Did anyone ever figure this issue out? My 2005 TLC has the same issue. Battery checks out, cleaned terminals, installed new alternator, all to no avail. Neither the local Toyota dealer or the local toyota specials it can find any issue with it. Need to find a solution ASAP. Thanks for any help in advance.
Dead Battery (3x in 2mths) - 30A BAT Fuse has 500mA draw - what next?
- Thread starter agaisin
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- #62
Unfortunately I don't have any true solution yet. Quick question - do you have an overhead DVD player (second row) and if so, does it work i.e. does the dvd player work (in 3rd row passenger side)? Either way, try turning your second row overhead lights to off position and see if that stops your battery from draining. Also - if you are concerned, consider a battery protector. I personally chose the PriorityStart and I no longer worry about getting stranded - it's relatively inexpensive peace of mind right now since I don't have time to deal with the issue.
(If I knew of an expert that I was confident could diagnose and resolve I'd have them look at it, but the dealership along with multiple other shops couldn't figure it out so I put it on hold for now.)
More info:
1) As I think I mentioned in previous posts, I installed the PriorityStart (http://www.prioritystart.com/12vpromax.php) along with a knife blade disconnect from wirthco so I no longer worry about getting stranded. With PriorityStart, "if battery voltage drains below 11.7 volts when engine is off, it automatically disconnects the load." There are differences b/w PriorityStart and other products like BatteryBrain that made me more comfortable with PriorityStart. The only quirk I've had with PS is that every once and a while it seems to get stuck in limbo but a quick disconnect and reconnect with the Wirthco and it starts right up. For a while I had the weekly routine of the PS disconnecting after the week sitting so the remote fob wouldn't unlock (since batt was disconnected) - no biggie, I just manually open the door, key in ignition, foot on brake pedal for a few seconds and then the PS reengages and connects battery and all's good.
2) I can say that a few months ago I decided to try leaving the second row overhead lights in the OFF position (overhead lights combined with overhead DVD player). Since then I have not had a single battery drain issue.
I haven't traced anything down specifically and I have a suspicion about the DVD player - the rear dvd player (that connects to overhead dvd) wasn't ejecting discs but would spin up so I suspect it's screwed up somehow and theoretically could be related to my problem but that's speculation.
Maybe one of these days I'll find someone I trust or have time to look deeper myself ... At this point I'd rather find someone I trust (by trust I mean that I trust they are capable of resolving the problem without draining my wallet).
(If I knew of an expert that I was confident could diagnose and resolve I'd have them look at it, but the dealership along with multiple other shops couldn't figure it out so I put it on hold for now.)
More info:
1) As I think I mentioned in previous posts, I installed the PriorityStart (http://www.prioritystart.com/12vpromax.php) along with a knife blade disconnect from wirthco so I no longer worry about getting stranded. With PriorityStart, "if battery voltage drains below 11.7 volts when engine is off, it automatically disconnects the load." There are differences b/w PriorityStart and other products like BatteryBrain that made me more comfortable with PriorityStart. The only quirk I've had with PS is that every once and a while it seems to get stuck in limbo but a quick disconnect and reconnect with the Wirthco and it starts right up. For a while I had the weekly routine of the PS disconnecting after the week sitting so the remote fob wouldn't unlock (since batt was disconnected) - no biggie, I just manually open the door, key in ignition, foot on brake pedal for a few seconds and then the PS reengages and connects battery and all's good.
2) I can say that a few months ago I decided to try leaving the second row overhead lights in the OFF position (overhead lights combined with overhead DVD player). Since then I have not had a single battery drain issue.
I haven't traced anything down specifically and I have a suspicion about the DVD player - the rear dvd player (that connects to overhead dvd) wasn't ejecting discs but would spin up so I suspect it's screwed up somehow and theoretically could be related to my problem but that's speculation.
Maybe one of these days I'll find someone I trust or have time to look deeper myself ... At this point I'd rather find someone I trust (by trust I mean that I trust they are capable of resolving the problem without draining my wallet).
Thank you so much for the reply. I do have the overhead DVD player. It works as it is supposed to, but I will give that try. The last place a took it too said if I brought it back they would start disconnecting devices one at a time starting with the DVD player since I guess it was a dealer installed option. It seemed like a WAG to me at the time but maybe there was something to it. I will try your solution and see what happens. Thanks again.
Deed battery -- only when security is armed?
I too drive the crusher rarely and find the battery drained.... I have not locked with alarm for a few weeks, and have not had the issue.
I too drive the crusher rarely and find the battery drained.... I have not locked with alarm for a few weeks, and have not had the issue.
Bringing this thread back from the dead. Has anyone figured this out? I too have the exact symptoms as agaisin. I thought my battery was dead and it was 7 years old so I bought a Toyota True Start and installed it about a month ago. I drive the LC daily in the winter so I've been using it regularly. About a week ago, I didn't drive it on Sunday and went to go to work Monday morning and it was dead. AAA came out and tested the electrical system and alternator was putting out 14+ V and starter was good. Battery was at 10% charge and 285 CCA. It's a 710 CCA battery.
I put it on a charger overnight later that day to bring it back to full charge. Starts fine as long as I run it every day. Yesterday, it chugged to a slow start so drove it to the dealer. They inspected the battery and said its healthy, but only at 50% charge. Alternator and starter were good too. Said I probably have a draw somewhere - lots of help lol.
My meter died and never got around to replacing it so just used a test light to see if I could find out where the draw was coming from. I removed the fuses in the engine compartment one by one, and the Short and BAT fuses removed the draw. Interestingly, I do have the factory DVD player and it does not work and the dome light has been in the "door" position. I also have a tape in the cassette player from the prior owner that is stuck in there. Maybe these systems are trying to run with the car off causing the drain?
Last night, I put the LC on trickle charge and when it reached 100% I removed it. I checked this morning and it was at 60%. I'm going to do the same tonight with the dome light in the off position and I'll report back. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I put it on a charger overnight later that day to bring it back to full charge. Starts fine as long as I run it every day. Yesterday, it chugged to a slow start so drove it to the dealer. They inspected the battery and said its healthy, but only at 50% charge. Alternator and starter were good too. Said I probably have a draw somewhere - lots of help lol.
My meter died and never got around to replacing it so just used a test light to see if I could find out where the draw was coming from. I removed the fuses in the engine compartment one by one, and the Short and BAT fuses removed the draw. Interestingly, I do have the factory DVD player and it does not work and the dome light has been in the "door" position. I also have a tape in the cassette player from the prior owner that is stuck in there. Maybe these systems are trying to run with the car off causing the drain?
Last night, I put the LC on trickle charge and when it reached 100% I removed it. I checked this morning and it was at 60%. I'm going to do the same tonight with the dome light in the off position and I'll report back. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
- Thread starter
- #67
I think my post #62 still stands. LX is still the goto vehicle for weekend activities and road trips (i.e. not my daily drive but still dependable and gets heavy family use on weekends and trips). I use the PriorityStart battery protector and it keeps me from getting stranded if/when the battery does drain (very infrequently). With the PriorityStart the battery cuts out automatically at ~11.8 (by design) to leave enough juice to start back up - so when I say it "drains" every once and a while I mean to say that the PriorityStart cuts off the battery pre-emptively. I keep my dome light off, avoid leaving headlights/doors open longer than necessary, and I rarely have any issues anymore.
If you have this issue, even if you figure out that leaving dome light off prevents the drain, I'd definitely recommend the PriorityStart for peace of mind.
So - aboslutely would love to find the root cause and will probably celebrate if/when I ever do, but at this point it's just a nuisance not a showstopper b/w the dome light off and PriorityStart.
I still am using the same old AGM battery from 3.5 years ago, and the same alternator and starter. I do plan to replace my alternator in the near future and at that time I'll probably also replace the battery - but I think the root cause is still some type of intermittent drain whose source & trigger I've yet to pinpoint (with evidence).
If you have this issue, even if you figure out that leaving dome light off prevents the drain, I'd definitely recommend the PriorityStart for peace of mind.
So - aboslutely would love to find the root cause and will probably celebrate if/when I ever do, but at this point it's just a nuisance not a showstopper b/w the dome light off and PriorityStart.
I still am using the same old AGM battery from 3.5 years ago, and the same alternator and starter. I do plan to replace my alternator in the near future and at that time I'll probably also replace the battery - but I think the root cause is still some type of intermittent drain whose source & trigger I've yet to pinpoint (with evidence).
I had two weird issues that caused my 100 to discharge the battery. First was a bad door lock actuator that would keep trying to lock and the second was the driver door courtesy switch (which caused headlights to stay on).
I'd recommend to start isolating vehicle systems to find which one might be causing excessive draw.
I'd recommend to start isolating vehicle systems to find which one might be causing excessive draw.
Thanks guys. I'll continue troubleshooting to see if I can find the root cause. In the mean time, if it keeps up, I'll go with the Priority Start - thanks for the link.
- Thread starter
- #70
TXLX100 - thanks for sharing your experience. Fwiw - mine was not the headlights staying on, they went off with whatever the delay is. Can you elaborate on what happened with your courtesy switch though, and how the door would close but the switch didn't pick it up and caused headlights to stay on - was it just a faulty courtesy door switch that you replaced?
Regarding the bad door lock actuator, I assume you could hear the actuator trying to lock over and over? How did you pinpoint that one? Any tips on how you isolated the draw - did you use the fuses to isolate the draw, do you remember how much current either system was drawing, what approach you used to isolate it, if you had any confusing false positives from alarm or other systems or ?
Regarding the bad door lock actuator, I assume you could hear the actuator trying to lock over and over? How did you pinpoint that one? Any tips on how you isolated the draw - did you use the fuses to isolate the draw, do you remember how much current either system was drawing, what approach you used to isolate it, if you had any confusing false positives from alarm or other systems or ?
If I recall, the door lock was intermittent and took a while to notice it. Plus my wife drives it 95% of the time and doesn't pay that much attention. If all the doors lock and unlock 100%, shouldn't be an issue.
The courtesy switch wouldnt recognize when the door would open, so the headlight delay timer would never start, this leaving the headlights on.
To isolate systems, you can either do a trial and error by pulling fuses and relays and see if that makes a difference in battery level, or the more proper way and use a voltmeter to check the amp draw of the various on-board systems when the vehicle is off.
You should be able to test at the fuse and relay panels. There is some good info online about testing voltage drop across fuses if you aren't familiar. And be sure to set your voltmeter properly, and double check (I've blown fuses in meters so many times I've lost count).
As far as false positives, none that I know of. If you are testing the overhead light circuit, be sure you trick the courtesy switch if the door is open while u are accessing the fuse panel.
One red herring to consider in your troubleshooting is the dome relay cct remains energized for approximately 30 minutes after turning the ignition off, and something like 80 seconds after the vehicle is turned off and locked. Locking, unlocking, key to ACC etc changes the state of the dome relay cct and obviously the amount of current drawn 'till it turns off and enters its quiescent state. There are a few posts re dome relay cct behavior and page 153 of the 2004 EWD elaborates. Worth remembering if this behavior is applicable to your model year.
Thanks PADDO. @agaisin, have you looked at the auto headlight switch? Some online research on the Tundra forums point to two common parasitic draws leading to dead batteries: the auto off headlight and the JBL amplifier. The JBL amp is interesting as you found the BAT fuse leads to the radio circuit right?
Bringing this back. Been having tons of issues lately, but I think that it is a crappy battery product.
But I did stumble upon something very interesting which could be a cause of the draw due to faulty electrical components.
Whenever I use the headlights, and have it in the "on" position, and use my turn signal, I lose all lights controlled by the switch. Toss it in auto, and if it is dark enough, they work fine, until last week. Same issue seemed to translate over to the auto, but less consistently. I ordered a new switch that I will replace today, and am making my work upgrade me to an Optima because I have gone through THREE Duralast Golds since early December which is ridiculous. Will update back with changes or anything if swapping the turn signal switch works.
But I did stumble upon something very interesting which could be a cause of the draw due to faulty electrical components.
Whenever I use the headlights, and have it in the "on" position, and use my turn signal, I lose all lights controlled by the switch. Toss it in auto, and if it is dark enough, they work fine, until last week. Same issue seemed to translate over to the auto, but less consistently. I ordered a new switch that I will replace today, and am making my work upgrade me to an Optima because I have gone through THREE Duralast Golds since early December which is ridiculous. Will update back with changes or anything if swapping the turn signal switch works.
Tonight will be a solid test. Switch has been swapped and new Optima Red Top installed. I have auto lights on, doors locked and dome light to door. Fingers crossed!
@bkmc24 let us know what you find? I haven't found the cause, but if I leave everything off - dome lights, auto headlights, fog light, etc., I don't seem to have a draw. I've left the auto light on by accident though, and I did have a drain but didn't prevent the LC from starting.
Minor update:
Pretty frigid temps, all potential factors that drain the battery were on, and I had no issues starting this AM. I will continue to do this and during spring break, will drive the wifes car while she is gone and leave the crusher parked for a week and see what happens. As of now, I am pretty hopeful.
Pretty frigid temps, all potential factors that drain the battery were on, and I had no issues starting this AM. I will continue to do this and during spring break, will drive the wifes car while she is gone and leave the crusher parked for a week and see what happens. As of now, I am pretty hopeful.
So far so good. Have been doing as I had previously said and I cannot even tell if there is a battery drain or not. Makes a lot of sense to me why a switch could be the cause. Hopefully this is the case and I can be a savior to LC owners and batteries alike!
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- #80
Happy for you - makes sense that the switch is root cause in your case due to funky behavior but at least personally i do not have any issues with my switch. Although if it resolves your issue and it's easy/cheap enough to replace i guess id consider giving it a shot...