2016 Yaris Hybrid needs jump starting every morning

[Mo28]

My mum has a 2016 Yaris hybrid which she has had for 4 years now and we've had no issues whatsoever with the short trips she makes for work during the weekdays. There have been 2/3 instances over the last 3 months where the car has needed to be jump started and then had no issues for the next couple of weeks. Over the last 4 days I have had to jump start the car every morning as the car just goes dead after I unlock it. She does have a BlackVue Dashcam which is powered by the OBD and can only presume this is what has caused the Battery to drain previously. 

Am I right in thinking the 12V Battery is toast and that I will need to get it replaced?

Does anyone know what the cost of the replacement is?

Have spoken to dealer and they have said they would need to do a charge test overnight which would cost me £30 plus any other diagnosis costs after that.

Your help is much appreciated

Mo

[FROSTYBALLS]

Have a look at the following topic containing advice Toyota gave during the first Covid lockdown. Also applies if the car is just used for short journeys:

 

[flash22]

It may just a need a long slow charge, is an AGM Battery last time i look they were £150-175 - S34B20R (R is the important bit)

The part number is correct and its Toyota's own shop 28800YZZPC - S34B20R

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224628086547

 

 

[Catlover]

Hi Mo and welcome to TOC, I am sure you will find it helpful.

Your problems are nothing new to hybrid owners on this forum, lack of use due to covid and last winter meant hybrid batteries were objecting to start after a few days of lack of use.  Something in my mind tells me I seen something recently where connecting a dash cam to OBD2 is not a good move, it stays live, so as you say this could be the cause.           
The car is 2016, so 5 years old, just at the point it could start to cause problems.      
Unplug the ODB2 dash cam, Get the car started, and either drive it for an hour or put the car in to Ready mode, park it on your drive, and leave it for an hour. The hybrid Battery is charging up the 12v Battery but occasionally the engine will fire up to keep the hybrid Battery charged. Maybe that will happen 3-5 times in the hour. Obviously you need the vehicle in a secure place (or someone could drive away in it).            
OR you could buy CTEK 5MS slow battery charger which can also recondition AGM batteries if not too far gone. Can buy off eBay or from TAYNA in Abergele, north Wales for about £70 delivered. A full cycle could take 6 hours, it is similar to what your dealer would charge you £30 for. A few on the forum have this charger now, will last for years if you look after it.

[Cyker]

When a lead acid Battery gets discharged too low it can lose charge capacity. They also prefer to be kept at 100% charge as anything lower causes the lead plates to degrade faster over time.

I suspect the car isn't being used enough to charge the Battery up, and if the Dashcam is running when the car is off it may be using up what little charge is put in.

You could try leaving the car stationary in Ready mode for a few hours to let the 12v Battery get some juice and see if that helps, or maybe just go on a long pleasure drive  

If you know someone who has one, or don't mind buying one, could also try one of those ctek chargers that can recondition the battery to see if that helps too?

I wouldn't think it would need replacing, but if it has been deep-discharged and left at a low-level of charge for ages it might be too far gone...

 

[bathtub tom]

Have you tried unplugging the Dashcam at night to see if the situation improves?

[CPN]

1 hour ago, Catlover said:

CTEK 5MS

Bob, are you sure that that is the correct model number as I cannot find such a model of CTEK Battery charger?

Is it perhaps the CTEK MXS 5.0 you were referring to? (Which, sadly, gets questionable reviews on Amazon...)

 

[Mo28]

Appreciate the advice so far.

Will give a couple of the suggestions ago starting with unplugging the Dashcam. I did replace the Dashcam with the one in my car with the possibility of that Dashcam being faulty but the Battery still got drained.

I do have a driveway so will leave the car in ready mode for a couple of hours tomorrow. I've figured out you can lock the car whilst it is in ready mode by manually locking the drivers door with the key so won't need to worry too much about the car being nicked.

If all else fails, I'll have to scrape the pennies together and take the plunge on a new Battery.

[Catlover]

Hi Colin, your right with CTEK MXS 5. It doesn’t get questionable reviews on TOC, more like the opposite.              
I would give it top marks due to ease of use, well manufactured and works. I bought it earlier this year, immediately charged our two cars, did it again late spring and will be doing again before the winter comes in hard.     
Not that this influenced me, because I didn’t know until after I bought the unit, but I think it is Porsche, Bentley and Aston Martin rebadges the unit with their name and bundles it with the car.         
Just seen the rating on Amazon is 4.4/5 which is not too bad at all.

JOE

[CPN]

1 minute ago, Catlover said:

Hi Colin, your right with CTEK MXS 5. It doesn’t get questionable reviews on TOC, more like the opposite.              
I would give it top marks due to ease of use, well manufactured and works. I bought it earlier this year, immediately charged our two cars, did it again late spring and will be doing again before the winter comes in hard.     
Not that this influenced me, because I didn’t know until after I bought the unit, but I think it is Porsche, Bentley and Aston Martin rebadges the unit with their name and bundles it with the car.         
Just seen the rating on Amazon is 4.4/5 which is not too bad at all.

JOE

Indeed, and that seems fine. There were a couple where they had a unit failure after prolonged use (year and over...) but I suspect that they must have been one offs rather than the norm... I may just get one! 😉

[CPN]

6 minutes ago, Mo28 said:

I've figured out you can lock the car whilst it is in ready mode by manually locking the drivers door with the key so won't need to worry too much about the car being nicked

Crikey! You find out something new about these cars every day!! 😁

[Catlover]

Forgot to say, Mo, a check out that Battery Flash22 has shown a link for. If it is a Opti Yellowtop and AGM type then it looks a good deal. I bought an Opti Yellowtop 3 years ago from TAYNA and it’s ding ok, but that was abut £125 then.

[MikeSh]

31 minutes ago, Mo28 said:

If all else fails, I'll have to scrape the pennies together and take the plunge on a new battery.

At 5 years old it's getting to an age where even without being drained multiple times it could be getting iffy. So even if all else doesn't fail I'd be planning to replace it before it dies at the most spectacularly inconvenient moment.

[Starensis]

Have to add - I had a Lexus CT hybrid for 9 years and was still on original Battery. 5 years of use is really nothing for decent batteries they fit at Manufacture.

You checked boot light is not staying on or similar?

[flash22]

It's not a lead acid it's an AGM, 7+ years is about right for an AGM -these batteries take an age to charge on a charger and even longer on the car (the equivalent of 50-100+ miles of driving)

you can usually bring them back as they don't sulfate and the acid doesn't drop out of the water

[CPN]

1 hour ago, flash22 said:

It's not a lead acid

Strictly speaking, it is Bob... 😉

[Mo28]

**UPDATE**

Unplugged the Dashcam last night and lo and behold the car went into ready mode straight away when I tried it an hour ago, such a simple solution which I should of thought of 🤦‍♂️.

Now that I've been able to pinpoint the Battery drain thanks to you guys, how do I go to resolve the issue with the Dashcam draining the Battery.

Do I hard wire in the Dashcam into the fuse box with the addition of the power magic pro which blackvue use to prevent the cars Battery discharging?

The dashcam is a necessity as the car has been scraped a couple times whilst parked and no one has ever left a note. Also, with the car being a pearl white, it is a pain and very expensive to get panels resprayed.

[bathtub tom]

Has the Dashcam got a movement detection mode, such that it only operates when it detects motion through the lens?

[flash22]

Don't bother with a power magic, i have had 5 fail in 2 cars (2 of them being warranty replacements) if its a blackvue camera make sure there isnt a firmware update for it - great cameras but not cheap

[flash22]

3 hours ago, CPN said:

Strictly speaking, it is Bob... 😉

As in, it's not a wet cell like a traditional Battery

[Mo28]

1 hour ago, bathtub tom said:

Has the dashcam got a movement detection mode, such that it only operates when it detects motion through the lens?

It does, that's how it has been operating for the last 2 years without any problems. It's only recently where the camera has been causing problems.

52 minutes ago, flash22 said:

Don't bother with a power magic, i have had 5 fail in 2 cars (2 of them being warranty replacements) if its a blackvue camera make sure there isnt a firmware update for it - great cameras but not cheap

I'll give the power magic a pass then. Not sure if the firmware is up to date, will give it a check later on.

That's the predicament I'm in at the moment, spent quite a bit of money on the camera, don't want to have to change it after a couple of years of use.

[CPN]

20 hours ago, flash22 said:

As in, it's not a wet cell like a traditional battery

Ok Bob, let's meet in the middle and call it "damp" (it's paste)? 😉🤣