Battery & Alarm Problem

[Bosnjo]

Hello everyone,

I have Avensis 1.8 VVTi 2005 Saloon, alarm installed by Toyota when I bought it new.

I'm now recovering from knee surgery so my car was in garage for two weeks without anyone touching it. Few days ago my medic told me to begin driving. I pressed unlock button on the key. It's the same button that switch off alarm. Car unlocked but alarm went off. I pressed the button again and sirene stopped "crying". Starting the car I've noticed that starting motor is rolling a bit slower then usual. As it was very short ride that day (2-3km) and with lights on, if there was a problem with the Battery, it didn't have a time to charge it. When I got back and parked the car in garage, tried lock-unlock few times and it was OK. Then I went to garage like 2-3 hours later, this time with back-up key (thought it might be a key problem). Alarm went off again. On the next day I went for longer ride during a day, without lights on. Now, alarm doesn't go off.

So, should alarm go off warning me that I have low Battery?

Is it normal for this car 15.000km and 13 months old to have Battery problem?

Is battery covered by 3 years waranty?

I was thinking, if battery is not charging at all, it would be dead already. But it looks like it's charging but doesn't hold the charge.

Is it possible to measure battery with ampermeter or voltmeter and how?

My worst fear is that there is something discharging the battery while car is parked.

Thanks for any ideas.

[aven_man]

If you have a voltmeter then you should be able to find out if it is Battery or not. Place both leads across the Battery terminals (make sure your have leads at voltmeter side connected to +V and GND) when the car has been lying idle for a while. Should read between 11 and 12V. When you start the car the reading on the voltmeter should be over 14V (not too sure what exact charging voltage should be) to charge the Battery properly.

A low battery can make an alarm system do weird things when it is being set and reset. I've seen this once on my wife's Yaris.

The only thing I can think of drawing current from the battery while car is off is alarm, immobliser and some other very small current rated devices like ecu and radio backup.

[Bosnjo]

Thanks Aven_man

[Bosnjo]

I've measured Battery. With engine off and 3 days without driving it gave 12,4V. Last night alarm went off by itself in 3 o'clock in the morning. Now I switched it off completely, marked visit to the dealer at Wednesday.

[Gregg]

I also had this problem the avensis was sat on the drive for a good 6 months without use, then all off a sudden it would set the alarm off

i put it down to dampness in the gnine bay and it has not happened since, i did disconnect the Battery for a good few days and that did the trick

very strange tho let me know what it turns out to be from an interest point of view

cheers