Dead Battery

[Richard Davies]

After not using my 2001 Japanese built Yaris for a few days I was first surprised the remote control lock didn't work.

Investigating further nothing at all was displayed on the dash when I turned the key, not even the Battery light.

This is all the more surprising because when I last used my car I drove it from Halifax to Stockport & it performed just fine.

I assume I left something switched on, but couldn't see anything wrong, like a door not probably closed, which I did a few years ago.

I'm hoping it's nothing bad like some sort of short circuit draining the Battery.

I went out & bought a charger for the Battery & I'm hoping it will recharge, as I bought the battery just under a year ago.

 

[Anthony Poli]

Hi there,

Was the interior light on or a strange alarm sound?

It does sound odd for a Battery to be completely dead within a week, since the Battery is under 12 months old.

When I have had flat Battery , caused by a door or OBD wifi adapter left plugged in. The interior light has come dimly, even when the battery has fallen to below 10 volts. When the voltage is about 4 - 5 the light won't come on. 

Does the car start when using jump leads or a jump starter?

Once started check to see if the battery light is on  the dash, that would indicate there is a charging issue.

Then we have a starting point.

 

 

[Richard Davies]

I tried charging the Battery but nothing seemed to be happening, at least with the charger I bought.

Lucky for me when I took the Battery back to the shop they said they would exchange it but didn't have another in stock, but would make sure they would keep one for me when they did.

I'm going away for a few days & will sort things out when I'm back.

As far as I know I haven't left anything switched on, & I'm hoping it's not a short circuit anywhere in the electrics.  I didn't get a Battery warning light at any time which would suggest there was one.

[Anthony Poli]

10 hours ago, Richard Davies said:

I tried charging the battery but nothing seemed to be happening, at least with the charger I bought.

Lucky for me when I took the battery back to the shop they said they would exchange it but didn't have another in stock, but would make sure they would keep one for me when they did.

I'm going away for a few days & will sort things out when I'm back.

As far as I know I haven't left anything switched on, & I'm hoping it's not a short circuit anywhere in the electrics.  I didn't get a battery warning light at any time which would suggest there was one.

Hopefully it might be something like a faulty door switch, or just a bad Battery.

Do you know anybody with a multi meter?

 

[baldyken]

if u want to check for a Battery drain u will need a multi meter and selecting the amps setting, disconnect the Battery earth lead and connect the multi meter in series. if u get a reading then u have Battery drain. To check where it is just pull out one fuse at a time, check the meter each time for a zero reading, replace each fuse as u work ur way through the fuse board until u get a zero reading. this is ur faulty circuit. Check ur hand book to see what items are on ur faulty circuit, if more than one item, then disconnect one at a time until u get a zero reading. remember to have everything turner off, all doors closed, keys out of iginition or u will get a false reading.

 Start with the highers amp setting, reduce step by step until u get a reading.

Am not an autospark, just a tip given to me many years ago.

 

[Neil robertsin]

With modern cars you will never get zero Battery drain, the clock is still keeping time and other systems are still 'remembering' things (bluetooth phone radio stations etc) but the drain should be no more than 50 milliamps.

[Richard Davies]

I managed to get my Battery exchanged by the shop as it was still in warranty, I installed the new one & it started first time!

After a check around I found the interior light was switched one, but I'm sure I never touched this, so somehow I managed to knock this or else moved it while I was checking before.

As mentioned before I'm surprised this ran the Battery fully down in 4 days, it might have been on longer than this, but didn't run the Battery down enough.

I remember before the drive from Halifax the engine was a little rough starting, but didn't think much of it.

[FROSTYBALLS]

I've known interior lights being left on to run the Battery down overnight.

When I worked for DWP, this sort of thing happened two or three times a year with the pool cars. With a couple of Peugeots we had, when the Battery was run down and then recharged, the alarm used to sound continuously when driving, and the cars had to be booked into the dealer to get the security system reset.

[Anthony Poli]

Glad to see you have found the cause, interior lights look innocent, but leave them for long enough and they surprise you.

[MikeSh]

1 hour ago, Richard Davies said:

As mentioned before I'm surprised this ran the battery fully down in 4 days, it might have been on longer than this, but didn't run the battery down enough.

Interior lights are often 21 Watt. That's 1.75 Amps. For a fully charged 50AH Battery (typical sort of rating for these cars) it'll be theoretically dead flat in less than 29 hours.

In reality it may be longer before it won't light the dash lamps as the current drawn will drop a little as the voltage falls. But getting a start out after a day seems improbable.

I think some cars may use a 10 W interior light, in which case it would be 60 hours, but even then getting a start after a couple of days seems unlikely, bearing in mind there are the other 'always on' loads like remote locking as well.

[Richard Davies]

Thanks for all the feedback.

I'll have to put some tape or something over the interior light switch to remind me to put it back to off or door.

I can see how easy it is to leave it on, not turning off when the key is removed from the ignition & being on the roof it's out of site.

I just hope this was the only thing at fault, I won't be using it for a few days, but will keep an eye on things.

To give the Battery a boost I went on a longish fastish drive after getting it going.

[Anthony Poli]

Thanks for all the feedback.

I'll have to put some tape or something over the interior light switch to remind me to put it back to off or door.

I can see how easy it is to leave it on, not turning off when the key is removed from the ignition & being on the roof it's out of site.

I just hope this was the only thing at fault, I won't be using it for a few days, but will keep an eye on things.

To give the battery a boost I went on a longish fastish drive after getting it going.

Can't imagine that you would more than one cause. You could always buy a cheap jump starter, so you have back up if your stuck.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk