Flat 12v battery - After 6 days!!

[TonyHSD]

2 hours ago, camellia30 said:

I just went and had a look at my battery, it's a Varta 345 LN1-MF 45Ah CCA 286A, no mention of what type of battery it is on the labels and surprisingly little information to be found on the web.

The manual for my car says 15Amp fast charge, 5Amp slow charge, so I think it is a conventional (albeit maintenance free) lead-acid battery.

I also looked to see where I could attach a current clamp, the ground connection to the chassis seemed the easiest option as the positive side splits off into 3 cables.

The positive side of the battery is wired straight into a small fuse box that also contains a large relay.

If it’s in the boot the Battery very likely is an AGM type. 

[Timh21]

1 hour ago, TonyHSD said:

If it’s in the boot the battery very likely is an AGM type. 

I think even the 1.8 batterys under the bonnet are now AGM

[Clockwork]

When I see these posts on flat 12V batteries, I cannot help but think how useful it would been had Toyota provided a multimedia 12V Battery status display.  And even better, if that info was available via the My T app.

[Timh21]

So, there is something going on that doesnt quite seem right to me.  Ive been monitoring my 12v Battery voltage every few days and mostly its shown around 12.5v. After going on a 30 odd mile trip yesterday I parked up and put the MM on the Battery and got the highest reading Ive got to date, see below:

This was at 11:00am yesterday morning. Didnt use the car again until early this morning and before starting put the MM on again and got what you see below:

 

So, in 20 hrs its dropped nearly .5v. That does point to a fairly significant parasitic drain somewhere IMHO. Because I use the car pretty much every day Im guessing I wont have a problem but come Summer time the car could be parked up for a week or more when i go away on my Motorcycle, we shall have to wait and see

[TonyHSD]

20 minutes ago, Timh21 said:

So, there is something going on that doesnt quite seem right to me.  Ive been monitoring my 12v battery voltage every few days and mostly its shown around 12.5v. After going on a 30 odd mile trip yesterday I parked up and put the MM on the battery and got the highest reading Ive got to date, see below:

This was at 11:00am yesterday morning. Didnt use the car again until early this morning and before starting put the MM on again and got what you see below:

 

So, in 20 hrs its dropped nearly .5v. That does point to a fairly significant parasitic drain somewhere IMHO. Because I use the car pretty much every day Im guessing I wont have a problem but come Summer time the car could be parked up for a week or more when i go away on my Motorcycle, we shall have to wait and see

Try measuring for 1-2 minutes after you switched off the car, done on mine and voltage when from 12.95V down to 12.61V and stayed there, when I did measure before starting the car was 12.27V car was parked for 3 days. Your new models with infotainment screens and Toyota connected services might cause trouble adding that small capacity 12V Battery and here we go. Having voltage meter on dashboard like older cars would be great . 👍🚘

[Timh21]

15 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

Try measuring for 1-2 minutes after you switched off the car, done on mine and voltage when from 12.95V down to 12.61V and stayed there, when I did measure before starting the car was 12.27V car was parked for 3 days. Your new models with infotainment screens and Toyota connected services might cause trouble adding that small capacity 12V battery and here we go. Having voltage meter on dashboard like older cars would be great . 👍🚘

Yeah, to be fair,  Toyota recommend putting the headlights on for 20 seconds before taking a reading to remove the "Surface Charge" which i never did.

[TonyHSD]

3 minutes ago, Timh21 said:

Yeah, to be fair,  Toyota recommend putting the headlights on for 20 seconds before taking a reading to remove the "Surface Charge" which i never did.

Weather started getting milder and batteries should be alright, once a week in ready mode or solar charger or ctek will do the job fine for cars not driven enough. I still drive 100 miles a week in lockdown, 10 times less than my usual driving when at work but better than nothing 👍

[Timh21]

1 hour ago, TonyHSD said:

Weather started getting milder and batteries should be alright, once a week in ready mode or solar charger or ctek will do the job fine for cars not driven enough. I still drive 100 miles a week in lockdown, 10 times less than my usual driving when at work but better than nothing 👍

Im doing nearly 500 miles per week at present, probably gonna jump to 700 in a few weeks as I start a new post over in Wiltshire, but if all goes well may move nearer next year and then it could drop significantly

[TonyHSD]

40 minutes ago, Timh21 said:

Im doing nearly 500 miles per week at present, probably gonna jump to 700 in a few weeks as I start a new post over in Wiltshire, but if all goes well may move nearer next year and then it could drop significantly

With this mileage you have nothing to worry about your car and batteries,  just regular weekly checks under the bonnet, oil, fluids and tyre pressures etc and more often pollen filter, don’t wait for the dealer to change at every service as they might not, just change it yourself every 10k miles, trust me it’s worth it, it’s cheap and the difference in the air we breathe inside the car is huge. 👍

[Timh21]

9 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

With this mileage you have nothing to worry about your car and batteries,  just regular weekly checks under the bonnet, oil, fluids and tyre pressures etc and more often pollen filter, don’t wait for the dealer to change at every service as they might not, just change it yourself every 10k miles, trust me it’s worth it, it’s cheap and the difference in the air we breathe inside the car is huge. 👍

Company supplied lease car mate, i dont spend anything

[RabButler]

On 2/20/2021 at 4:01 PM, Catlover said:

He's a good guy, Tony, BUT he takes much too long to get to the main points. 38 min should be about 20.

One of the best ones is from before he needed the wheelchair. He stripped down a motor generator and then moved on to the next phase, but he had put a couple of the magnets in his pocket. For the next ten minutes bits of metal kept leaping off his workbench and sticking to his lab coat. He just peeled them off and kept going.

[rleeden]

I've been following this thread for a little while, as I like so many of you have been struggling with my 12V Battery on my 2019 Corolla Hybrid 1.8l. I was wondering if anybody has looked at a replacing the Battery with a larger capacity one? What's the opion on this - is it worth it? Will it help?

Perhaps something like the Enduroline 012 AGM? My current Varta Lin1-MF is rated at 45AH & 286A, whereas the Enduroline is rated at 50AH and 520A. And has anybody had experience of changing the Battery on a modern Corolla? In the old days all you needed to worry about was the radio code - what's the deal now with all the other technology in the car?

Thanks for any input.

[AndrueC]

Or just buy a trickle charger. Chances are that it won't matter after spring anyway.

[Timmon]

For the first time, I had problems with the 12 V Battery today. I am doing less miles than in the first and second lock downs, last time I drove the car was Saturday, 16 miles. I used my Noco jump starter and was up and running in no time . https://bearmach.com/product/electrical-charging-toelelec/jump-starter-genius-boost-sport-500a-ultrasafe-lithium-gb20?glCountry=UK&glCurrency=GBP&gclid=Cj0KCQiAst2BBhDJARIsAGo2ldVxmso9f-FrKPMcztUEm4gptkBx9ZRafi53I_yCN0YRwfP0ead4NkUaArLkEALw_wcB

I would not upgrade the Battery without discussing with the dealer. The Hybrid system is complex and is set to charge the Battery supplied. Putting in a different spec battery may not solve the problem, as the system may not be able to charge a different spec battery. I say this through researching on the web, other owners experiences all round the world with Hybrids. Apparently, it is not uncommon for Hybrid owners to have 12 volt battery problems, and putting in a replacement battery that is not expected by the charging system causes further problems. As Andru says, in the long run, a charger is a good solution, as any battery is going to discharge during lockdown, anyway. Maybe with warmer days ahead, the problem will get less in the next few weeks.

 

[rleeden]

38 minutes ago, Timmon said:

I would not upgrade the battery without discussing with the dealer. The Hybrid system is complex and is set to charge the battery supplied. Putting in a different spec battery may not solve the problem, as the system may not be able to charge a different spec battery. I say this through researching on the web, other owners experiences all round the world with Hybrids. Apparently, it is not uncommon for Hybrid owners to have 12 volt battery problems, and putting in a replacement battery that is not expected by the charging system causes further problems. As Andru says, in the long run, a charger is a good solution, as any battery is going to discharge during lockdown, anyway. Maybe with warmer days ahead, the problem will get less in the next few weeks.

 

Yeah, I think I was getting to the same conclusion. I don't want to end up causing myself more problems. I think instead I will invest in a lithium jump starter for if I have any further issues.

I do also have a solar charger, but even with that I recently still ended up with a flat Battery. That was after it had been very cold for a week or so and the has only done a few miles a week for several months now so the Battery was probably in quite a bad state. Hopefully with the warmer weather and slight easing of lockdown rules the problems will ease.

[Timmon]

20 hours ago, rleeden said:

Yeah, I think I was getting to the same conclusion. I don't want to end up causing myself more problems. I think instead I will invest in a lithium jump starter for if I have any further issues.

I do also have a solar charger, but even with that I recently still ended up with a flat battery. That was after it had been very cold for a week or so and the has only done a few miles a week for several months now so the battery was probably in quite a bad state. Hopefully with the warmer weather and slight easing of lockdown rules the problems will ease.

Yes, many have had success with solar chargers. I have not in the past, I think it is because my driveway is North facing, and only gets direct sunlight for a couple of hours a day in the summer, nothing much in winter. My only choice is a mains charger really, or follow the Toyota lock down process. I took the car for a run out today, first reasonable trip for weeks, so hoping the 12V is back up to speed. 

[Trewithy]

On my 12v Battery there is a small round clear plastic window, what is the purpose of this? When I look into it it is just black, should it appear green for good condition or good charge, red for bad?

[Mooly]

It sounds like a built in Hydrometer which is a little coloured float or ball that rises and falls depending on the strength of the Battery acid. That wouldn't be applicable to an AGM type Battery AFAIK but probably would for an EFB type along with old traditional ones.

Normally green when state of charge is good, I can't remember the other states although black and clear come to mind, one being low charge but rechargeable, the other being no good (low level of electrolyte I think).

 

  

  

[Mooly]

I found this for you:

https://www.ls2.com/boggs/Starting/Battery Hydrometer Displays Dark or Yellow Dot.htm#:~:text=Battery Hydrometer Displays Dark or Yellow Dot. The,color conditions on the hydrometer (1) is possible%3A

[50p]

I am soon going away for a week, Covid allowing, leaving the car at home. It will be interesting to see if it starts on my return. I have recently purchased a NOCO jump starter as a safeguard for when / if I ever get to go on a longer break, 3 weeks normally during the winter months, hopefully I won't need it this time ...