Yaris Launch Flat Battery

[Cyker]

I wonder how much the power draw of running all the connected services stuff for MyT is?

I think that may be increasingly one of the more common culprits for 12v draw given how many other ECU modules it seems to be allowed to wake up...

[ISP]

27 minutes ago, RickyC said:

According to the manual the car should automatically turn off interior lights after about 20 minutes to avoid to drain battery in case you left on by mistake.

Even if the 12V battery capacity is lower than other cars one I expect that 20 minutes of interior lights should not flatten the battery.

Moreover I've seen that if you move close to the car with your keyless fob in your pocket, interior lights turn on.  

Are you shure that keyfob has not been left close to the car ?

The key's are kept well away from car.

I can't believe it following car being delivered back after check, a week last Thursday by dealer Battery in good condition and fully charged. Tonight first time to drive car after 10 days Battery is flat again. Dealer to pick up on Thursday to recheck. I feel new Battery is required. 

 

[CPN]

1 hour ago, RickyC said:

Moreover I've seen that if you move close to the car with your keyless fob in your pocket, interior lights turn on.  

Are you sure that keyfob has not been left close to the car ?

There's a quick way to avoid that possibility by turning the key fob off completely whilst it is in the house and your car is parked close up (it also prevents thieves from cloning your key).

After locking your car, hold down the lock button and then double press the unlock button (while keeping the lock button pressed). The key fob LED will flash 4 times (2 x 2 flashes) and then go out. Your key fob is now in sleep mode until you press either of the keys again. If using 2 keys, the second fob needs to be also put to sleep in this way for it to be fully effective against thieves.

[CPN]

45 minutes ago, Cyker said:

I wonder how much the power draw of running all the connected services stuff for MyT is?

I think that may be increasingly one of the more common culprits for 12v draw given how many other ECU modules it seems to be allowed to wake up...

You may just have a good point there...

[Cyker]

The longest I've not touched mine was the 2 weeks over Christmas but it was fine.

Other than that I use it near every day for work purposes so it has plenty of time to keep the 12v topped up!

Those of you with the 12v issue, I'm curious how often you use the car (every day? few days? week?) and generally how long do you drive for (10 mins? half-hour? more? less?)

[Roy124]

Cyker, long time ago 😊 probably some weeks then minimum distances.  In Ready mode not at all. First proper run x 2 before the end of the first lockdown for animal welfare.  First problem occurred some time later with a total of 3 flats before the 12 months were up and the Battery was replaced.  A total of 3,300 miles on that year. 

[Cyker]

Hmm, I think they need to implement a "I'm not going to drive you for ages so turn everything off please no really off." button for that kind of usecase!

[Dala]

1 hour ago, Cyker said:

I wonder how much the power draw of running all the connected services stuff for MyT is?

I think that may be increasingly one of the more common culprits for 12v draw given how many other ECU modules it seems to be allowed to wake up...

I think the same
that's why I set up a survey
maybe it will help

https://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/204734-connection-between-myt-and-car-battery-discharge/

[Mikw]

I'd be interested to find out the useage patterns too. Some people have no problems, some people have repeated problems, so would love to know useage patterns.

[TonyHSD]

The connected services comes on top of the usage pattern of the car and just drains out faster. Older cars without connected services also suffer 12v Battery problems but not as bad as the latest models.  

[RickyC]

4 hours ago, CPN said:

There's a quick way to avoid that possibility by turning the key fob off completely whilst it is in the house and your car is parked close up (it also prevents thieves from cloning your key).

After locking your car, hold down the lock button and then double press the unlock button (while keeping the lock button pressed). The key fob LED will flash 4 times (2 x 2 flashes) and then go out. Your key fob is now in sleep mode until you press either of the keys again. If using 2 keys, the second fob needs to be also put to sleep in this way for it to be fully effective against thieves.

Yes I know this procedure and I too use it very often even if the car is usually parked very far from keyfob.

Moreover you can disable the automatic interior light power on when car detect keyfob.  It's an option on multimedia setup menu.

[CPN]

14 hours ago, RickyC said:

Moreover you can disable the automatic interior light power on when car detect keyfob.  It's an option on multimedia setup menu.

Indeed, I just prefer to keep this on as I find it useful and it times out after a while anyway (if you don't open the door).

[ISP]

21 hours ago, ISP said:

The key's are kept well away from car.

I can't believe it following car being delivered back after check, a week last Thursday by dealer battery in good condition and fully charged. Tonight first time to drive car after 10 days battery is flat again. Dealer to pick up on Thursday to recheck. I feel new battery is required. 

 

Update Motorline have picked up my car this morning so they could check the flat Battery. They have finally replaced the Battery. Advised to keep driving car to maintain charge. Note I have been working from home during the pandemic, so this has not helped with this situation, as mentioned before leaving the interior light on will drain Battery in quite a short time. Once back to work i will be doing 80mile round trips, hopefully this does not reoccur going forward. 

Once the battery is flat and left in this state for long periods it will start to create sulphides which damages the battery. 

I was also told the MyT app does not drain battery.

 

[ISP]

29 minutes ago, ISP said:

Update Motorline have picked up my car this morning so they could check the flat battery. They have finally replaced the battery. Advised to keep driving car to maintain charge. Note I have been working from home during the pandemic, so this has not helped with this situation, as mentioned before leaving the interior light on will drain battery in quite a short time. Once back to work i will be doing 80mile round trips, hopefully this does not reoccur going forward. 

Once the battery is flat and left in this state for long periods it will start to create sulphates which damages the battery. 

I was also told the MyT app does not drain battery.

 

 

[Cyker]

20 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

The connected services comes on top of the usage pattern of the car and just drains out faster. Older cars without connected services also suffer 12v battery problems but not as bad as the latest models.  

Yeah, I remember we had a LOT of Auris Hybrid owners having the problem when it first came out - IIRC the problem for most people was a combination of not driving enough and having the keys stored within the car's sensor range so it kept pinging them. I think Toyota changed that in a firmware update or something as I've seen hardly any Auris HSD owners complain about that in ages.

Like you my usage pattern is very regular and even leaving it for 2 weeks over xmas it was fine, so I suspect a lot of the problem is people buy the car when the Battery is a bit weak from being stuck in a holding car park, then a ship, then another holding car park for ages (I don't know if they do a maintenance charge during shipping or at Burnaston, but I know for sure my dealer didn't!), and then only use it for short trips so the Battery is already half dead when it gets left for a few days.

 

3 hours ago, ISP said:

Update Motorline have picked up my car this morning so they could check the flat battery. They have finally replaced the battery. Advised to keep driving car to maintain charge. Note I have been working from home during the pandemic, so this has not helped with this situation, as mentioned before leaving the interior light on will drain battery in quite a short time. Once back to work i will be doing 80mile round trips, hopefully this does not reoccur going forward. 

Once the battery is flat and left in this state for long periods it will start to create sulphides which damages the battery. 

I was also told the MyT app does not drain battery.

 

Well done getting them to replace it! Wasn't sure if they'd say it was a wear item and not covered  

A regular 80-mile round trip is definitely enough to keep it healthy! (If not there's something definitely wrong!  )

It seems one common thing with Toyotas is they *want* to be driven - Even my old Mk1 Yaris D4D got grumpy if I didn't use it for a while  

[john p williams]

And remember to keep the key(s) in a  Faraday Pouch.👍

[Cyker]

Or better yet, turn it off if it's a Smart key! (Hold down LOCK and press UNLOCK twice; Status LED should blink 4 times, then the keyless entry and start won't function until LOCK or UNLOCK is pressed to wake the fob up again! Saves the Battery in the fob!)

 

[CPN]

8 hours ago, john p williams said:

And remember to keep the key(s) in a  Faraday Pouch.👍

You don't need a Faraday pouch if you turn the fob off. (as I described earlier) 

[RickyC]

It's a pity that Toyota doesn't show the status of 12V Battery on some standard user accessible menu.  

I know that you can read the voltage in secret menu but it's not so easy to access to it and, moreover, you can do damage if you don't know what are you doing.

[RickyC]

5 hours ago, CPN said:

You don't need a Faraday pouch if you turn the fob off. (as I described earlier) 

Mmm.  The procedure is simple but a bit tedious if you have to do it every time you close the car.

Maybe it could be nice to separate the keyless door lock/unlock ( that is you must always use remote ) from keyless engine start/stop.  

[Hibird]

Does anyone know when these Toyota Hybrid vehicles are shipped from there point of manufacture to there final destination if any prevenative steps are taken to avoid excessive Battery discharge and possible permanent capacity loss prior to sale. ie slave battery/battery isolation switch/battery disconnection etc. Or is 12v Battery SOC prior to delivery a lottery.

I have only experienced one flat Battery event after 12 months which may or may not have been down to me but some seem to have much more frequent events.

The 12v battery is of limited capacity on these vehicles but I am not convinced by the low milage/infequent use take on the problem. Of course more frequent use or the leaving the vehicle 'Ready mode' fix will help overcome the problem but so may a better 12v battery power management strategy.

For example why does the car need to search for a key for days on end ? yes I know this can be changed by Toyoto dealer if you can find one willing to do it or 3rd party diagnostic tool but could be made a user option. I am unclear on how much this may limit the total average quiescent current, perhaps someone has carried out some tests but I assume it would at least help. I do not know enough to comment on the connected services overhead which again may or may not be relevant. However if the reason for flat batteries is varied and complex so may be the solution.

I see lots of advice for the use of battery chargers & boost devices etc while I do not doubt these help owner confidence in as much they can use their vehicles they do not fix or identify any problem and come at additional cost and inconvenience.

The interesting thing is the problem clearly does not effect everyone far from it, which would suggest the root of the problem is unkown at least to me.

I read many cases where the 12v battery has been charged by the dealer and told there is nothing wrong with it and within days it's flat again that needs much further investigation and in some cases that has happend finding faulty dash cams etc. Which means that not all flat batteries are from a single cause and when combined with lights left on doors left open and excessive radio listening in accessory mode there are a lot of variables.

Following my first flat battery I will try to pay more attention to my interation with the vehicle which may shine some light on the reason but I am not holding my breath but on the other hand it's a great vehicle to own and 1 flat battery (so far) can be forgiven.

[Dala]

11 hours ago, RickyC said:

It's a pity that Toyota doesn't show the status of 12V battery on some standard user accessible menu.  

I know that you can read the voltage in secret menu but it's not so easy to access to it and, moreover, you can do damage if you don't know what are you doing.

 

[flash22]

On 2/2/2022 at 10:27 AM, RickyC said:

It's a pity that Toyota doesn't show the status of 12V battery on some standard user accessible menu.  

I know that you can read the voltage in secret menu but it's not so easy to access to it and, moreover, you can do damage if you don't know what are you doing.

It's just a diagnostics menu, you can't do much more than testing and data recording

[Cowgirl]

On 2/2/2022 at 10:19 PM, Dala said:

 

I’m trying to find the hidden menu, 2022 Yaris. I have no INFO button. Any other suggestions?

[Dala]

for RAV4 is the AUDIO button
try replacing the INFO button with AUDIO according to the instructions