12v Battery problem

[TonyHSD]

4 hours ago, Catlover said:

Think it’s now the AA.

I got 12 months free when I bought the Prius as a Toyota Approved Used Car, but did not continue it…….. too expensive.           
I use Start Rescue, just about to renew it…… £74 for  both my Prius and the wife’s now 11 year old Auris hybrid. That is not £74 each, it’s £74 for both cars. Individually the Auris costs more as it is 11 year old and more likely to break down. £74 also includes assistance at “home”.

I have Green flag from mine insurance policy although I will only try them if I had to tow the car, any other case will prefer to look at it myself, it is so easy these days someone without experience or poor manners and lack of qualification to mess up our cars, then it’s on us. 🤭

[Catlover]

1 hour ago, TonyHSD said:

I have Green flag from mine insurance policy although I will only try them if I had to tow the car, any other case will prefer to look at it myself, it is so easy these days someone without experience or poor manners and lack of qualification to mess up our cars, then it’s on us. 🤭

Yes, you have every reason to be cautious, Tony.  So easy to do some damage to a car that they not wholly conversant with. That could lead to a big headache to sort.

[Kevkit]

Well guys went to the Toyota garage this morning we had a good conversation the only surge that could do that damage to the 120 amp fuse had to be the road side assistance so I showed where he put the cables and bingo they had put one of the cables wrong and blew the fuse so he's taken photos of the evidence and he was happy for me to take the car away at no cost he's  on the case and Toyota HQ are on it as well and I've just to  phone roadside assist and tell them about it so hopefully I don't see that bill it's supposed to be AA but think we've only one in my region so it's a third party that came out. I'll  let you know what happens.

[Mooly]

Thanks for updating the thread. Pleased to hear it seems to be resolved for you.

[AndyRC]

Thanks for the update and hopefully resolved👍

[Kevkit]

On 9/10/2021 at 2:09 PM, Kevkit said:

Well guys went to the Toyota garage this morning we had a good conversation the only surge that could do that damage to the 120 amp fuse had to be the road side assistance so I showed where he put the cables and bingo they had put one of the cables wrong and blew the fuse so he's taken photos of the evidence and he was happy for me to take the car away at no cost he's  on the case and Toyota HQ are on it as well and I've just to  phone roadside assist and tell them about it so hopefully I don't see that bill it's supposed to be AA but think we've only one in my region so it's a third party that came out. I'll  let you know what happens.

Well guys an update the AA are not taking any responsibility so it looks likes I'm getting the bill from Toyota but they have been helpful but its getting rather tiresome emails flying back and forward think I will go to the financial ombudsman still can't believe I'll have to foot this bill so far.

[FROSTYBALLS]

The Financial Ombudsman service deals with complaints of firms who provide financial services, and as such, can't see they would take this on board as the issue isn't re a financial service.

[AndyRC]

On 10/1/2021 at 11:36 AM, Kevkit said:

Well guys an update the AA are not taking any responsibility so it looks likes I'm getting the bill from Toyota but they have been helpful but its getting rather tiresome emails flying back and forward think I will go to the financial ombudsman still can't believe I'll have to foot this bill so far.

That sounds pretty poor all round from the AA and Toyota ☹️  Have you had a chat with your local Citizens Advice people ? It appears that you have sufficient evidence from the Toyota service dept that the damage was caused by the incompetence of the road side assistance. It looks as though the AA are trying to wash their hands of the problem 🤔

[TheRealExile]

Glad it isn't just me, Wife has a 2019 CHR which has now had its 4th episode of not starting, I put the first one down to it being left stood a whole week 🙄 since then I have had 3 occasions where the car fails to start, you press the brake pedal and press the start button, it then has a little think and then goes back to the depress the brake pedal and press the start button message, sometimes it gives a not ready message. 

Thing is I literally put the charger on it for one minute and then it starts with no issue, very odd... when in for its service toyota claim no fault codes and the Battery is fine, seems like a faulty plate to me.

[TheRealExile]

To add the day before it's last episode it had driven 60 plus miles.

Interesting in the nut on the positive terminal has seemingly corroded already I can also see water droplets around and near the Battery, wondering if there is a defective seal causing this.

[AndyRC]

On 10/1/2021 at 11:36 AM, Kevkit said:

Well guys an update the AA are not taking any responsibility so it looks likes I'm getting the bill from Toyota but they have been helpful but its getting rather tiresome emails flying back and forward think I will go to the financial ombudsman still can't believe I'll have to foot this bill so far.

Did you get a resolution to the “who pays” question ?  

[Bryan beech]

I have a Toyota CHR 1.8 hybrid 2018.

My 12 volt Battery would go flat if not used for a few days showing “Parking breaks not releasing” on the dashboard display. CHR has only covered 16000 miles. Reported it to Local Toyota dealer, they had the car in for overnight testing and replaced the 12v Battery under warranty. Problem solved.  So check with your dealer before buying an new Battery yourself. I now carry a portable charger (like a heavy duty phone charger) just in case as it a well known problem.
The engine is actually started from the main drive battery for the electric motors. The 12v battery only controls the electronics etc .which what it’s a small battery. Hope this info helps. 

 

[Sally66]

Hi I am having the same problem as many of you and get the standard answer about the problem being low mileage not the Battery. Just come out of 10 days isolation due to Covid and AA had to be called. The Battery had only 1 v charge! It had run quite normally prior to that. I do about 15 miles a day but this has been less during the lockdown periods. This has happened once before in the spring. 
I too was sold the car in the knowledge I did a lower than average mileage. My car is just under 3 years and I’ve had it just over 2. The car has gone into the dealership and bern charged. They say it is fine and just under-use and can’t do a full Battery check for another 400 miles. I’m not happy. I feel there is a problem with the battery and excuses are being made to not replace it.

[FROSTYBALLS]

11 minutes ago, Sally66 said:

Hi I am having the same problem as many of you and get the standard answer about the problem being low mileage not the battery.

Have a look at Toyota's guidance in the following topic that was posted April 2020:

 

[Mooly]

15 hours ago, Sally66 said:

Hi I am having the same problem as many of you and get the standard answer about the problem being low mileage not the battery. Just come out of 10 days isolation due to Covid and AA had to be called. The battery had only 1 v charge! It had run quite normally prior to that. I do about 15 miles a day but this has been less during the lockdown periods. This has happened once before in the spring. 
I too was sold the car in the knowledge I did a lower than average mileage. My car is just under 3 years and I’ve had it just over 2. The car has gone into the dealership and bern charged. They say it is fine and just under-use and can’t do a full battery check for another 400 miles. I’m not happy. I feel there is a problem with the battery and excuses are being made to not replace it.

The Battery is almost certainly deteriorated if it was taken down to 1 volt and probably unrecoverable... yes it will appear to charge but it will be way down on capacity and its ability to deliver much current. It will also most likely not hold a charge for long unless continually in use.

Having followed all the many many threads on these issues related to the current range of Hybrids I have concluded that there are fundamental design issues with the Battery management and that the quiescent current draw (what they draw from the Battery when just parked up) has been seriously underestimated. So the battery as such was almost certainly was not faulty in the sense of a manufacturing fault, it fails because of the conditions the vehicle places on it... in other words these are design faults imo.

15 miles a day is Starship mileage compared to what a conventional car can exist on.   

 

[forkingabout]

Are the C-HR shipped from the factory with the 12 volt Battery disconnected?

If there on the boat for several weeks with the Battery connected & being drained, then being jump started to get them to the dealer - then the 12 volt Battery is already damaged before it gets to the customer.

[TonyHSD]

On 11/29/2021 at 8:39 AM, forkingabout said:

Are the C-HR shipped from the factory with the 12 volt battery disconnected?

If there on the boat for several weeks with the battery connected & being drained, then being jump started to get them to the dealer - then the 12 volt battery is already damaged before it gets to the customer.

Don’t think these or any cars are shipped with disconnected batteries but looking the news another lockdown might be around the corner and the 12v Battery drama will have another season imo 🔋👌😉 btw most if not all car dealers has jump starters and likely on new or nearly new cars to jump start them prior to test drive sell etc. 👍

[Wxm]

My chr hybrid 2017 has let me down by losing it's 12v Battery power then the car won't start so in the end I have Reduced the Battery drain by going into the main menu on the car's set up lowered all I could from screen brightness Reverse camera display also keyless entry turned that off so now I unlock the car with the fob and now have to hold the fob on to the start button just as a low Battery in the key fob to start the car all these power Reductions have helped the 12v is holding it's charge better now. 

[yossarian247]

18 hours ago, Wxm said:

My chr hybrid 2017 has let me down by losing it's 12v battery power then the car won't start so in the end I have Reduced the battery drain by going into the main menu on the car's set up lowered all I could from screen brightness Reverse camera display also keyless entry turned that off so now I unlock the car with the fob and now have to hold the fob on to the start button just as a low battery in the key fob to start the car all these power Reductions have helped the 12v is holding it's charge better now. 

You will probably find that it's turning off the keyless entry & start that has made the difference on its own. The brightness of the screens wont matter as they only operate when the car is in 'Ready' mode (and therefore charging the 12V battery) and the power consumed by illuminating the screens is absolutely tiny, even at maximum brightness. It's only items which draw power when the car is turned off that you need to worry about.

[Cyker]

It might help a bit as the less draw on the 12v system in Ready mode means more power spare to charge the Battery!

[O.W.L.]

I'm new to Toyota, having only bought mine just before Christmas.

I'm loving the car, but I must admit that I'm worried about the number of owners who are experiencing problems with the 12 volt Battery.

I've had no issues so far, and most of my journeys are about 8 miles or less, and the car gets used about 4 or 5 times a week. Does the Battery problem take a while to manifest itself, or am I just lucky?

 

[yossarian247]

53 minutes ago, Cyker said:

It might help a bit as the less draw on the 12v system in Ready mode means more power spare to charge the battery!

There doesn't seem to be any lack of capacity to charge the Battery. I connected a voltmeter across the Battery on ours, put the car into Ready mode and increasingly switched various accessories on. It seemed to delivery a steady 14 volts or so regardless of how much electrical load there was, so I don't think charging is the issue as such. It was actually better at holding a healthy charging voltage under load than the traditional alternator on our diesel Avensis! The problem appears to be a combination of current drain when the car is switched off, coupled with a Battery that's not really big enough in the first place. 

[Red_Corolla]

17 minutes ago, yossarian247 said:

There doesn't seem to be any lack of capacity to charge the battery. I connected a voltmeter across the battery on ours, put the car into Ready mode and increasingly switched various accessories on. It seemed to delivery a steady 14 volts or so regardless of how much electrical load there was, so I don't think charging is the issue as such. The problem appears to be a combination of current drain when the car is switched off, coupled with a battery that's not really big enough in the first place. 

At the risk of sounding argumentative, do you know what the state of charge was and how much current the Battery was drawing when you did your test? The fact that you have 14v of potential at the terminals of a 12v Battery does not prove that the rate of charge is rapid. There are other variables involved.

I agree about the current drain, mine measures over 20mA at rest which is a bit more than I'd like to see, ideally.

[Catlover]

43 minutes ago, O.W.L. said:

I'm new to Toyota, having only bought mine just before Christmas.

I'm loving the car, but I must admit that I'm worried about the number of owners who are experiencing problems with the 12 volt battery.

I've had no issues so far, and most of my journeys are about 8 miles or less, and the car gets used about 4 or 5 times a week. Does the battery problem take a while to manifest itself, or am I just lucky?

 

Basically, it’s lack of use, and reared it’s ugly head during the covid lockdowns when people were staying home, not going out for over a week and then only to local shops. A good charged Battery used daily for more the say 40 minutes should be ok except for extreme cold weather.

[O.W.L.]

Thanks CL - looks like I could be in trouble at sometime, then. I don't think I've driven for more than 20 minutes per journey since I've had it, and that is fairly typical of my driving pattern.

Maybe a solar charger is in my future.