Battery drain auris reg 2017

[beebea]

Has anybody had and resolved Battery drainage issues with their Auris? I'm at my wit's end and have had enough of having to drive aimlessly only to keep it charged (and regularly find it flat after a brief holiday).

After a full check and recharge at a garage 2 weeks ago, we drove it for about 100 miles in total (2 longer trips and 2 shorter) and still the Battery was flat this morning. 

Battery was replaced 2 years ago  to try and resolve the problem but we are probably back to square one due to the number of times it's gone flat since then.  

Toyota dealer is useless and will not suggest anything else apart from driving it more often. 

Any suggestions other than getting rid of it and buying a car of a different make or brand...?

[TonyHSD]

Hi and welcome. 
if everything it’s ok with the car and the Battery is of a good health you should not have any problems. Even though the Battery was replaced two years ago if it was flat again afterwards that means the new Battery is also dead and a new one will be needed. However if you replace the battery again you need to make sure that there are no parasitic drains and the 12v system chargers within the specs. If you go that way to preserve the life of the new 12v battery and if you don’t drive at least once a week for 30min or more best is to set the car into ready mode and keep it like that ON for at least 30-40min, no need to drive , just you need to be around as is illegal to leave a car on and unattended. If you don’t have any accessories like cameras or tracking devices or telematics boxes from insurance fitted you should have no trouble with your car battery. Perhaps you can give it another chance if you like your car. 
Good luck 

[beebea]

19 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

Hi and welcome. 
if everything it’s ok with the car and the battery is of a good health you should not have any problems. Even though the battery was replaced two years ago if it was flat again afterwards that means the new battery is also dead and a new one will be needed. However if you replace the battery again you need to make sure that there are no parasitic drains and the 12v system chargers within the specs. If you go that way to preserve the life of the new 12v battery and if you don’t drive at least once a week for 30min or more best is to set the car into ready mode and keep it like that ON for at least 30-40min, no need to drive , just you need to be around as is illegal to leave a car on and unattended. If you don’t have any accessories like cameras or tracking devices or telematics boxes from insurance fitted you should have no trouble with your car battery. Perhaps you can give it another chance if you like your car. 
Good luck 

Thanks Tony, I would love the car if it wasn't for this problem! 

How do we check for parasitic drains? I would expect the garage to do this kind of checks when they keep the car overnight to recharge and test the Battery but I don't think they do anything in that direction...

[TonyHSD]

1 hour ago, beebea said:

Thanks Tony, I would love the car if it wasn't for this problem! 

How do we check for parasitic drains? I would expect the garage to do this kind of checks when they keep the car overnight to recharge and test the battery but I don't think they do anything in that direction...

You are welcome. 
The garage should run this check with a voltmeter or if an official Toyota dealer they may even use a proper charging station, a large machine on wheels that looks like AC service machine, this will run all necessary checks. However if your current Battery is weak as a result of been already flat once or more times the test may pass ok but the Battery won’t hold charge and it will die even after two or three days of inactivity. If this happens and the Battery is still under warranty you may try your luck for a replacement battery under this warranty, if not you are left with only option to pay for the replacement. Just make sure you have no additional accessories on while the car is off, something that can deplete the battery. These cars usually need 30-40 minutes of being ON and the 12v battery will get well charged if everything works fine and if no parasitic drain being found you shouldn’t have any issues with the battery in the future, just make sure you use the car at least once a week for 30 min or more or just keep it ON for that time , no need to drive and you can turn off the heating fan off button so engine will run very short few times, not even gonna burn much petrol or pollute the environment. I did follow myself these steps during lockdowns and recently as I didn’t drive for almost 6 weeks and my car battery survived., and it’s btw the original battery, very old. 👍

[beebea]

Thanks for your help!

What kind of accessories should I turn off? The car has all sorts of gadgets, such as parking sensors or unlocking sensors. Should I turn everything off all the time, or only when I'm away for more than a week or two? How do I find out which accessory drains the Battery? I can see why the unlocking sensor may do, as the car needs to be "alert" all the time (but then annoying that i paid for a feature that cannot be used) but not sure what other accessories could be a problem and need to be turned off?

[TonyHSD]

2 hours ago, beebea said:

Thanks for your help!

What kind of accessories should I turn off? The car has all sorts of gadgets, such as parking sensors or unlocking sensors. Should I turn everything off all the time, or only when I'm away for more than a week or two? How do I find out which accessory drains the battery? I can see why the unlocking sensor may do, as the car needs to be "alert" all the time (but then annoying that i paid for a feature that cannot be used) but not sure what other accessories could be a problem and need to be turned off?

I meant if you have installed aftermarket alarm, cameras, or telematics devices, if you haven’t then it’s ok. Again the garage should check for you everything and confirm whether you have issues or not. If everything ok then just keep in ready mode once a week and you should be ok., but if the Battery is damaged because been flat you will need a new one. 

[AisinW]

If there is no after market stuffs, it is just a bad Battery. Sometimes we get a lemon batch of 12V Battery. Next time buy it from a good supplier that give long warranty. I think Toyota normally gives 3y warranty for 12V Battery. I used to buy it from local stores long ago, but not anymore. Amazon Prime always give me a real 2 years warranty with full refund if things go bad.

Local stores in DE is just too stupid and finicky. They don't keep the warranty national wide and centralised. I used to buy parts from Autozone and they only need my phone number. I can get replacement parts anywhere nationalwide. I can buy battery in California and get replacement when traveling in New York. 

[Sir Jestalot]

Hello, not sure if your car is the standard version or the hybrid, but on my 2015 Auris Excel 1.8 hybrid (owned since Feb 2017) I recently (May 2023) had to replace the 12V Battery, which (for the first time since I bought the car) went flat during the winter on two occasions.  Each time I was able to get my car going by connecting a RoyPow 12v powerpack to the Battery terminals, and then I recharged the Battery overnight.  However, it happened again back in May, so I took the car to my local Toyota dealer to have a new 12V battery installed, at a cost of nearly £200.  In my opinion the 12V battery is too low in capacity which makes it vulnerable to fairly quick discharge, even though it's not used to start the car engine as such.  I do tend to use the car for short journeys (a few miles at a time) a lot of the time, but with occasional excursions further afield.  The Toyota dealer did say that the battery does degrade over time, and that it could have been damaged by going completely flat, as mine did (basically after I hit the Start button, a message appeared on the dash saying "12v battery low.  Unable to start hybrid system" - after which the power died completely.

[loz8]

It seems dealers wont do much,give the most ridiculous answers,yesterday I was told"we only have solarpanels here for charging.  Perhaps all should email Toyota head office,about how let down we feel.

[beebea]

2 hours ago, loz8 said:

It seems dealers wont do much,give the most ridiculous answers,yesterday I was told"we only have solarpanels here for charging.  Perhaps all should email Toyota head office,about how let down we feel.

Well I did contact the head office and they also pushed the party line, confirmed that my car has no issue whatsoever (it's been with the dealer for 2 weeks) and offered me a free solar trickle charger!!!! I should tell them that I have one already (bought for twice the market price from a Toyota dealer) and it didn't solve my problems!!! I want to cry....

We should get together and sue them, or make more noise via social media / TV...

[loz8]

In dealers ,I had half hr wait and listened in to another couple relating the same old tale,what he was doing when it went flat,battery checked,was it lack of use,while the staff member just nodded sagely,I wondered if he was trying not to laugh,as I was. Welcome to the flat Battery club.

[TonyHSD]

Honestly I think cars with batteries are problematic.  
What I mean is more batteries and electronics more trouble because those require attention and extra care. 
If we look at all types of cars on the market the electric ones are the worst, because  if not used daily or monthly or yearly their batteries will die. 
One standard petrol car can be left seating in a storage for years without use then all you need is to replace the 12v Battery and starts and go.
Where hybrids and electric cars will need on top of the regular 12v batteries a new high voltage Battery too which aren’t cheap and easy to replace.
So the theory that for those who drives infrequently a small standard petrol car is the best option it’s true. 
Toyota PR on social media are usually good and friendly oriented people. They can help if you get in touch and be polite. If not particularly one  person try again someone else and you will get on I am sure. 
At the end if they run all checks and the car has no issues then really it could be lack of use.
At least once 30-60 min per week in ready mode will be enough to maintain healthy 12v Battery. Skipping this few times and you can kill a relatively new battery and not possible to recharge and revitalise.
If me I will push for new one , if not possible I will buy myself, take the free solar charger and follow up all recommendations and then if a problem arises again I will return the whole car to them not just the battery 😂👌 

[Sir Jestalot]

It's not quite true that a standard petrol car can be left for "years" without use, because apart from the Battery dying, the fuel will deteriorate and cause gumming-up in the fuel system unless it's drained out first, so some preparation for long-term storage is needed.   However, knowing the fairly low capacity of the Auris hybrid's 12v Battery and having experienced a discharged one, I wouldn't want to leave my Auris unused for too long, and I wouldn't want to store one for long periods either, because if the main traction Battery becomes discharged as a result of leakage over long term storage then you'd be in real, expensive trouble.   I occasionally connect an 'intelligent' charger to my Auris 12v battery just to keep it topped up, mostly because I tend to do fairly short journeys on a day-to-day basis.  The original battery did last for 6 years (with exactly the same pattern of use) before it gave any trouble, so maybe I ought not to worry too much.

[beebea]

9 minutes ago, Sir Jestalot said:

It's not quite true that a standard petrol car can be left for "years" without use, because apart from the battery dying, the fuel will deteriorate and cause gumming-up in the fuel system unless it's drained out first, so some preparation for long-term storage is needed.   However, knowing the fairly low capacity of the Auris hybrid's 12v battery and having experienced a discharged one, I wouldn't want to leave my Auris unused for too long, and I wouldn't want to store one for long periods either, because if the main traction battery becomes discharged as a result of leakage over long term storage then you'd be in real, expensive trouble.   I occasionally connect an 'intelligent' charger to my Auris 12v battery just to keep it topped up, mostly because I tend to do fairly short journeys on a day-to-day basis.  The original battery did last for 6 years (with exactly the same pattern of use) before it gave any trouble, so maybe I ought not to worry too much.

The thing is we don't leave the car unused for too long! Or I would like to like to understand what usage is too little for a toyota auris.

 

We just live next to an underground station and like many who live in or near a big  city, or its suburb, use the car mostly at weekends and for short trips, and occasionally for out of town excursions. I would like to know what kind of car one should own for this kind of usage. 

Our car is 6 years old, about 18000 miles. We try to use regularly and also top up in ready mode once a week. Despite that this is the second time we had to replace the 12v Battery. 

I don't think this is normal. Do you??

[TonyHSD]

3 minutes ago, beebea said:

The thing is we don't leave the car unused for too long! Or I would like to like to understand what usage is too little for a toyota auris.

 

We just live next to an underground station and like many who live in or near a big  city, or its suburb, use the car mostly at weekends and for short trips, and occasionally for out of town excursions. I would like to know what kind of car one should own for this kind of usage. 

Our car is 6 years old, about 18000 miles. We try to use regularly and also top up in ready mode once a week. Despite that this is the second time we had to replace the 12v battery. 

I don't think this is normal. Do you??

No, it’s not normal. 
We used to use our first Auris exactly the same way when we bought it for the first 3 years. Then after since 5 years ago being used daily on long journeys and both batteries are original, 13 years and 248000 miles. They also survived two lockdowns, and one recent break of 6 weeks. Only with ready mode and once a charger job , just to see my chargers is working. 👌

[Sir Jestalot]

To have replaced the Battery twice on an only 6-year-old car with only 18,000 miles on the clock is surely Not Normal.  Having said that, your average annual mileage is just 3,000 miles, which suggests very short journeys and/or irregular use.  My Auris is approaching 8 years old and has done 63,000 miles, a still fairly low average annual mileage of a little over 8,000.  When I had my Battery replaced in May, the dealer did mention that the car does need fairly regular 'longish' runs to keep the Battery topped up.  He didn't specify what a 'longish' run was, but seemed to agree that about 25 miles or more was about right.   Even a standard petrol car generally needs a run of about 15 miles to regain the charge used in starting the engine, so doing a lot of very short runs in such a car will not only be bad for the engine (moisture buildup) but also the battery will gradually deplete unless you connect up a battery charger every so often.  Must admit that I worry that my Auris engine rarely heats up fully because of the relatively short journeys and the fact that the engine stops and restarts a lot during each drive as it switches in and out of electric traction.

By the way, when I earlier said my battery had lasted 6 years, that was 6 years under my ownership; the car was about 15 months old when I bought it and had about 19,500 miles on the clock, so it had obviously had a very different usage pattern with its first owner, clearly with some long drives which must have kept the battery fully charged.

[beebea]

Another question on the same topic: how do you connect your solar trickle charger? Directly to the Battery or via the cigar  lighter? I've read that the some cars also have something called an  obd port (not sure if our Auris has it). The direct connection to the Battery is a pain if the car is not left unused for long periods, so we would prefer a more accessible connection, but i have read somwhere that the cigar lighter connection is not "live" in all cars.

Also what type of charger do you have? I've seen an "intelligent" one by AA with an LCD to show charge levels. Which one would you recommend?

[Sir Jestalot]

I doubt that you can connect a solar trickle charger through the cigar lighter socket, mainly because the socket is switched out when the car is switched off, and also as it's a power output socket I wouldn't have thought you can connect a power source to it anyway as a power input (but then again I'm no expert on electrics so I may be talking nonsense).

If I were connecting up a solar charger, I'd connect it directly to the Battery terminals, either using some kind of extension cable or directly from the charger's own cables, though the latter may limit where you can put the solar charger panel.  You could perhaps connect it to the terminals under the bonnet, in the compartment where there are terminals for connecting a jump starter (which I confess I've never used) - but where then would you put the charger panel....

The charger I use is a Halfords Smart Battery Charger.  It has several charging modes for 12V and 6V batteries, but I have mine set to 12V motorcycle Battery mode, given that the Auris hybrid's 12V battery is a lower capacity battery more akin to one used on motorcycles.  I can connect the cables to the battery in the boot, and leave the charger outside the car (in my garage).  It's easy to close the tailgate on the cables without damaging them.  I leave the car windows slightly open a couple of inches to allow any gases to escape during the charging process. The charger has a little LCD screen showing the charging process, and it displays "FULL" when the battery is full charged.

[TonyHSD]

Cigarette lighter not an option as been mentioned it’s not live when the car is off. Best to connect directly to the Battery terminals if possible, if not you can do via obd port located below steering wheel right side. 

Important Note: 

Always unplug any chargers before attempting to start the car.

Solar chargers does help maintain healthy Battery if it’s sunny enough but they can not rejuvenate a low voltage Battery. Perhaps a smart mains powered charger is better option if you have facilities to plug in., driveway or garage etc.  Once a month overnight charge will help extend the life of a new battery. Best though is ready mode once a week. No cables, no chargers, no drama. 👌

[AisinW]

@beebea Hi Beatrice. if you have 2017 Auris hybrid, it has automatic power sleep mode after 20 minutes. Even if you forgot opening the door, the domlight and body control will be off.    If you have Hybrid with original Yuasa AGM Battery, it should last for a very long time under normal usages. Mine is more than 7.5 years old and never have problem.  Sometimes I did not drive at all for 3-4 days.  

If you do not drive your Auris for more than 2 weeks, then you need to remove the D/C CUT fuse on the fusebox inside the motorbay.   More than 2 months, you need to turn the car to READY mode for at least 30 minutes to prevent Hybrid Battery below critical level beside doing trickle charging.  The easiest doing trickle charging is from the fusebox on the engine hood.   

I think we really need someone who is expert in trouble shooting parasitic drain.  Paying a real good professional for diagnostic is the best money spending.  Many of us like to try here and there and wasted a lot of unecessary stuffs that are often replacing much better original genuine parts with not so good aftermarket. 

[beebea]

1 hour ago, TonyHSD said:

Cigarette lighter not an option as been mentioned it’s not live when the car is off. Best to connect directly to the battery terminals if possible, if not you can do via obd port located below steering wheel right side. 

Important Note: 

Always unplug any chargers before attempting to start the car.

Solar chargers does help maintain healthy battery if it’s sunny enough but they can not rejuvenate a low voltage battery. Perhaps a smart mains powered charger is better option if you have facilities to plug in., driveway or garage etc.  Once a month overnight charge will help extend the life of a new battery. Best though is ready mode once a week. No cables, no chargers, no drama. 👌

Thanks Tony, we will do both, with the solar trickle charger for when we're away on holiday. I'm hoping that an intelligent charger will give us a better idea of what is going on with the Battery and how much power is lost if, say, we go for just a short drive to the nearby supermarket. 

[Davidhee58]

On 8/1/2023 at 2:01 PM, AisinW said:

If you do not drive your Auris for more than 2 weeks, then you need to remove the D/C CUT fuse on the fusebox inside the motorbay.

Hi John, what is going to happen to the car after the D/C cut fused is removed? is the alarm disabled? at the moment, my 12v Battery can be only charged to ~12.45V, and the car can parked for ~a weeks without driving. I am wondering if the Battery can last for 3+ weeks if I remove the D/C cut fuse, I would like to keep the alarm alive while I am away, if it's impossible without the D/C cut fuse, I am thinking to get a solar trickle charger.  

[TonyHSD]

On 8/3/2023 at 9:56 AM, Davidhee58 said:

Hi John, what is going to happen to the car after the D/C cut fused is removed? is the alarm disabled? at the moment, my 12v battery can be only charged to ~12.45V, and the car can parked for ~a weeks without driving. I am wondering if the battery can last for 3+ weeks if I remove the D/C cut fuse, I would like to keep the alarm alive while I am away, if it's impossible without the D/C cut fuse, I am thinking to get a solar trickle charger.  

I don’t think it’s a good idea to remove fuses and do anything. Just make sure the 12v Battery is fully charged prior to leaving the car parked and if your Battery is in good shape and the car has no voltage leaks you will be ok. 
You can fully charge the Battery with external smart charger, ready mode and if you worry it won’t last a solar charger can eventually help.
Remember if the battery is already low the solar charger won’t be able to recharge, all these can do is to maintain charge level. For example if the 12v battery is at low soc and you hooked a solar charger and the weather is cloudy on your return you may still have issues starting the car. However if you recharge your battery fully, plug in solar charger to maintain healthy charge level you shouldn’t have any problems when you return., unless been raining every day and no sun at all. 👌

[Davidhee58]

Thanks Tony, my Battery is not in good shape as it had been flat twice already, the max Voc is ~12.45v after a full charge, the car can be left on the drive for about a week, I am wondering if a solar charger can maintain the Battery voltage at its fully charged level (~12.45v) while I am away for 3+ weeks.   

[Saxmaniac]

There's methods to measure current draw when the car is supposed to be asleep. There should only be a few 10s of mA drain when all modules powered down, say 30mA at a guess. This can be measured at the Battery with a multimeter but connecting the meter in series with the Battery is a tricky job without breaking the connection to the Battery as that would wake up a load of modules. Having established that current flow is excessive, the direction of flow can be traced with mV readings across fuses. You'd need electrical diagrams to see what feeds what, and narrow down the search. I presume a dealer isn't going to get involved, you'd need a proper diagnostician