Mini Saga

[Tel 2]

Called the AA as my Battery was flat after 7 weeks stood in my Garage with no access to said Battery.

Had Hybrids for many years and never had an issue.

Rapid response & 2 minutes later told to take it a long drive .

Drove 20 miles & garaged car.

Next morning i.e. yesterday, called the AA as it failed to start & also told my Toyota Team to expect me when my car was drivable.

Rapid response but this time all Dash lights remained on despite car running normally. AA said the lights may well clear quickly & after searching for my Battery to test it, we agreed ,if the lights cleared in the first 250 yards of driving , my Toyota Team were best placed to. resolve.

Drove off &, all lights cleared, arriving at my Dealership 20 minutes later with the engine left running. 10 minutes later car returned with a Battery Health print out showing it was healthy but not fully charged. Told, use the car despite only 5 mile journey & lowish charge but return it,late evening ,to trickle charge it overnight which they say will prove if a new battery is needed.

My car ran perfectly all day with plenty of Stops contrary to the AA & some Forum Experts.

Tel

[Tel 2]

Car returned -----Zero Issues.

Tel

[Roy124]

2 hours ago, Tel 2 said:

My car ran perfectly all day with plenty of Stops contrary to the AA & some Forum Experts.

No Terry, that is not contrary to the Forum Experts.

Without doubt your Battery is ****ed,  it just doesn't know it yet.  As it has been flat damage will have occurred.  How badly it is affected is an unknown. 

My Corolla went flat during Covid lock down and before putting it in Ready mode was advised.  The car was just weeks old.

Once recharged it was fine, until it failed again.  After the third failure I monitored the Battery voltage on a daily basis over a week without driving the car.  Voltage declined rapidly to under 11 volts.  The garage changed the Battery under warranty. 

[Mojo1010]

Don't think it's a mini saga. 7 weeks, Battery will be damaged, it'll never get back anywhere near high charge level. Suggest u may look into getting a booster before the next time it fail, unless AA come out quick. 

Toyota will not replace it if you have already told them about the 7weeks. Put a bigger Battery in for if and when it does fail again. Obviously from then on maintain it. 

[Tel 2]

I will ask for my Battery health print out after Trickle Charging as both the AA & Toyota protocol does not produce faulty batteries.

Tel

[Roy124]

Terry, not sure what you mean there.  Mojo mentioned calling out the AA again.   You need to be cautious there as many breakdown contracts have clauses limiting callouts where they have previously attended but no rectification was taken by you.

Just a caution. 

In my case I had the AA out.  I subsequently bought a CTEK charger.  I had two further failures without the need for callouts.  The Battery was then changed under warranty. 

[Tel 2]

My  Battery is said to be in rude health after being charged for 18 hours on the Dealership Charger & had my Battery dipped below 28% a replacement would have been fitted.

Furthermore, in January 2024, Toyota are offering higher capacity batteries for the Yaris & Cross to address said problem.

I am content.

Tel

[Roy124]

2 hours ago, Tel 2 said:

Furthermore, in January 2024, Toyota are offering higher capacity batteries for the Yaris & Cross to address said problem.

I get my new Cross in March so good to know.

When my Corolla had a new Battery I was given a 42 AHr vice 35 AHr.  As the Cross Battery is buried under the rear seat it is less easy to find out.

[OLEE]

I've had a similar experience with my Hybrids, and it is a lot of frustration of dealing with unexpected Battery issues. It's interesting to see how the AA responded promptly, advising you to take a long drive to potentially address the problem. The fact that the dash lights persisted even after the initial drive is  puzzling alright.

[anchorman]

10 hours ago, Tel 2 said:

My  Battery is said to be in rude health after being charged for 18 hours on the Dealership Charger & had my Battery dipped below 28% a replacement would have been fitted.

Furthermore, in January 2024, Toyota are offering higher capacity batteries for the Yaris & Cross to address said problem.

I am content.

Tel

Where did you get this info from Tel?   By the way I can get the upgraded batteries for £83 and I’ll fit it for you if you want to upgrade.  

[Tel 2]

Don,

The Parts Chap @ my Dealership & a Technician owning Cross independently told me of the Battery upgrade & Lee ( Devon Aygo) has given a link to the 2024 Cross which rectifies all the 

refinement issues the current model can suffer.

Once the UK Order book opens I will order one for May 2024 Delivery.

Hence I decline your kind offer.

Tel

[anchorman]

1 hour ago, Tel 2 said:

Don,

The Parts Chap @ my Dealership & a Technician owning Cross independently told me of the Battery upgrade & Lee ( Devon Aygo) has given a link to the 2024 Cross which rectifies all the 

refinement issues the current model can suffer.

Once the UK Order book opens I will order one for May 2024 Delivery.

Hence I decline your kind offer.

Tel

Crikey, you don’t muck about Tel.  That new version ticks a lot of boxes for me too.  

[Yugguy1970]

And it will be the 130bhp version.  Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.....

[Mojo1010]

On 11/21/2023 at 12:10 PM, Mojo1010 said:

Don't think it's a mini saga. 7 weeks, battery will be damaged, it'll never get back anywhere near high charge level. Suggest u may look into getting a booster before the next time it fail, unless AA come out quick. 

Toyota will not replace it if you have already told them about the 7weeks. Put a bigger battery in for if and when it does fail again. Obviously from then on maintain it. 

After a few hours using the car this morning, checked the voltage of the Battery at various earth points, 12.77 - 12.80 v. 

[anchorman]

21 hours ago, Yugguy1970 said:

And it will be the 130bhp version.  Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.....

That will be interesting Guy.  The 115 was plenty quick enough for me off the mark but it ran out of steam about 50 so careful planning was necessary for overtaking.  I’m not really interested in the 0-60 but if it will continue to pull then it will make it a much more viable proposition.  

[Mojo1010]

On 11/23/2023 at 2:18 PM, Mojo1010 said:

After a few hours using the car this morning, checked the voltage of the battery at various earth points, 12.77 - 12.80 v. 

Had a bit of time on my hand, haven't driven for the last 2 days since did the voltage check. Battery is now 12.38v, a drop of about 0.2v a day.

At current temperature and rate, rough estimate is that for 5 days there would be a 1v drop, this would mean 11.8v, 30+% charge left according to the chart. There isn't a big margin even if Battery is healthy. But the drop may not be equal each day. 

Am no forum expert 😄, at current discharge level and temperature, will not be leaving the car for more than 5 days without starting, don't have a garage to charge with a charger. 

Doing a 150 miles round trip tomorrow so unable to continue to monitor the voltage discharge.

 

[Roy124]

On 11/25/2023 at 4:38 PM, Mojo1010 said:

But the drop may not be equal each day. 

In my experience,  after about 3 days the voltage drop is virtually flat lining. 

I now have OBD reader and compared the voltage with that on the BM6.  They were close but not identical.   The BM6 was perhaps 0.15v lower.  The OBD reading flickered a little whereas the BM6 is damped.

When I have more time I will make notes of the difference.