Quick back story: I was out washing the T4R and my wife's car the other day and ran the stereo in my truck for about 30-45 minutes (in party mode with rear door open). Shortly thereafter I got in the 4Runner to head out for an appointment only to get just a clicking sound when I tried to start the engine. It seemed to me I should be able to run the stereo at least that long, if not longer without killing the battery. I even tried waiting a short time and trying again with all power draws turned off. I made sure stereo, A/C blower fan, inside lights and headlights were all off, same problem. So, I decided it was time to replace the battery with a higher powered battery.

After much research I narrowed it down to either the Odyssey or Northstar AGM type batteries in the stock size of a group 24f battery. I was an Optima battery fan but read quite a few places that they are not as good as they used to be, also, apparently Sears has discontinued the DieHard "Platinum" series, which was another top choice initially. Finally, I discovered that the Batteries Plus "X2 Power" battery is essentially a rebranded Northstar battery. With an online coupon it was a significant savings to buy the Batteries Plus version online. I was also able to pick it up locally and it has a decent 5 year warranty. I have only had the new battery for a couple of weeks now but it seems pretty awesome so far.

So, the second reason I wanted to create this post was to draw attention to some additional steps that were required after changing the battery. Apparently, if your 5th Gen T4R is without battery power long enough, at the least some power window functions may have to be reset. I had not seen this information anywhere before so I thought it might be useful to put this out there. It started a couple of days after changing the battery when my passenger side front window and both rear windows wouldn't operate from the drivers side switch panel. At first I assumed it must be a fuse problem and I fumbled around checking the matching fuses under the dash for a while and even went ahead and replaced a couple. I have to give a big shout out to the young man behind the counter at the local Advanced Auto Parts. He put me on the trail of the actual problem. It turns out you have to go to each switch on each of the four doors and hold the switch down until the window goes down, then hold it for a few seconds, and then do the same thing holding it in the up position until it is up and holding the switch up for a few seconds again. This seemed to reset the windows and now all is well.

I also read somewhere here on the forum that is it also useful to let the engine idle for a few minutes with all electrical draws turned off after changing the battery to help reset the ECU and allow it to subsequently "relearn" your particular driving habits. Unfortunately, I didn't see that information until several days after I changed the battery so I don't think that step is likely to help me now.

If anyone knows more about this or wants to add additional details or corrections, please chime in. Anyway, I hope these couple of tips help out anyone considering a battery change in the near future.

Agreed, I had the same issue on my t4r and the OEM battery was only about 1 year old.

I installed a second battery (sears diehard platinum) and fixed that issue.

Well this totally sucks, I guess being owned by Kmart is finally catching up to them. What's next..the craftsman line of tools will discontinued?

Im curious what the group thinks is the best battery available now as well.

I have read this someplace, but did not experience that issue.

I have not read this before.....I would think if it needed to 'learn' your driving habits. it wouldn't really matter if it was reset or not. If it needs to learn them I would think that it would be a continual on going process, it's not like it would learn them once and then just shut it down, but I am not an expert.

I'm not sure why it would need to learn driving habits at all. I'm curious what would it do with that information and how could that help the driver? or what if you shared the car with your spouse...how would that work?

The issue with the windows exists all the way back to at least 2006 on some of Toyota's cars. My '06 Avalon's windows require a reset procedure similar to what's mentioned in the 1st post.

Batteries are like motor oil. You'll find an equal number of supporters and detractors for any brand out there. In my opinion, today's batteries are the luck of the draw.

A lot of Canadian members on the tacomaworld.com forum swear by Northstar batteries. They may be good, but cost 3x or more what other batteries cost. Are they really going to last 3x or more as long? I would hope so.

Need to know information. Thanks brother.

I would go with a Northstar battery. I'm impressed with the one in my 4th gen.

So, after the online discount and free shipping the Batteries Plus "X2 Power" (re-branded Northstar) battery wasn't even twice what a standard battery would have cost and almost the same price as an Optima. I got the X2 Power model SLI24FAGMDP.

Even if the total life isn't double the OEM battery, if I can run the stereo a little longer and not end up stuck somewhere that will be sufficient RIO for me.

The important trick for me, at least for the door windows was to cycle them up and down from the switch on each door. I just had to do each once and hold them a few seconds after up and down. I don't know if it makes any difference, but on my Trail Edition all four side windows, the rear window and the sunroof all have full auto up and down.

Anyway, the info I found here was in the following two threads:

windows dont work after battery change


Crazy Malfunctions After Battery Change

Blackworks seems to know what they are talking about. Even though it is in the 4th Gen section, it appears to still apply pretty much the same to our 5th gen models too.

My 4R now going on four years old I'm becoming interested in battery threads. No issues yet, but wanting to educate myself. The OEM Panasonic battery I thought was top of the line for longevity. Reading this forum over the years it seems some have gone 8 years or better with that battery.
Would like to hear from those folks who have had good or bad results with it. Do they still put these in the new 4R's ? Upside/downside of Panasonic?
I used to live in the Arizona desert with extremes in heat, even in the garage while parked. I'd replace it down there at 3 years as a regular maintenance item. Now in Central Oregon heat is not a factor and I could most likely relax as far as heat stressed battery issues. Cold in winter, but garage is warm.
If I get stuck and get AAA out to get me going I don't know that I'd want one of their batteries, but could get it to a shop.
Everyone else just wait for it to fail or do you change it out at some interval?
I know there are tons of battery threads, but this seemed like as good as any to post in.

The OEM battery I replaced was indeed a Panasonic, and it had done a good job up until I killed it running the stereo for (what seemed to me) a short amount of time. The heat here in Florida has been brutal the last 2-3 years in particular and I am sure it is a factor. In fact, I had recently replaced my wife's car battery in her Mustang that was just shy of 5 years old with very few miles run, and that was because it flat out died and wouldn't accept a charge at all. I normally try to replace car batteries proactively, I hate getting stuck and needing a jump. The fact that I had not been running the stereo for that long and there were no other symptoms (stereo volume decreasing, A/C blower fan not running etc.) made me paranoid of the OEM batteries overall reliability too. Just my 7 cents (adjusted for inflation).

I used Red top optima for 8 years and finally it died.
I replaced it with walmart value brand $52 after tax and so far it works fine.
Washed my car for an hour with music blasting and all is good.
I figured I`d rather buy 3 cheap walmart batteries than one expensive.

The Panasonic battery is still going strong in my 2007 4runner. I had to jumpstart it once, but then I put a trickle charger on it once, and it's been good ever since then (almost 2 years). It was likely low because I had just bought it used, and it probably sat without being driven for a while before I bought it. Later I lent my charger to someone else with a low battery, but that only lasted a few weeks after charging before they needed to replace it. Trickle charging is worth a try if you're having battery problems since it is cheaper than buying a new battery. Faster charging might work too.

We had to jumpstart a friend's 2014 4runner this weekend even though they didn't do anything that would have drained the battery. The battery is Panasonic, but it looks a little different since it doesn't have the little window on top that mine has. The window in mine is extremely hard to read, but supposedly tells you about the fluid level and state of charge. Mine is "sealed" but you can pop it open and add distilled water if needed. I just checked and they are both group 24 size batteries.

If you're worried about reliability, it's cheaper to get portable jumpstarter and keep it in the trunk than to get a high-end battery. Even cheaper is to get the replacement battery a jumpstart pack uses internally, use it with the jumper cables you already have, and charge it with a small charger.
For example: https://www.amazon.com/Replacement-B...dp/B00BMUJ0RQ/

Or made in China.

you are the man! just got body work done on my wife's car (long story) and the same exact thing happened to her windows. and sure enough they reset by your method. thanks!

For some things I fully stand by this statement. My fly rod, household cleaning products, and t-shirts... absolutely.

Unfortunately, a battery just isn't one of them.

Sure, a dead battery is a dead battery; regardless of brand or cost. But for a piece of equipment that is mandatory in getting my car up and running, I enjoy knowing my battery isn't a piece of junk. Especially when I'm alone, and a solid distance from the nearest area with cell service.

YMMV.

Define Junk? do you base your observations on price? Walmart value battery is just easy flooded type battery that might not serve 8 years as they use less lead ,but it`s fine battery, replace it every other year and I`m sure you`ll be fine. Or install two batteries , probability of both failing at the same time is slim.
You know they make those LIIO booster packs you can use to start your vehicle in dire situations. worth every penny IMO. Or you can build one yourself.

replaced my battery recently and had a situation semi-relevant to this thread and specifically relevant to one of your links above. i posted an update in the linked thread but just realized it's in the 4th Gen subforum so i'm posting/linking here in case it's helpful to any fellow 5th Gen owners.

executive summary: i had to do another ZPC after replacing my battery. (vehicle is lifted)