12v battery maintenance, issues, etc.

[Starensis]

I wonder if supplied batteries from Toyota or elsewhere adhere to this?

• Factory Activated (FA) – the Battery is filled with electrolyte, sealed and charged at the factory. These batteries if not used within a month must be maintained. If the voltage drops below 12.4 these batteries must be boosted up to full charge.

[TonyHSD]

4 hours ago, Starensis said:

I wonder if supplied batteries from Toyota or elsewhere adhere to this?

• Factory Activated (FA) – the battery is filled with electrolyte, sealed and charged at the factory. These batteries if not used within a month must be maintained. If the voltage drops below 12.4 these batteries must be boosted up to full charge.

I don’t think anyone ever maintained Battery while in stock. Perhaps when buying a new one best to buy from Battery specialist, dealer or anyone who sells volumes so fresh stock guaranteed to minimise the risk of getting a dead on arrival Battery. Dealers sell a lot of these for sure. 

[Starensis]

9 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

I don’t think anyone ever maintained battery while in stock. Perhaps when buying a new one best to buy from battery specialist, dealer or anyone who sells volumes so fresh stock guaranteed to minimise the risk of getting a dead on arrival battery. Dealers sell a lot of these for sure. 

That’s my point.
Do we ever check batteries when we buy them are under 1 month from Manufacture?

What I posted is from Battery manufacturer website.

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Starensis said:

Do we ever check batteries when we buy them are under 1 month from Manufacture?

I do, if possible. However, it has become very difficult/impossible to check the manufacturing date of a Battery. Most seem to use some fancy code now.

The last (Bosch) car Battery I purchased was over a year old. I actually contacted Bosch to determine the age and provided them with the requested code.

It was returned to the seller and refunded. It was from a well known Battery purveyor who must have a fairly quick turnover.

It was made in Spain at the same place as Varta. Same batteries, different labelling.

[dcweather]

Toyota Battery just supplied to me had Dec 22 on it. Seems fine and have replaced failed 12v one now which was showing 3.9v. After 3 days on trickle charge only got up to 9v which dropped quickly with tthe slightest load.
 The Toyota replacement Battery which cost £142.99 and was available in 2 days. Fairly straight forward. The hardest part was the brute force needed to get the seat up although it went back easily. As I expected the plastic trim plugs broke (why don't they use screws - this always happens!) but otherwise only took about 30 mins to put new Battery in and she fired up straight away. All good. 😅

[Dala]

interesting solution

[Derek.w]

I seen simlar but the old Battery was reused thats the case the insides first removed then filled with cells a BMS glued to the top and the lid was also glued on.

It was fitted to a motor bike from what I can remember.

[Dala]

I saw it too 🙂

 

[RickyC]

On 4/17/2023 at 11:32 PM, Dala said:

 saw it too 🙂

And then they resell them to Toyota to equip our Yaris ? 😀

[Cyker]

Brrr that's both awesome and terrifying at the same time!!

[IT Troll]

Had my first flat Battery situation yesterday after 11 months of ownership. Systems started initialising as normal when I powered on, but then it all went crazy with flashing displays, weird noises and finally the wipers came on and stopped half way. 🤪

My usage pattern is infrequent longer journeys rather than regular short trips and so this wasn't unexpected.

Thanks to this forum I was prepared and had a Nocco booster under the driver's seat (rather than in the boot). I was up and running in a few minutes. I do have a CTEK charger and so today's job will be to wrestle with the Battery compartment and see if I can fit an accessible connector for maintenance charging.

[anchorman]

18 minutes ago, IT Troll said:

Had my first flat battery situation yesterday after 11 months of ownership. Systems started initialising as normal when I powered on, but then it all went crazy with flashing displays, weird noises and finally the wipers came on and stopped half way. 🤪

My usage pattern is infrequent longer journeys rather than regular short trips and so this wasn't unexpected.

Thanks to this forum I was prepared and had a Nocco booster under the driver's seat (rather than in the boot). I was up and running in a few minutes. I do have a CTEK charger and so today's job will be to wrestle with the battery compartment and see if I can fit an accessible connector for maintenance charging.

Why not just use the connector under the bonnet, that’s what it’s there for 👍

[Roy124]

6 minutes ago, anchorman said:

Why not just use the connector under the bonnet, that’s what it’s there for 👍

Well you could, but someone else just mentioned the convenience of hard wiring.  That is what I did with my 1.8 Corolla and had the dealer do with the Yaris Cross. 

Plugging in to a socket beats opening the bonnet, removing the fuse box cover, opening the positive blade cover, clipping the right cable to the right terminals, and reversing the whole process when charged.

Besides, I can access the socket under my rear seat more easily than opening my bonnet catch on the right then opening the bonnet in a tight space in my garage before fitting the charger in the badly lit engine bay. 

Why do it the hard way every month when you can do it once? 

[IT Troll]

Exactly what Roy said. I park nose first in my garage so the driver's side rear seat is more accessible.

I also thought the engine bay connector was primarily for jump starting and that for charging it is better to connect as close to the Battery as possible.

[SinglePointSafety]

I asked my dealer (who did it FoC) to fit my supplied Noco connectors to the Battery, with the captive lead coming out under the rear seat cushion. Makes it really easy to charge for those occasions when I might not be using the car for a week or so

[anchorman]

1 hour ago, Roy124 said:

Well you could, but someone else just mentioned the convenience of hard wiring.  That is what I did with my 1.8 Corolla and had the dealer do with the Yaris Cross. 

Plugging in to a socket beats opening the bonnet, removing the fuse box cover, opening the positive blade cover, clipping the right cable to the right terminals, and reversing the whole process when charged.

Besides, I can access the socket under my rear seat more easily than opening my bonnet catch on the right then opening the bonnet in a tight space in my garage before fitting the charger in the badly lit engine bay. 

Why do it the hard way every month when you can do it once? 

Fair enough.  I work a fortnight on and a fortnight off and in the off periods I don’t always do much mileage or I’m away on holidays so during those periods I’m possibly more susceptible to a low Battery than when I’m working (although sat waiting for the mrs with the ignition on (not ready) can cause problems as we’ve previously discussed).  However, popping the bonnet up and taking the fuse box lid off seems less intrusive than having a trailing socket inside the car.  Each to their own.

58 minutes ago, IT Troll said:

Exactly what Roy said. I park nose first in my garage so the driver's side rear seat is more accessible.

I also thought the engine bay connector was primarily for jump starting and that for charging it is better to connect as close to the battery as possible.

The connection under the bonnet is literally just a heavy duty wire connected directly to the Battery and is designed for both charging or jump starting (jump starting is a misnomer really because it’s never to turn a starter, only provide a remote power supply).  There is no need or benefit in connecting directly to the Battery.  That is a bit like saying I need to shorten the wires on the battery charger - you don’t. 
 

i accept it’s not as easy for some because I can get at power backwards or forwards in the garage so if you prefer having a dangly dongle in the car, your choice.  I have had the back seat out on several of these cars and can tell you the 12V battery terminals are extremely close to the metal seat frame so be very careful messing with the terminals - here;

 

I prefer to use the fuse box connector;

…and feed the wire out by the headlight, there’s plenty of room;

[anchorman]

6 minutes ago, SinglePointSafety said:

I asked my dealer (who did it FoC) to fit my supplied Noco connectors to the battery, with the captive lead coming out under the rear seat cushion. Makes it really easy to charge for those occasions when I might not be using the car for a week or so

A picture paints a thousand words 😉👍

[CruxisCore]

Does the built-in infotainment have access to Battery information or does monitoring like this require something third party, like a thing in the 12v socket?

[TonyHSD]

15 minutes ago, CruxisCore said:

Does the built-in infotainment have access to battery information or does monitoring like this require something third party, like a thing in the 12v socket?

I don’t think there is info available on screen. You can buy something like this and plug it in and monitor voltage. INIU Car Charger, 66W 6A Car Charger Adapter, 2-Port (USB C+USB A) PD3.0 QC4.0+ fast charge USB Car Charger for iPhone 13 12 11 Pro Max Samsung Galaxy S21 S20 Note Huawei Pixel iPad Laptops AirPods LG https://amzn.eu/d/fN9rgDp

[Roy124]

3 hours ago, anchorman said:

A picture paints a thousand words 😉👍

One back seat with a hidden plug looks the same as one without. 

As the dealer did it..... 

[IT Troll]

Dala posted pics of a similar rear seat setup on a Yaris. I was going to do something similar to that.

However, I have rearranged the garage a little to give better access to engine bay. I'll see how I get on with the croc clips for now.

 

[RickyC]

22 hours ago, CruxisCore said:

Does the built-in infotainment have access to battery information or does monitoring like this require something third party, like a thing in the 12v socket?

On the secret menu ( at least on TTS3 ) you can read Battery voltage.  

With Smart Connect entertainment I've no idea if this info is available ( neither I know if a secret menu is available and how to access it )

[IT Troll]

AFAIK no one has found a secret service menu on the Smart Connect yet. It would be relatively easy for Toyota to add 12v Battery monitoring and an alert to the Online Services and MyT app.

[CruxisCore]

53 minutes ago, IT Troll said:

AFAIK no one has found a secret service menu on the Smart Connect yet. It would be relatively easy for Toyota to add 12v battery monitoring and an alert to the Online Services and MyT app.

It really is kinda surprising, since you can monitor tyre pressure, but I'd consider Battery levels pretty important too.

[Roy124]

7 minutes ago, CruxisCore said:

It really is kinda surprising, since you can monitor tyre pressure, but I'd consider battery levels pretty important too.

MyT under Standard Services states

"stay informed about your car location, Battery level etc" 

I have yet to find it.