HELP, WONT START!!

[birdman]

My car makes the clicking sound but wont start. Headlights are dim too. I take very good care of it and it's garaged too. Only 16k miles and it's an automatic. Battery looks filled and my engine compartment is very clean. The little grey cover thingy on the wired end of the starter is a little wiggly but thats all I can see. Any ideas? Thanks

[Yaris Hilton]

Usually that means a run down battery. If you've got jumper cables and another battery at hand, try jumping it, or try hooking a charger to it overnight and see what happens. If neither works, you're in the market for a battery.

[Sidicas]

Yup, either the battery is dead or the battery is bad..

If it's below freezing in your garage, take your battery inside and hook it up to a car battery charger.. If it's dead and it gets cold, it WILL freeze and then you won't be able to charge it.

If it's not so bad, you might be able to charge it while it's in the car..

[YarisSedan]

Sounds like the battery is weak.

[Kal-El]

Yeah, sometimes batteries go prematurely. A cell may go. May be able to replace it under warranty. Otherwise, the Yaris always starts.

[birdman]

Funny thing is it nearly did the same thing a few months ago when it barely had enough juice to start the car. The car has been starting perfectly since. I ended up getting a jump tonight and drove it for 1/2 an hour before I parked it at a store. When I got back in it started right up and once again until I returned home for the night. I cant imagine what's drawing down the battery enough so that it only does this occasionally? It's got plenty of warranty left.

[Ryu]

Little tip I can offer is to turn off everything that needs electricity before you turn on your engine, ie stereo or some other accessory you are using it earlier, it will cause less drain for the battery to start the car.

Like others mention, sounds like the battery is weak.

[1NZYaris1]

check you have not left the internal light on , or the rear hatch might not be closed properly :thumbsup:, leaving that light on .

[ezhacker1]

The negative terminal on the batt will get corroded and will cause battery not to charge, happened to me this morning, cleaned it worked fine. Before it would need a jump everytime to start.

[Kal-El]

Funny thing is it nearly did the same thing a few months ago when it barely had enough juice to start the car. The car has been starting perfectly since. I ended up getting a jump tonight and drove it for 1/2 an hour before I parked it at a store. When I got back in it started right up and once again until I returned home for the night. I cant imagine what's drawing down the battery enough so that it only does this occasionally? It's got plenty of warranty left.

A shop can run a quick test on itand even tell you what the issue is. To me, it sound's like a dead cell (which they can determine). Car batteries generally have 6 cells. If one dies, you begin to see this inconsistency where most of the time it's fine, then suddenly it's weak. Once cold weather hits though, expect it to be consistently dead.

This just happened for me recently. My '07, at about 65,000 miles, needed a battery replacement early (should last longer than 4 years). It was checked earlier at under 60K and I was told that I had a dead cell even though I hadn't noticed any issues. It was summer however and by the time winter approached, jump starting started to be required which gets annoying really quick.

Headed to Wal*Mart and got a battery for a cool $65 and threw it in myself in 3 minutes.

[YarisSedan]

Kinda weird lots of people have been having battery issues lately. When i get in to work on monday im going to load test my battery and see what the total amperage is left after driving for a year. Maybe these only have a 2 year lifespan.

Looks like its a good time for you to upgrade to a lightweight battery.

[birdman]

From the sounds of it, a faulty battery cell might just be the culprit. Didn't leave anything open or on except its security systems blinking light like I usually do. There is no terminal corrosion or loose connections I can see. I will take it to the dealership and see what they say.
If they cant find anything wrong then I'll have to do something out of pocket. I guess that means I'd have to buy a new battery. I wonder how much it would cost from the dealership?
Thanks for all the insight. The YarisWorld community rocks!

[ezhacker1]

for me (8 month old yaris) it has already failed to be charged twice, both times being do to negative terminal corrosion, (it looks like green power) Maybe cuz of the weather i have here, near the ocean.

[birdman]

Ryu, Your LB is sweet!

[Revsson]

for me (8 month old yaris) it has already failed to be charged twice, both times being do to negative terminal corrosion, (it looks like green power) Maybe cuz of the weather i have here, near the ocean.

I can't think of the product name, but there is a reddish spray you can
put on the terminals to help prevent corrosion. In the past, I have used
those little felt pads which worked pretty well, too.

[Kal-El]

From the sounds of it, a faulty battery cell might just be the culprit. Didn't leave anything open or on except its security systems blinking light like I usually do. There is no terminal corrosion or loose connections I can see. I will take it to the dealership and see what they say.
If they cant find anything wrong then I'll have to do something out of pocket. I guess that means I'd have to buy a new battery. I wonder how much it would cost from the dealership?
Thanks for all the insight. The YarisWorld community rocks!

If you can operate a wrench, by a battery from Wal*Mart or someplace affordable that sells batteries and do it yourself. It literally takes less than 5 minutes.

The stealership will charge you more than double for a 3 minute job. Like I said earlier, I got a battery for $65 at Wal Mart. The dealer will be over $120.

:wink:

[Sidicas]

check you have not left the internal light on , or the rear hatch might not be closed properly :thumbsup:, leaving that light on .

The dome light in the Yaris goes through the ECU.. It shuts off automatically after 20 minutes no matter what..

Instead of paying money to have the dealer check the battery, just yank the battery out and take it down to Advance Auto parts.. Advance Auto Parts will check it for free..

[R2D2]

My stock battery quit holding a charge after 5,167 miles. I rid myself of the headache by getting a Napa Legend 7535 and have been fine since. I didn't bother going back to the dealer because I didn't need the hassle at 0 deg F. Not impressed with the oem battery-from day one the oem was weaker than the drinks at a church social. 75 bucks is cheap insurance.

R2

[kargoboy]

for me (8 month old yaris) it has already failed to be charged twice, both times being do to negative terminal corrosion, (it looks like green power) Maybe cuz of the weather i have here, near the ocean.

That's what I was thinking too. I just moved to St Augustine FL 6 months ago and I've had to clean my negative battery terminal three times since I moved.
Including this morning!
Damn car didn't start again!

[birdman]

Got a new battery today and it was covered by the warranty. The new one is different than the translucent original. It is a typical US made solid black one with the Toyota logo on it. I was told the factory batteries aren't available through the US Toyota network. I hope it's being of US manufacture doesn't mean it will be unreliable too.

[Sidicas]

I hope it's being of US manufacture doesn't mean it will be unreliable too.

They're more reliable than most of the ones designed and built in China. Though I don't know, I've heard that due to tight regulations on these lead-acid batteries, most new batteries made in the US have over 50% of their materials from recycled old batteries. We certainly don't dump all our old lead-acid into the ground, that's for sure..

[birdman]

I am glad to know about the recycled materials. I liked how you could see the fluid level right through the case of the original. I'll get used to seeing the black clunky one especially due to the fact it was free. Perhaps some day American designers will catch up with our foreign competitors and start making intelligently designed see-through batteries too.

[Hershey]

Hi everyone,

I went out this morning to start my '09 5 door automatic with less than 10K to get to work and the battery was dead :mad: . The car had sat for 4 days in an average of 35 degree temp. Have noticed before this episode that it strained to kick over on frigid mornings . Couldn't even use the keyless entry. Jumped it with our '08 yaris sedan that has the same battery with 16k. So far no issues with that one. Hopefully it will start in the morning ( 24 degees out for now ) . Plan on calling dealer to get battery replaced under warranty .

[Kal-El]

Perhaps some day American designers will catch up with our foreign competitors and start making intelligently designed see-through batteries too.

You mean like the one's that don't last? :confused:

[birdman]

I meant ones that you can see the fluid through. Toyota would not have the reputation for reliability if they used unreliable parts. I'm sure most of these factory batteries wear quite well. With anything made in huge numbers you are going to have an occasional dud. All I'm saying is American designed cars tend to be less reliable than Japanese designed Toyotas. America produces cars with a lot more poorly designed parts that more frequently fail than those of Toyota.

[something]

If you turn the key and all you hear is a loud noise like someone put a card in the spokes of a bicycle wheel (but way louder), and it sounds almost like a grinding noise, and the engine isn't even thinking about turning over, and you are worried about wrecking your car by continuing to turn the key... here is what you should do: GO TO LORDCO, buy a new battery, remove old battery, replace with new battery. Turn key... engine will start. Please don't get your car towed to a mechanic for no reason. This could save you $200 or more. (Even if the indicator on your battery is shining blue you should do this since the indicators often don't work. i.e. don't assume your battery is fine if the indicator is blue!)
:bow:

[bairjo]

If you turn the key and all you hear is a loud noise like someone put a card in the spokes of a bicycle wheel (but way louder), and it sounds almost like a grinding noise, and the engine isn't even thinking about turning over, and you are worried about wrecking your car by continuing to turn the key... here is what you should do: GO TO LORDCO, buy a new battery, remove old battery, replace with new battery. Turn key... engine will start. Please don't get your car towed to a mechanic for no reason. This could save you $200 or more. (Even if the indicator on your battery is shining blue you should do this since the indicators often don't work. i.e. don't assume your battery is fine if the indicator is blue!)
:bow:

well that was good advice...to bad he could have used it six years ago. probably on his 3rd battery by now. JK...Welcome to the forum...we need all the advice we can get!