to test the vanity mirror light as I don't have the car at he moment, can anybody check this on an Auris Excel Hybrid?

[Aceshigh84]

Well, they say you learn something new everyday! I didn't realise I had a vanity mirror light!

Anyway, I have just turned it on and then locked the car, the vanity light stays on.

If you manually turn on the center head lining lights and then lock the car, they will automatically turn off after about ten minutes. I don't know if the vanity lights turn off automatically after a similar time, I was in a hurry so couldn't test.

[RunningInPleasePass]

Thanks for that Colin.

I will have to wait and see what the Dealer finds now, if it is something as silly as a vanity mirror light being left on I'm going to kick myself, the only time I used it was when I got the car and I was trying all the bells and whistles.

I'm going to buy an emergency Battery booster pack, similar to what the AA used to get me going, just in case!

Kind regards

Kevin

[Dasbob]

Ugh.... 3rd time it happened to me today.

Brought my self a Battery booster too today.... interestingly "runningINPLeasePass" has the same firstname as me, maybe its only Kevin's who have this model...

Any way, spoke to dealer again, quite a helpful lady this time who pretty much said everything i was going to suggest, she asked if i left things on etc, i did point out i been so careful since last time. So they booked me in a week friday to have the car over the weekend and see what its like on the monday and give me a courtesy car.

Maybe am reading too much into it, but i mentioned that other people have had this problem with the excel model, the lady went to speak to some one else and came back saying that they had "Not seen this type of a problem on THIS model" which makes me think its a problem thats happened a few times over the years with various models. I suspect the lack of problems is because this car is still relatively new (came out march if am right?)

Any way will keep you posted.

Meh

[RunningInPleasePass]

The dealer contacted me today after having the car all weekend, when they tried it this morning it started ok.

They have tested it and found no fault, they say the Battery is ok but needs to be charged which they are doing now.

I explained that the Battery was flat Friday, a car that averages 100 miles a day, they have not done anything with it, except charge the Battery, so logic says it will go flat again, they have now told me they will test it again tomorrow.

Will have to wait another day to see what happens next.

Kevin

[Peter Sale]

I think you have both been very patient with what appears to be more than a Battery that needs charging - I regularly left my Prius for a week without any problems on a much older Battery.

Not sure where my brochures are at the moment but has a lower spec Battery or alternator been fitted to the new Auris ?.

Reading the comments again, you said you took it for an 8 mile run to get petrol - that should have charged the battery even though you had the stereo on and were charging your phone. Now if you had all your lights on, the windscreen wipers on and the rear screen heater I would have believed it.

Anyone betting on there being a recall to change something ?. If I had bought a new car that wouldn't start after a weekend I would be making more of a fuss and starting to go down the route of rejecting the car.

Out of interest, the two of you having the same problem (or are there more, I am getting confused) what age and mileage are your cars at now ?

Peter

[Dasbob]

I have also sent a message to Toyota from their website... doubt it will do much but i felt a bit frustrated and needed to point out that they may have a potential fault with this model of car

[Peter Sale]

Think it will take more than that to shake Toyota unfortunately. While I admire their products, my experience of their support is very poor. The only way I managed to sort a problem on one Toyota I had was to trade it in for a Honda.

[Dasbob]

I think you have both been very patient with what appears to be more than a battery that needs charging - I regularly left my Prius for a week without any problems on a much older battery.

Not sure where my brochures are at the moment but has a lower spec battery or alternator been fitted to the new Auris ?.

Reading the comments again, you said you took it for an 8 mile run to get petrol - that should have charged the battery even though you had the stereo on and were charging your phone. Now if you had all your lights on, the windscreen wipers on and the rear screen heater I would have believed it.

Anyone betting on there being a recall to change something ?. If I had bought a new car that wouldn't start after a weekend I would be making more of a fuss and starting to go down the route of rejecting the car.

Out of interest, the two of you having the same problem (or are there more, I am getting confused) what age and mileage are your cars at now ?

Peter

Hello, you posted as i did!

My car was delivered to me brand new at the end of June, From memory i drove it every day until the weekend before the bank holiday in August, i have currently done around 3,500 miles.

I am on the verge of starting to get impatient, if they have it over the weekend and basically say the same to me as they have to the other Kevin, then i will be demanding a new car from Toyota. I emailed them today saying that i dont expect to buy a car worth £24,000 to find that a car that costs £240 is more reliable.

My main problem with spitting teeth at the local dealer is it was not the local dealer i got mine from. I brought it though a broker at a nice deal and the toyota dealer i got it from is many, many miles away.... so i do feel a bit "cap in hand" when i go to my local dealer. I was aware that i would feel a bit sheepish going to the local dealer if i had a problem... but then i was spending a lot of money so i expected a quality car. When i brought my Peugeot 107 band new for £8k i never once had a problem with it in the 4 years i had it.

The main reason i have contacted Toyota is i want to make it clear that they are advertising hybrids all over the shop at the moment (radio adverts recently). 2 months ago i would have recommended my car to every one, now i could not recommend it to any one as i would feel like i was convincing them to buy a bum steer.

Sorry for the ramble...just needed to get that out

[RunningInPleasePass]

I think you have both been very patient with what appears to be more than a battery that needs charging - I regularly left my Prius for a week without any problems on a much older battery.

Not sure where my brochures are at the moment but has a lower spec battery or alternator been fitted to the new Auris ?.

Reading the comments again, you said you took it for an 8 mile run to get petrol - that should have charged the battery even though you had the stereo on and were charging your phone. Now if you had all your lights on, the windscreen wipers on and the rear screen heater I would have believed it.

Anyone betting on there being a recall to change something ?. If I had bought a new car that wouldn't start after a weekend I would be making more of a fuss and starting to go down the route of rejecting the car.

Out of interest, the two of you having the same problem (or are there more, I am getting confused) what age and mileage are your cars at now ?

Peter

Hi Peter,

The car is two weeks old tomorrow and has done an average of nearly 100 miles per day.

Been in contact with Toyota Customer Service today who made lots of sympathetic noises.

Will give the dealer a chance to sort out the car, but as yet all they say is the Battery went flat for no apparent reason and they will recharge it for me, I have told them that that is not an acceptable answer, so they are going to look again.

I expect to be given a reason for a fault like this happening, is it not charging, is it being accidental discharged, or simply a faulty Battery, I just want them to give me a reason, then I can avoid it happening again.

Kevin

[RunningInPleasePass]

Hi,

Update, the dealer has contacted me regarding my flat Battery.

They have re-tested the car and insist the Battery and car is ok and only needs charging, I then asked them for a report for the reason for the flat Battery, they seem a little reluctant to give me this, so they have now been in touch with Toyota Technical and they have asked the dealer to send them details and they will look into the problem and get back to me.

The dealer say Toyota are not aware of any problems with flat batteries and the dealer are unable to source a battery because the car is so new, so it seems you other guys who have managed to get a new battery from Toyota are a better man then me!

I'll let Toyota Technical do their thing and I'll keep you informed.

Kevin

[Peter Sale]

Two weeks old and the Battery goes flat ?. Unless you did something silly, such as leave the external lights on overnight, which I am sure you wouldn't have done, there must be a fault, especially with the mileage you are doing.

I try not to do long distances in mine and sometimes only use it 2 or 3 times a week to do 3 miles and I haven't seen any problem like you are suffering. Usually my longest journey is 60 miles in a day then leave the car parked for 2 to 3 days.

There are Battery tests and Battery tests, some will find a fault where others won't. From the symptoms you see I wonder whether there is a single faulty cell in the battery. Probably a job for an auto electrician but I can understand you not wanting to pay for someone else to have a look.

[RunningInPleasePass]

Hi Peter,

I agree it's not good for a new car to have such a basic problem as a flat Battery and Toyota are unable to give a satisfactory answer for it.

According to my dealer Toyota have not heard of this problem with the new Auris and need to investigate further, in fact it's that new they don't have any spare batteries available to dealers!

I also think it's a faulty Battery, but they seem very reluctant to admit this.

It's a great shame because I really like this car and the technology underneath it, but because I do a high mileage and a reliable car is very important to me I'm fast losing faith.

Perhaps Toyota can sort this out and restore my faith, I live in hope?

Regards

Kevin

[Dasbob]

Can the car provide a log of whats happened to it then? i wonder this as you said you wanted a report. I am guessing i might be jumping through these same hoops next week when they look at my car.

I dont much like my car now, which is a shame because i did love it, but after going flat on me 3 times, i have no confidence in it.

I found this pre drafted letter on returning a car, if they give me the same spiel that they gave you then i am going forward with getting a refund.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theoneshow/2010/01/new-car-problems-try-doms-down.shtml

[jonesbach]

.......................According to my dealer Toyota have not heard of this problem with the new Auris and need to investigate further,......................................

I can only assume Toyota have cloth ears. I reported this problem to the dealer and to Toyota directly four months ago and received the same platitudes that you are getting.

[RunningInPleasePass]

Can the car provide a log of whats happened to it then? i wonder this as you said you wanted a report. I am guessing i might be jumping through these same hoops next week when they look at my car.

I dont much like my car now, which is a shame because i did love it, but after going flat on me 3 times, i have no confidence in it.

I found this pre drafted letter on returning a car, if they give me the same spiel that they gave you then i am going forward with getting a refund.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theoneshow/2010/01/new-car-problems-try-doms-down.shtml

No I don't think the car can provide a log of happened.

The problem can only be one of three things, the Battery is not charging, the Battery has inadvertently discharged, or the Battery is faulty.

The dealer tells me it's charging ok, and it's not a faulty battery, so it must have discharged, I then asked what I could have done to discharge the battery with it just being stood on my drive overnight, they could not suggest anything.

When I returned the car to the dealer it had just completed over 200 miles of driving that day, they had left it parked overnight, and while it started ok their battery tester said it needed charging, which to me indicates a failure to charge or a faulty battery, my money is on a faulty battery!

It will be interesting to hear what Toyota Technical have to say, but like you I like the car but it's very difficult when it fails to start to keep the faith.

Thanks for the template letter, you never know, I also will be asking for my hard earned money back if Toyota cannot sort a flat battery out!

By the way I have contacted Customer Services who are also involved with this problem.

Regards

Kevin