Corolla Touring Sport Excel 2.0 - Another flat battery

[Parts-King]

There is nothing wrong with the batteries, they are low capacity (for starting up motors, electronics etc) if the car is used it will be fine, if doing a couple of miles a week it will need charging/running as per notes above 

[Fru-T-Bunn]

Thanks for the replies/advice, much appreciated and all points noted. To be honest, I hadn't even looked at the latest Yaris Hybrid, but I will take a look now I think.

Either way, one of those portable Battery packs is something I could well be interested in - for peace of mind if nothing else.

[Roy124]

 I found the procedure for jump starting at page 486 of the manual.  Before you go rushing out to your car, your handbook stops some 200 pages earlier and I haven't looked to see if the procedure is there too.  A simplified version is as follows:

Put the electronic key in your pocket.

Connect jump lead to your Battery positive.

Connect the other end to the second vehicle.

Connect negative lead to second car Battery negative.

Connect the other end to a non moving part of your car away from the Battery.

Start engine of second car, increase engine speed slightly and run for about 5 minutes.

Then open and close any of the doors and windows with the vehicle power switch OFF

With second vehicle still running switch ON and check for READY light.

If ON disconnect jump leads, Your vehicle negative, second vehicle negative, second vehicle positive, your vehicle positive.

 

 

 

[Mikw]

8 hours ago, Parts-King said:

I work at a dealership. I drive 40 miles a day in a Hybrid Corolla. In Dec I had covid, and was off work 14 days, I never even started the car when I was off, it started first time. The problem comes when people only do a few miles a week, and don't do sufficient miles (or 60 mins in ready per week) so the car never has chance to charge, if you run the car (or charge in ready mode) then you really don't have a worry. We always check mileage from when we last saw the car, you can bet it will be only 2-3K per annum

 

Thanks. Do you think twice a week in ready mode for 30 minutes would be enough rather once a week for one hour?

[Parts-King]

Well, it might very well be OK like that, but the advice is once at 60 mins. If you did it for 30 mins, and then a good run, then I suspect also that would be OK, but if possible, follow the advice

 

[Chriss27]

Hi I might be way off the mark here but do any of you keep the fob key in close proximity of car as that can drain the Battery (minimal ?). Not sure what the distance is but I keep mine in a metal box for this reason and for security reasons 

[TonyHSD]

42 minutes ago, Chriss27 said:

Hi I might be way off the mark here but do any of you keep the fob key in close proximity of car as that can drain the battery (minimal ?). Not sure what the distance is but I keep mine in a metal box for this reason and for security reasons 

Same here, a Pepsi can away from the car does the job for me, these days almost everywhere temperatures will stay negative even during the day, don’t forget to run your car for 60min, I definitely will even though I had a good drive on Saturday. ❄️🚗👍

[barrycoll]

Like Graeme, I too leave my Gen 4 Prius on trickle charge with a brilliant Ctek Mx5 charger for weeks at a time.

the Battery may start with just level 3/4 on the charger read out, but when unplugged (weeks?) later, the Battery has been charged and conditioned, and is usually showing level 7....and finally in the green.

the car starts 'explosively', and mpg is always much better at this point.

I used the same technique with my Gen 3 Prius, with the same results.....it too, had its Battery in the boot, and similar charge points under the bonnet

[Timmon]

I keep one of these in the boot as it is so small and compact, has an emergency torch (very bright) and even charges your phone! Bit more expensive than some of the traditional jump starters, but good piece of mind investment. Not had to use it yet, but I would connect it to a flat 12 volt Battery for a few minutes, disconnect it, and see if the car will go to "Ready".

Also, it might help a fellow motorist with a jump start if they need it. We cannot use our Hybrids to jump start other cars, as it would probably damage the Hybrid system, so this device might help someone else in distress sometime! 

https://www.halfords.com/motoring/battery-maintenance/jump-starters/noco-gb20-500a-jump-starter-721880.html

[AndrueC]

My car currently has a CTEK charger hanging off it. It lives in the garage so I've just propped the bonnet up and left it plugged in. Last I checked it was on the final step 8 so presumably it's happy 🙂

[Gray86]

14 minutes ago, AndrueC said:

My car currently has a CTEK charger hanging off it. It lives in the garage so I've just propped the bonnet up and left it plugged in. Last I checked it was on the final step 8 so presumably it's happy 🙂

I think it will just flit between step 7&8 if left on long-term. As Battery depletes a bit, then gets topped up. 

[Clockwork]

1 hour ago, Timmon said:

I keep one of these in the boot as it is so small and compact, has an emergency torch (very bright) and even charges your phone! Bit more expensive than some of the traditional jump starters, but good piece of mind investment. Not had to use it yet, but I would connect it to a flat 12 volt battery for a few minutes, disconnect it, and see if the car will go to "Ready".

Also, it might help a fellow motorist with a jump start if they need it. We cannot use our Hybrids to jump start other cars, as it would probably damage the Hybrid system, so this device might help someone else in distress sometime! 

https://www.halfords.com/motoring/battery-maintenance/jump-starters/noco-gb20-500a-jump-starter-721880.html

I just got the smaller one a few days ago - although from Machine Mart - which I figured was going to be more than fine for a hybrid (and there was a reassuring review from someone who had used it to start a C-HR).  Is it not difficult to retrieve from the boot if you have a flat 12V Battery?  Also I'm not clear why you don't fire the car up as soon as you connect?  My one only allows something like thirty seconds on a timer after you plug in the jump leads.

 

[Timmon]

15 hours ago, Clockwork said:

I just got the smaller one a few days ago - although from Machine Mart - which I figured was going to be more than fine for a hybrid (and there was a reassuring review from someone who had used it to start a C-HR).  Is it not difficult to retrieve from the boot if you have a flat 12V battery?  Also I'm not clear why you don't fire the car up as soon as you connect?  My one only allows something like thirty seconds on a timer after you plug in the jump leads.

 

Yes, I keep mine in the boot because I don't currently have a problem with Battery discharging. I actually bought mine because it is big enough to jump start my commercial vehicle as well. It is small enough that if I were going on holiday abroad for 2 weeks (fat chance!), I would transfer it to the glove box before leaving the car at the air port. For now, the boot is fine.

I have not had to use it yet, so my thoughts on leaving it for half an hour would be to enable the 12 volt Battery to receive some charge and fire up the hybrid system on it's own, rather than risk some sort of problem having 2 batteries connected to the 12v system. Someone said they were having problems when trying to fire up the system with a charger connected, so that is my thought, as these systems seem sensitive, and costly to repair if you make a mistake. If anyone has tried this, and says you can just connect the jump starter and hit the start button immediately with no problem, then I will do the same. Just my thoughts, being cautious, and not wanting a big repair bill.

Also, even jump starting a regular ICE or Diesel, the recommendation is that you connect and wait a few minutes before attempting to start.