Battery died after 9 days and other questions

[krich97]

Ok so here is the main question: I was on vacation for 9 days and when I got back the battery was dead (doors wouldn't even unlock). It is just a Kragen special but it is only 7 or 8 months old (previous owner installed). I had a problem in the past with the brake lights coming on due to a tired spring return on the pedal but that has been fixed (at least I thought so) and I haven't seen it happen again. I had the battery tested and the mech told me it was fine and not to replace it yet. (he would have been happy to sell me one) Is there anything else that would (under normal - non short conditions) drain the battery? I do make alot of short trips but at least once a week I do a longer one.

One other non related question is this - I had the dealer do a service on the vehicle before I got it (previous owner had extended warrantee) I just noticed brown coolent in the overflow resevoir although the coolent in the radiator was bright green. I thought that during a service which included a radiator flush that a dealer would have been obliged to use Toyota red? If so should I take it back and complain?

FYI Lastly I finally installed the brighter taillight bulbs from Cary's connection (done after the battery going dead). I noticed that the reverse light is 40-50% brighter but the brake and turn signals are not much brighter 10-15%.

Thanks in Advance!!!

Krich

 

[landtank]

how many miles on the truck?

 

[Rookie2]

Krich,

I'll throw my .02 cents in on the coolant, FWIW. Removing the coolant reservoir, emptying and cleaning out takes all of about 8 seconds, and should of been done. You don't want old filthy coolant recirculating into the radiator.. that kind of defeats the purpose. Sounds like you may need to have a little heart-to-heart with your mechanic and let him know what your expectations are (although you shouldn't have to), OEM parts, fluids etc.. If they want to skimp on your dime, that should be your decision. If you're not able to DYI these type items, it would be good to search and review the procedures suggested on this site, so you have a working knowledge of what should be done, i.e. did they flush the heater core and drain and flush the block... those types of things. I haven't seen a consensus here on green versus red, although most prefer red. The opinion seems to be that if a proper flush is done on a regular basis, the coolant color is not as important.


Rookie2

 

[krich97]

76k miles on the rig - I had a 60k service done 'cause I couldn't verify that it was ever done - previous owner bot it as a Toyota certified used car with 62k on it - (that is a whole nother subject - toyota certified doesn't mean much in my neck of the woods - no service other than basic inspection and changing of the easy fluids) I did detach the coolent resevoir - took a small chunk outa my index finger as it was a little stuck and suddenly came loose. I used to do a lot of wrenching myself on my previous vehicles (all older than this one) but nowadays I got 2 kids and one is a 3 month old so not much time anymore. If I were going to flush the radiator myself I might use the orange flavor as I recall from a previous thread that it can be mixed with any other type. My question was more do I have a ligitmate gripe and would Toyota be obliged to fix it free of cost?

Thanks

 

[firetruck41]

[quote author=krich97 link=board=2;threadid=16524;start=msg158845#msg158845 date=1084840811]
If I were going to flush the radiator myself I might use the orange flavor as I recall from a previous thread that it can be mixed with any other type.[/quote]
NO,NO, NO, NO
Do not mix ANY coolant in your Landcruiser. Orange that you get at the autoparts store is NOT the same as Toyota Red. If you do a complete flush you could use the orange, but do not mix any coolant. I used Orange (Dexcool) on my BMW, it was fine, some report it does not stand up to the long change intervals it is touted for. Red or green is fine with regular flush and fill.

EDIT: It seems that the shop did not do a complete job, and should be responsible for making it right.