That 12v battery (again!)

[Parts-King]

Very rare for a Corolla Battery to fail, but not impossible, it is not beyond the realms of possibility a boot or door has not been closed properly, it will flatten overnight if that happens. 

[Chas G]

And if you park in a domestic garage at home, don't lock the car and leave the wheels straight. At least then it will be easier to use ratchet dollies to get the car out.

[Roy124]

1 hour ago, Parts-King said:

Very rare for a Corolla battery to fail, but not impossible, it is not beyond the realms of possibility a boot or door has not been closed properly, it will flatten overnight if that happens. 

When my Corolla MY19 failed the first time I assumed a light left on.  I could not remember my usage prior to this.  The second time I knew no lights had been left on but the car has not been used for a few days.   It was the same the third time

Whilst it might be rare for a Corolla Battery to fail, once it has failed subsequent failures are highly likely. 

[Parts-King]

11 minutes ago, Roy124 said:

 

Whilst it might be rare for a Corolla battery to fail, once it has failed subsequent failures are highly likely. 

Same for any model, any Battery, once the SOC has taken a hit it is almost impossible to recover the Battery. It's why every Battery in stock gets charged every month, with a health check ticket attached to show it is a "Good charge" and cars on the pitch get run each week. I can't say that is the same everywhere, but it's what we do. I bought a brand new Yuasa battery for a Jap sales car yesterday, it was dead today, probably not checked in it's lifetime of storage at a supplier, it can happen at any time

[Roy124]

4 hours ago, Parts-King said:

probably not checked in it's lifetime of storage at a supplier, it can happen at any time

For the average owner a Battery is a 'fit and forget' item, even in days of yore I guess many never topped up the water or used a charger. 

That batteries had to be maintained when not in use was not generally known.  I had one of those large yellow sealed packs that eventually failed, lack of a regular recharge may have killed it.

[Stewart45]

interesting topic, as having just bought a yaris  hybrid, and due to fly out for a 2 week break, i did read somewhere that the problem could be the SOS system that is always live ?

[Roy124]

Stewart worry not.   Bare weeks after taking delivery of our YC it was parked up at Southampton for a fortnight.  We have had no issues in the following 18 months.

[Mojo1010]

2 weeks away is quite a risk of the MK4 not starting. Would advise to get a jump start pack in case, otherwise could wait around for breakdown. A forum member named Chas G has hoarded quite a few of these packs, could sell to forum members at a discount price. 

I too have a MK4, in fact wouldn't be expecting it not to start after 2 weeks, considering it went down from 12.8v to 12v in 4 days. 

This topic should probably be merged with the maintenance thread. 

[CPN]

Don't know what all the fuss is about. I once saw my Battery voltage dip to just below 11v as I pushed the start button and it started up just fine. Remember, you're just starting up some "computers" and switching a contactor (from the HV battery) closed. Not heavily cranking an ICE over.

[Mojo1010]

How long left unused Colin? It means the Battery was probably above 11v, dipped below 11v as power used to start the car. 

It would be prudent to invest in a jump pack in case waiting around for a few hours at airport car park for breakdown. 

[CPN]

IIRC it was about 12 days at that time... It was showing 11.2v and dipped to 10.8v...

[Roy124]

29 minutes ago, CPN said:

IIRC it was about 12 days at that time... It was showing 11.2v and dipped to 10.8v...

Which is pretty critical. 

[Mojo1010]

2 hours ago, Mojo1010 said:

 

I too have a MK4, in fact wouldn't be expecting it not to start after 2 weeks, considering it went down from 12.8v to 12v in 4 days. 

Typo, should say would not expect it to start.

[CPN]

16 minutes ago, Roy124 said:

Which is pretty critical. 

True but that was almost 2 years ago and when it happened and after the drive that day, I came home and put it straight on the Ctek (didn't have the tail connected at that time) and used the "Recond" option and left it on charge for nearly 3 days.

Never had another problem since then and still on its original Battery (Mutlu) 2 years and 5 months further on...

This is how it looks today...

(has been stood unused for 3 days...)

[JurS]

It happened to me this week, for the first time. 2022 Yaris Cross. I'm retired and don't drive much, especially not in the winter. The car had been stationary for 2 weeks apart from one 4 mile drive to the shop. I got in, wanted to start it and nothing happened apart from dire warnings about the power steering and the brakes not working.

I have a USB power pack and tried to jump start it. I probably did it wrong because nothing happened. The leads on this starter are really short so it is actually difficult to clamp it to a suitable earth, also it doesn't grip very well. I did switch on the power pack, and it was fully charged, not sure why it didn't work. Perhaps I should use an incantation?

I then had the AA come over and he started it ok with a huge power pack. He did some kind of quick test and said the Battery looked ok-ish. I drove it to the dealer who then sat on it for 2 days, and finally told me that they recharged the Battery and it is in good condition.

Also, I use a solar powered trickle charger that I plug into the big connector below the dashboard. I have had that since I bought the car 16 months ago (ex-demo). It is always connected, except for when I use the car of course.

I have an Optimate intelligent Battery charger for use with my motorbike. I presume this would also be suitable to keep the car battery charged? It uses a lead with an SAE connector so I'm going to get a similar lead with O-rings at the other hand for direct connection to the battery. I would need to leave a side window slightly open to feed the lead through, and then into the garage. If I charge it once a week hopefully that will stop this nonsense.

The dealer of course never mentioned anything about having to use the car regularly to prevent this from happening. My previous car was a Fiat, of all things, I had it for 5 years still with the original battery and it always started on the button. I have had that car stand unused for up to 2 months without that ever causing issues. Go figure.

[CPN]

4 hours ago, Mojo1010 said:

It would be prudent to invest in a jump pack in case waiting around for a few hours at airport car park for breakdown. 

1. I've had a jump pack for a long time. Had to use it once on my previous Mk3 😉

2. I don't "do" airports any more ever since my American wife permanently settled here in the UK. 🙂

[CPN]

12 minutes ago, JurS said:

I would need to leave a side window slightly open to feed the lead through, and then into the garage. If I charge it once a week hopefully that will stop this nonsense.

You don't need to do that. Just feed the lead out via the door rubber seal and it'll be fine. (it is soft neoprene foam rubber so won't damage the cable)

[MikeSh]

1 hour ago, JurS said:

I have a USB power pack and tried to jump start it.

Used mine in anger for the first time this winter, though not on the Yaris. It refused to work indicating a short circuit.

My guess is that a flat Battery probably does look much like a short circuit 🙄

Being lithium packs I suppose they have to have safeguards, but if they stop it working when needed it becomes as useful as a chocolate teapot.

[Cyker]

Mine been left for a couple of weeks a few times now and been fine; I think the factory batteries need regular use to keep them healthy, as they seem to degrade much faster when not used enough.

To my knowledge almost everyone who has had a problem has relatively low use of the car.

The Yuasa Battery some have used is a much higher quality Battery and advertises resistance to degradation as a feature in the fluff, which I think is why they've been a lot less problematic. 

I really don't know why Toyota went with this practically unknown make of Battery - Even if they needed to use European parts, Varta would have been a much better choice!

 

[Derek.w]

Hi Cyker is it a quality issue or just type of Battery as used  Ca-Ca & its Ah capacity that degrades faster than a normal lead acid Battery when its voltage drops to a point it wont start then after a charge it goes downhill quickly because its lost capacity to hold its charge.

[Cyker]

That's a good question! I haven't really looked into differences of the chemistries so that could well be a factor in the how well it resists degradation.

[JurS]

Does anyone have a recommendation for the actual type of Yuasa Battery to use? Are we sure this actually helps with the problem? Is there anyone with a Yuasa Battery who still experiences the issue?

Also, would my dealer be prepared to fit such a Battery? And if not, it I get someone else to fit it, would that invalidate the warranty on the car?

Thanks!

[jthspace]

I was told in another post that the Battery for a Yaris Cross is a YBX5012.  It won't affect the warranty - there is a post in this thread or the main Battery thread that shows a section from the manual that states as long as its the same or better performance, size, then it's OK to fit.  Dealer may not fit as they will usually only fit batteries they supply (understandably) but Halfrauds or similar may supply and fit. A Google search on the Battery number will be a good place to start.

I replaced my battery with a Yuasa one and it took 15 minutes or so, finding something to wedge the rear seat up to keep it off my head took the longest (broom wedged between pax seat and rear seat did the trick).  10mm spanner/socket from memory. Disconnect -ve first and tape lead out of the way, they are short and can accidently flip back and retouch the terminal if not careful.

[Dala]

The Yaris cross has a larger Battery area? 207x175? 
 

[anchorman]

1 minute ago, Dala said:

The Yaris cross has a larger battery area? 207x175? 
 

Is it a question or a statement?  I’ve changed both and they didn’t seem any different to me.