Battery died while car was still running.

[hkcj]

Check just about any forum on the internet and there will be a dead battery, telltales, warning lights, christmas tree, etc thread...Welcome to the 21st century. your #1 defense against this stuff is to keep you vehicleon a tender when not in use. At least you start with a full charge and a battery that has not been compromised...all of my batteries last 5+ years this way......last one I changed was a 6 yr old battery in a Maserati..ah yes, my 2020 Stelvio battery died in August. It was a 2019 battery and vehicle had 32K miles...... tenders are cheap insurance but if I were to do what you folks do, I would get a NOCO back up jumper......at least I always have cables...............

In the absolutely worse case, we drive this car every second day, so there hasn't really been any need for us to even think about getting a tender. Plus this is a 9 month old car. We do at least have a jumper charger, but that wasn't the point for this post, the battery shouldn't have failed in the first place when the engine is running and should be charging itself.

 

[hkcj]

To add to Run-8's post.......... I have a 2020 Tacoma, issues with the OEM battery replaced it and no issues for the last 3 years, Problem with the 2024 LC battery going flat very quickly, replaced it no issues since, well except that one time at band camp......lol

Alright, I'll be calling into the dealership and have them look at the battery as well when I go in for a check up at the end of this month.

 

[hkcj]

Hate to say it but one area Toyota does cheap out is stock OEM batteries. Almost all the parts Toyota or their suppliers produce are top top quality, but some bean counter somewhere has decided they will buy the chintziest wet cell starting batteries, with the absolute bare minimum cranking and cold cranking amps.

No one has ever regretted upgrading the starting battery in a vehicle to a higher quality, higher cranking amp, and higher cold cranking amp unit.

Sigh.....I'm just glad that there is a forum I can turn to to ask about all this. I love my car, but I am absolutely new to all this.

 

[RUN-8]

Going to call up the dealership to add that to the list of things to check when we bring it in at the end of the month, and pray that nothing else fails in the meantime....

If you had any kind of computer or sensor damage, or any blown fuses the instrument panel and probably the infotainment screen would be lit up like a Christmas tree yelling at you about it.

The most likely solution is a new battery. I would predict a 90%+ chance this resolves the issue entirely, particularly in conjunction with opting for the vehicle to stay running past the 1 hour mark when it detects being put in park with the ignition on.

The sad fact is even way back in 2005 when I worked for a Toyota dealership brand new vehicles on the lot would get dead batteries. Usually the defective ones show themselves pretty early in life.

 

[Sugarloafer80]

In the absolutely worse case, we drive this car every second day, so there hasn't really been any need for us to even think about getting a tender. Plus this is a 9 month old car. We do at least have a jumper charger, but that wasn't the point for this post, the battery shouldn't have failed in the first place when the engine is running and should be charging itself.

It can be a new car ..every other day good...unless you live with seat heaters on etc......but I have no other answer for why it died when running...was it running. Hybrid shuts ICE tself down a lot...that and a battery with a weak cell can spell DEAD.

 

[hkcj]

If you had any kind of computer or sensor damage, or any blown fuses the instrument panel and probably the infotainment screen would be lit up like a Christmas tree yelling at you about it.

The most likely solution is a new battery. I would predict a 90%+ chance this resolves the issue entirely, particularly in conjunction with opting for the vehicle to stay running past the 1 hour mark when it detects being put in park with the ignition on.

The sad fact is even way back in 2005 when I worked for a Toyota dealership brand new vehicles on the lot would get dead batteries. Usually the defective ones show themselves pretty early in life.

Mmm....that dash did light up, and cycled through quite a few messages too for about 200km of driving before calming back down. Couldn't use the cruise control during that time as well. Just called in and told the dealership about the two new issues of battery and seats, so its now on the list of things to check.

 

[hkcj]

It can be a new car ..every other day good...unless you live with seat heaters on etc......but I have no other answer for why it died when running...was it running. Hybrid shuts ICE tself down a lot...that and a battery with a weak cell can spell DEAD.

ya, that's why we were so confused as to how and why the battery went flat. I guess the blessing is that we found this out while the car is still in warranty, so hopefully it'll be fixed during our next checkup, even if it just means changing a new battery.

 

[EOD Guy]

ya, that's why we were so confused as to how and why the battery went flat. I guess the blessing is that we found this out while the car is still in warranty, so hopefully it'll be fixed during our next checkup, even if it just means changing a new battery.

If they offer to replace the OEM battery under warranty, you might consider asking for the HD version and pay the difference. It has been my experience that low voltage in the LC will make all kind of things act wonky.

 

[hkcj]

If they offer to replace the OEM battery under warranty, you might consider asking for the HD version and pay the difference. It has been my experience that low voltage in the LC will make all kind of things act wonky.

Will do! Thanks!

 

[Mikie]

Will do! Thanks!

If you do get the upgraded Toyota battery -- can you let us know what battery (or part number) they installed? And what the upgrade charge was, if any. Would be very helpful to others that are considering an upgrade.

Thanks!

 

[hkcj]

If you do get the upgraded Toyota battery -- can you let us know what battery (or part number) they installed? And what the upgrade charge was, if any. Would be very helpful to others that are considering an upgrade.

Thanks!

Absolutely fair! I'll be going in on the 26th of Nov, so still some time yet, but I will try to remember to update this thread afterwards so that there'll be a record.

 

[GBee]

I tried to ask this on reddit first, but all I got were attacks, I rather someone explain things to me.....

So tonight, the husband and I decided we needed some music while cooking on the fire, so we started up the car, had it running, not just ignition on, and blared to our hearts content. Unfortunately, the car decided to die on us mid pink flyod jamming - battery depleted. So now, the car won't turn on, the back door was open wide, and we were in the middle of the forest at night.

We had our jump starter, so that's not a problem. The problem is how did we even get into this problem in the first place?! The car was RUNNING! the battery should have kept recharging itself!

I had to manually close the back door, which I'm told by one of the more sensible redditor that its because the motor loses its memory when the car dies....wtf?!

I'm just utterly baffled right now, can someone please explain where I might have gone wrong?

Food for thought... If you buy a better 12V battery OEM. I would keep the old one to fully charge it, and keep it in your LC for next trip to the forest. Just in case that you will need a jump start again.

 

[FLYNLO]

If you are going to replace the battery and it is not covered under warranty(which I doubt), I would HIGHLY recommend you look into Odyssey batteries. I am new to this LC thing but I am not new to batteries. The VAST majority of batteries are made by two or three companies…and we all know where those are located. Some batteries are kinda ok, some are not. Optima used to be excellent when owned by Johnson Controls, but they are no longer and it shows. Odyssey is made by Odyssey. Here in the US and in France. I have owned big boats all of my life and the lifeblood and comfort on a boat relies heavily on the batteries….LOTS of them. The only thing that comes close to their performance is 6v golf cart batteries wired in series. Not sure you could pull that off provided the footprint of this battery. I have had a set of Odyssey batteries lasted 11 years on a boat….and they get tortured in marine use. Movement on all three axes. Salt water environment. Deep Cycling. SITTING doing nothing. Large appliances and inverters running off of them. They are expensive, but worth every single penny. They also usually have a significantly higher CCA rating…and even a time limited “over-amp” discharge for heavier duty. There is a very good chance the Toyota HD battery will cost almost as much. I would expect to pay $400 for a replacement Odyssey….and that is just a WAG but I am sure I am close. Good luck!

 

[BlueCruiser]

After you use the jump starter to start the vehicle, just charge it back up with the inverter.

 

[JoeDirt]

As others have said, I'm 90% sure your 12V has gone bad. I had this happen to me a few weeks ago at a sporting event after running on accessory mode for maybe 15 minutes. Fortunately, I had my NOCO jump pack in the LC, easy startup...but it did throw the same warnings you're experiencing (check engine, see dealer, no cruise control, etc...). I later learned from the service manager that this is all normal following a battery jump. My 12V failed the load test, they replaced it under warranty with a different Toyota-branded battery, reset all the codes, and so far, so good. In fact, as @EOD Guy said earlier, things seem to be working better (less wonky) than they have for the past several months. So I was probably on a slow steady decline and wasn't even aware... until it pooped itself. Your dealer should get you sorted in no time...a few hours max.

 

[t3lcfe]

After you use the jump starter to start the vehicle, just charge it back up with the inverter.

“After you use the jump starter to start the vehicle, just charge it back up with the inverter. ”…. And ready for next jump start soon
Damn OEM died at least close to a dozen times. Believe or not, when I go to the woods…I carry 2 jump starters and jump start cables which can connect to my 2000 Jackery ! Every time now working on my LC…I have to watch out that damn battery drain

 

[hkcj]

As others have said, I'm 90% sure your 12V has gone bad. I had this happen to me a few weeks ago at a sporting event after running on accessory mode for maybe 15 minutes. Fortunately, I had my NOCO jump pack in the LC, easy startup...but it did throw the same warnings you're experiencing (check engine, see dealer, no cruise control, etc...). I later learned from the service manager that this is all normal following a battery jump. My 12V failed the load test, they replaced it under warranty with a different Toyota-branded battery, reset all the codes, and so far, so good. In fact, as @EOD Guy said earlier, things seem to be working better (less wonky) than they have for the past several months. So I was probably on a slow steady decline and wasn't even aware... until it pooped itself. Your dealer should get you sorted in no time...a few hours max.

I've got my 50,000km service check coming up, I'll have to doa load tetst on the battery just to make sure. Thanks for the reminder!