Flat battery after going away.

[Steven83]

Hi guys been away a month, came back Tuesday and the car started fine, took it for a 5 min spin. 

came to start it just now and it’s flat as a pancake, can’t even lock doors or access boot now.

i have recovery but I just want to check it’s safe for a recovery company to bump or charge the Battery on a hybrid auris? 

any advice asap would be helpful as I’m supposed to be in work in 40 mins 😞

cars a 2015 pre face lift auris hybrid excel 

[Gerg]

The 12v Battery boost point is inside the fuse box under the bonnet.  It's on the far (passenger) side of the engine bay.  Lift the large black plastic cover off (1 clip) and it's under a red rectangular cap that pivots out the way.

Notice that the blade underneath is live on one side only - one of its faces is plastic.

You can use one of the suspension turret nuts nearby as the earth connection.

HTH

[TonyHSD]

As Gerg explained, you can jump start it via the electric point in the box under bonnet and your mechanic will most likely know how. Remember you can drive the car to work what’s times take but once you turn off the car wherever you decide to start again to go home afterwards the car may not start again. You will need to charge the Battery with external charger if you have one available or if the car is next to you at work and you can keep an eye on it you can leave in ready mode for 60-90 minutes with all electric accessories off and heating off so the car can recharge the 12v Battery. If you have facilities to charge at work and you have shops around, Halfords, wilko, or Aldi / Lidl most of them sells smart charges. If not Amazon on prime and delivery after new year. 
Good luck 

[Steven83]

Thanks guys. I don’t really have the option to charge so I think I’ll have a word with my boss and drive around for an hour or so once it’s started 

[TonyHSD]

3 minutes ago, Steven83 said:

Thanks guys. I don’t really have the option to charge so I think I’ll have a word with my boss and drive around for an hour or so once it’s started 

Even no need to drive, just set in ready mode at secure place and lock the doors with mechanical key built into the key fob. But again, it is a good idea to keep an eye and not leaving the car ON while you are not there. 

[Gerg]

16 minutes ago, Steven83 said:

drive around for an hour or so once it’s started 

[Edit: Looks like TonyHSD beat me to it with the below!]

You don't need to be driving around, you just need to have the car set 'ready', as if to drive off. 

The charging system will work the same from the 12v Battery point of view.  The engine will cut in every few minutes or so to top-up the traction Battery (which will be continuously charging the 12v Battery all the time the car is 'ready').

This is basically what Toyota recommended owners to do once a week during lockdown to prevent a flat battery.  You could do with doing it longer as yours is actually flat.

[Steven83]

Thanks for the help guys.

 

the recovery man arrived quickly, attached a small jump pack to the connector on the front as Gerg described and within seconds the car was running.

I drove to work the long way (40mins) and then drove back later and it’s running fine. 
 

hopefully it will start no issues tomorrow and all will be as normal from now on.

 

think I’ll invest in one of those small jump packs though 👍🏻

[Mojo1010]

Good to hear. Get the jump start pack before you next go away for a long period. One month in the cold a bit is too long, though it started. You needed to drive much longer than 5mins or leave on ready for 30+mins. If you have a garage then perhaps a trickle charger. 

[Steven83]

35 minutes ago, Mojo1010 said:

Good to hear. Get the jump start pack before you next go away for a long period. One month in the cold a bit is too long, though it started. You needed to drive much longer than 5mins or leave on ready for 30+mins. If you have a garage then perhaps a trickle charger. 

Already ordered the jump start pack 🙂 

It gave me a false sense of security when it started so easily the first time. 

If it had struggled I would have driven it longer but because it seemed to take it in its stride I just presumed the Battery was fine. 

[Roy124]

Point to consider, I think Battery flat events are cumulative and reduce the life of the Battery.  After 3 events on my Corolla the voltage drop on a daily basis was quite marked the rate increased after failures. 

The first failure was at the initial lockdown and before the Ready Mode advice. After a year, 3 failures, and a rapud daily discharge, the dealer changed the Battery. 

 

[Roy124]

A point about the small jumper packs.  I last checked my pack in September before going on holiday. I checked it yesterday and it still had a good charge. 

When charged 4 led are displayed. I deduce that 1 light shows a charge less than 25%, 2 25-50, 3 50-75 and 4 100.  On checking it showed 3 steady with 4th blinking ie 75-99%.  I put it on charge and it was fully charged in a short time. 

[AisinW]

Keep jump starter at about 30-70% to extend the Battery life.  I had mine for 3 years but never ever need it to start the car. It was only for precaution because my 12V Battery is 7 years old. 

I used the pack often for charging my phone instead when camping. 

Check the voltage when the headlights are on, if it holds above 11.3 V, your still have plenty of life. 

[Roy124]

10 hours ago, AisinW said:

Keep jump starter at about 30-70% to extend the battery life.  

Easier said than done.  After I used mine to start the car the charge lights showed less than 50% from full. 

As an aside, I wonder why a rechargeable AA Battery voltage is 1.2v cf non rechargeable at 1.5v (1.5v-20%=1.2v)

[TonyHSD]

Good to hear you could start and drive again. As pointed by Roy your Battery after going flat may not be recharged enough only with the short use that you do and external proper charging may needed. Smart chargers like ctek, niko, Aldi and Lidl can do the job that you need and the jump pack as back up only. 
Happy new year 

[AisinW]

Yes, get a proper 5 A charger from Aldi/Lidl, they are properly controlled. Don't buy unknown junks from China in Amazon, they are usually 10A but very crude and unfiltered, tons of RF radiations. 

My starter Battery pack is pretty big.  About 80Wh, Each jump start only take about 3%. Hybrid cars only need about 60-80Amps, 12V or roughly 100W at about 3 seconds = 0.1 Wh per jump starts. 

[Hibird]

This review may be of interest to anyone looking for a cheap Battery charger. The guy has many reviews of chargers and would appear to be quite smart just like the charger.

 

[AisinW]

8 minutes ago, Hibird said:

This review may be of interest to anyone looking for a cheap battery charger. The guy has many reviews of chargers and would appear to be quite smart just like the charger.

 

Yes, this guys proof which chargers are good/bad. Aldi/Lidl are the best value, NOCO 5 is the best built and efficient(not hot). CTEK 5 is better than Aldi/Lidl but overprice for the built (plastic buttons and hot). He opened all of these charger including unknown generic 10A charger in Amazon. 

[Roy124]

I have my CTEK wall mounted in the garage, and extension lead attached and plug into the hard wire in the car as required. 

Makes everything very simple. 

[TonyHSD]

Got the Aldi chargers one for me not used yet but my dad did use his one few times and said that make the dead Battery working again after 8 hrs or so. 

[AisinW]

The Aldi/Lidl has pulse charging for dead Battery 7.5-10.5V open voltage.  That Battery can be revived by means usable for some period of time. But the capacity is usually <50% of the original value once it is dropped below 11V.  These charger can buy us some time but do not hope too much, very often discharged Battery stay dead even after pulse charging. 

AGM Battery can last 8 years or more if we never let it depleted and stay in mild weather.  

[Steven83]

http://NOCO Boost Plus GB40 1000A 12V UltraSafe Portable Lithium Car Jump Starter, Heavy-Duty Battery Booster Power Pack, Powerbank Charger, and Jump Leads for up to 6.0L Petrol and 3.0L Diesel Engines  https://amzn.eu/d/0DQGMvV
 

I got this one. Not sure if the link will work but it has good reviews. 

[AisinW]

Noco is expensive but the built quality is much better than other brands. Don't believe the rating of Battery jump starter and capacity, they often lied except they are welknown Western brands.

[The Aardvark]

@Steven83 - our 2015 Auris hybrid has just experienced something similar to what you described.  Since Christmas, it would not start if left and not driven for more than 24 hours.  Then this weekend I drove it ten metres so that I could vacuum the inside, and afterwards it wouldn't start.  The electrical displays such as the dashboard dimmed when the Start button was pressed, and after a couple of attempts, all the electrical circuits were dead, and we couldn't open the boot (though the drivers door would lock with the key physically inserted and turned, like in the days before "plip"s).

Our independent garage has replaced the 12v Battery in the boot with a Bosch.  Perhaps parking outside over eight winters was enough to kill the original Battery.  I'd be interested to know how long other readers' Auris batteries have lasted.

[Mojo1010]

Tony has a 2010 auris on original Battery, car has done 230k+ miles, you may have read on the forum. 

Lasting 8 years are quite reasonable. It's using it often and in doing that in the winter will help. My Yaris is about 7 years old and it's parked outside for nearly 5 years since i owned it, not a problem. I expect to last many more years as in the winter I ensure to drive at least 2x a week for 30mins+, usually a lot more. Have a new car which should arrive year end so it'll be 7.5 years when it gets sold. 

Was away for 8 & 9 days last Sept and Oct, no problem on return. 

 

[Saxmaniac]

On 1/1/2023 at 8:48 AM, Roy124 said:

Easier said than done.  After I used mine to start the car the charge lights showed less than 50% from full. 

As an aside, I wonder why a rechargeable AA battery voltage is 1.2v cf non rechargeable at 1.5v (1.5v-20%=1.2v)

Reason for your second question, the rechargeable Battery is probably Nimh which is totally different chemistry to alkaline batteries so voltage is different. Lithium ion is different again. If you can keep jump pack charged to 3 out of 4 lights on ie 75 percent, it's not really that hard, it will last better