Sign of a weakening battery, or something else

[WeeYari]

Now that the mornings are cold, I've been experiencing an issue on my first start of the day.

Twist and release of the ignition key fails to keep the starter engaged. I now have to hold the key while cranking. As I mentioned, this is only happening on the first cold start of the day. Subsequent start-ups, twist and release keeps the starter engaged and she cranks normally.

Weak battery, or is there some other issue going on?

[why?]

i' don't think that is the battery. could just be the cold, how cold are you talking?

[barryware]

I think it is your battery.. I was having the same symptoms. What made me get the battery tested: I was traveling and my car was parked at the airport for a few days. When I got back, my car did start but was scary (almost didn't start).

I had the battery tested and it tested out a 180 CCA (iirc). Another symptom is that my scan guage would reset itself to defaults once in a while.

Since replacing my battery, I again can just roll the key to the start position & let go and it will start and the scan guage has never reset again.

Just get your battery tested.. Most if not all the part stores offer a free test.

[WeeYari]

i' don't think that is the battery. could just be the cold, how cold are you talking?

Not nearly as cold as past winters with no issue. We're only talking -5c.

If it was indeed the battery, I would expect some hesitant chugging as it tried to crank. Not the case. It fires right up normally if I hold the key.

[Kaotic Lazagna]

Weak battery. That's what I was experiencing before I changed my battery.

[walt101786]

i would say that u could get urself a battery warmer device that could help to warm ur battery over night and during the day u could start it and see if it works....in any normal conditions, normally battery do not like to be cold....so therefore if ur area gets pretty cold..like under 0 degree...then yes i would go get myself a battery warmer device....if that dont work then just get a new battery and there u go...

[MadMax]

I've had the same issues, just trying to stretch the life of this battery as far as I can.

It's worse if the car sits for several days, but usually it's just bad in the mornings and while it is cold here, it's nowhere near as cold as it is there!

My battery is over four years old with 25K miles on it. I'm sure it won't last much longer...

Cheers! M2

[nookandcrannycar]

I've had the same issues, just trying to stretch the life of this battery as far as I can.

It's worse if the car sits for several days, but usually it's just bad in the mornings and while it is cold here, it's nowhere near as cold as it is there!

My battery is over four years old with 25K miles on it. I'm sure it won't last much longer...

Cheers! M2

^^^^^ This. I had the same mindset (trying to stretch the life of the battery as far as I could) for both my OEM battery and my first replacement battery. I took this ideal too far with my OEM battery (138K+ miles and 2 years 11 1/2 months) getting within a couple of miles of the car not running. With my second battery, I bought a '1 year' (re guarantee) battery because I thought I might sell my Yaris and buy the last new 2nd Gen Yaris I could find (I didn't like the initial drawings, etc. I saw of the 3rd Gen). As the second battery lasted past two years, I decided to have 3 years as a goal. When I hit exactly 3 years (and about 87k miles), I decided to replace it. During that 3 year period I read posts from triniper4mance and several other yarisworld members re feeling that they liked how their cars drove after replacing the battery each year, a sort of preventative maintenance measure. I decided to put another '1 year' battery in at the 3 year mark. I didn't think that battery (first replacement for the OEM) would last another year.

I still have my OEM sound system in my Yaris. I have a JL Audio/Kenwood Excelon system (including back up sets of unused speakers) in storage in California (from a past car of mine). I'm kind of on the fence re eventually putting this in my current Yaris or saving it for a new 3rd Gen Yaris. Wherever it goes, I'll do a 'Big 3' and almost anything else that would help the overall level of performance I'd seek. I have a feeling I'd be quite tempted to tax battery reserve power pretty regularly after getting the equipment installed :biggrin:.

[fnkngrv]

Also have you cleaned the terminals as of late by chance? I also did experience that I believe the second winter I owned mine and did the whole terminal cleaning and such which made all the difference in the world. It was so weird too cause it only gave me problems when I dipped below 10F.

[nookandcrannycar]

Also have you cleaned the terminals as of late by chance? I also did experience that I believe the second winter I owned mine and did the whole terminal cleaning and such which made all the difference in the world. It was so weird too cause it only gave me problems when I dipped below 10F.

Good point.

[Bluevitz-rs]

VERY easy test. All you need is a volt meter. If the battery drops below 9V while cranking on your first start of the day, it's done.

On my Echo the factory security locks the doors as the key is turned to ON with all the doors closed and unlocks when the key is turned back off. Two years ago the doors stopped unlocking and it was because the battery was dropping to a point that the system would reset after locking the doors. I put in a good battery and the problem went away.

[WeeYari]

VERY easy test. All you need is a volt meter. If the battery drops below 9V while cranking on your first start of the day, it's done.

Warm day test: 15c

Twist and release works normally.

Battery at rest: 13.5v
Battery on crank: 10v

Now to wait for it to turn cold outside again.

[WeeYari]

6 months after posting this, my battery did indeed die. Morning temperatures are now at where they were when the problem manifested itself. With the new battery, I can happily report that the engine once again catches immediately with twist and release of the key.

So, to echo what others had said and now from personal experience, I'd say that this is definitely a battery issue. If you are starting to experience the need to hold the key while cranking, you can assume that your battery is on it's way out. Deal with it soon! I didn't, and found myself stranded under less than ideal circumstances.

[nookandcrannycar]

6 months after posting this, my battery did indeed die. Morning temperatures are now at where they were when the problem manifested itself. With the new battery, I can happily report that the engine once again catches immediately with twist and release of the key.

So, to echo what others had said and now from personal experience, I'd say that this is definitely a battery issue. If you are starting to experience the need to hold the key while cranking, you can assume that your battery is on it's way out. Deal with it soon! I didn't, and found myself stranded under less than ideal circumstances.

Great to know. Even though this wasn't happening yet, I wanted to get a NAPA Legend when my current battery was (IIRC) about 6 months old.....I just couldn't bring myself to replace the battery while it was still under full warranty and still testing as good. I'm now out of warranty (by 2 1/2 months) on the current cheap battery.

[jRoss]

Great to know! I never do the turn release thing but I am going to start. I have had maybe 2 long starts in the year I've had my car, not sure if I should worry.