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Old 09-03-2013, 12:19 PM   #1
Outdoorsman
 
Drives: 2010 Yaris Sedan
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Battery keeps going dead

Hello All,

I just recently purchased a used 2010 Yaris Sedan from a local Toyota dealership, and I was excited to get this car as I really love how it drives and the fuel efficiency, but the warranty had just expired at the time I purchased this car and now over the last couple of weeks I have had the battery die twice in the car, with this morning being the second time this happened and I had to drive my wife to work.

I don't have any accessories plugged up in the car and the radio is stock that came with the car, so I don't think I have anything that would be causing an electrical drain. The first time I had this happen, the battery was dead with a voltage of 11.5v, so I took it to Auto Zone and they recharged the battery for me thankfully, did a load test on the battery and said it was good. After installing the battery in the car, I drove it up to AutoZone to have them do a check of the alternator, and that all checked out, and I can confirm with the volt meter that I am getting a charge level voltage to the battery, so it appears the alternator is working.

So this morning about a week since the battery died the first time, my wife tried to start the car, and the same problem happened again. She drove it home just fine last night, and then this morning it is not starting. The battery does run the starter, just there is not enough juice to do anything and the starter just clicks. I am going to purchase a new battery to see if that solves the problem, as maybe this battery that is currently in it is just bad, and I'm hoping that is all it is, but honestly I'm feeling pretty sour at the moment that I just bought a fairly new car and I'm already saddled with car trouble already! :( The battery that is in it has a 2011 manufacture date and it is not the original battery, so hopefully it is just a defective battery.

If it turns out this new battery dies and I have this same problem, does anyone here have any ideas of what this might be, and has this come up in the forums before? Are there known issues that I should investigate? As a new Yaris owner, I'm not sure what I should be looking for just yet, and since the nearest dealership is out of town, I want to see what I can fix myself before having to take the car all the way over there and deal with that hassle.

Any thoughts or tips are much appreciated, and I have really enjoyed reading in the forums thus far, as this seems to be such a helpful place! :)
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Old 09-03-2013, 12:35 PM   #2
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When buying a used car you just don't know if the battery took some abuse in its past life. Every time someone leaves their lights on damage is done to the battery and over time that results in a significant reduction to a battery's life. Also, the Yaris has a higher static drain than many other cars, so leaving one parked for more than a couple of weeks without driving it can leave it discharged enough to not be able to start.

I recommend replacing the current battery, but also taking a measurement of the static draw while installing the new one. This would involve using a multimeter in ammeter mode to measure the current that the car draws from the battery with the key in the off position. This would allow you to verify that the static draw is normal (under approximately 150mA). If it is higher than that, there is the potential that the last owner had installed something that is constantly drawing power from the battery.
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Old 09-03-2013, 10:53 PM   #3
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Ok, so I got a new Duralast battery from AutoZone this afternoon, and here is some data taken with my Fluke multimeter:

12.74v - Reading taken on the battery brand new before installing it
12.714v - Reading taken after connecting the terminals inside the car
14.290v - Reading taken while the car is running, so the alternator seems to be working
12.84v - Reading taken after driving around town doing some errands
12.846v - Final reading taken tonight before going to bed

Additionally, I tested Amp readings between the negative terminal on the battery and the negative cable to see if I had any kind of vampire load eating my battery. Here is what I found from my initial tests:

.220A - When the leads from the multimeter are first connected
.186A - About two seconds later
.113A - About five seconds later
.0073A - After right at 60 seconds, this was the reading I got and where it stayed for any subsequent readings up to 10 minutes later

I noticed that after I reached a resting reading of .0073A, that ever other second when the little red light at the front left of the dash would light up, that the multimeter would jump up to around roughly .0102 when lit, then return to the normal reading of .0073 approximately. There is +/- .0005 adjustment in the readings but the normal values are the ones I posted.

So based on what I'm seeing, does it seem I have a parasitic/vampire circuit someplace, or do these numbers seem normal? I am going to take voltage readings twice a day for the next couple weeks to see if I can get a profile of the battery and find it being drawn down or not. Also, as a point of reference, I bought the car on 8/13 used from a Toyota dealership, and then the battery first went dead 13 days later on the 26th, and then eight days later on 9/2 it died again, so I think if it is going to kill my battery it should happen within 14 days or so, so I am going to keep a very close eye on it to see what happens day by day. Also, for a control source, I'm going to also profile my truck battery at the same times to see what kind of variance I'm getting to help me establish a "normal" baseline"! LOL

Just wanted to provide lots of numbers for those reading in case someone else out there is having or has the same issue, and will have reference values to compare with, so that if I can resolve my problem, maybe it will be of help to someone else on the forum. Thanks for your response and help CTScott! :)

Last edited by Outdoorsman; 09-03-2013 at 11:08 PM.
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Old 09-03-2013, 11:12 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Outdoorsman View Post
Ok, so I got a new Duralast battery from AutoZone this afternoon, and here is some data taken with my Fluke multimeter:

12.74v - Reading taken on the battery brand new before installing it
12.714v - Reading taken after connecting the terminals inside the car
14.290v - Reading taken while the car is running, so the alternator seems to be working
12.84v - Reading taken after driving around town doing some errands
12.846v - Final reading taken tonight before going to bed

Additionally, I tested Amp readings between the negative terminal on the battery and the negative cable to see if I had any kind of vampire load eating my battery. Here is what I found from my initial tests:

.220A - When the leads from the multimeter are first connected
.186A - About two seconds later
.113A - About five seconds later
.0073A - After right at 60 seconds, this was the reading I got and where it stayed for any subsequent readings up to 10 minutes later

I noticed that after I reached a resting reading of .0073A, that ever other second when the little red light at the front left of the dash would light up, that the multimeter would jump up to around roughly .0102 when lit, then return to the normal reading of .0073 approximately. There is +/- .0005 adjustment in the readings but the normal values are the ones I posted.

So based on what I'm seeing, does it seem I have a parasitic/vampire circuit someplace, or do these numbers seem normal? I am going to take voltage readings twice a day for the next couple weeks to see if I can get a profile of the battery and find it being drawn down or not. Also, as a point of reference, I bought the car on 8/13 used from a Toyota dealership, and then the battery first went dead 13 days later on the 26th, and then eight days later on 9/2 it died again, so I think if it is going to kill my battery it should happen within 14 days or so, so I am going to keep a very close eye on it to see what happens day by day. Also, for a control source, I'm going to also profile my truck battery at the same times to see what kind of variance I'm getting to help me establish a "normal" baseline"! LOL

Just wanted to provide lots of numbers for those reading in case someone else out there is having or has the same issue, and will have reference values to compare with, so that if I can resolve my problem, maybe it will be of help to someone else on the forum. Thanks for your response and help CTScott! :)
Those numbers look good for the static draw. With proper care, your new battery should last 4+ years.
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Old 09-04-2013, 12:21 AM   #5
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What else is connected to the battery and alternator in the stock vehicle? The starter perhaps?

is it feasible that something in the starter is draining the battery?
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Old 09-04-2013, 06:11 AM   #6
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What else is connected to the battery and alternator in the stock vehicle? The starter perhaps?

is it feasible that something in the starter is draining the battery?
No. It is not the starter. What he is seeing for static draw is normal for the ECM and the Body ECU, which are both alive when the ignition is off.
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Old 09-09-2013, 04:43 PM   #7
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does you yaris sedan have remote start installed ? my car will drain the battery after a week or so when i store it while on vacation i have learned that all remote start units have a constant draw on the battery at all times i need to to put a switch on the power line for the remote start to end this problem .
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