03 Dead Battery??

[impulsebrklyn]

Went to use my 4runner today to have some problems. First I start off with the alarm going nuts. I get it the car turn the key it clicks but doesnt turn over at the same time the lights on the dash are flickering like crazy. Also here a spartic clicking in the background. Im assuming my battery is dead from these problems. What does everyone else think? Im gonna put my tester on it tommorow. Also isnt it alittle unsual for a 2 and half year old car to have a bad battery? I use the car about once a week. My father also thinks its the battery and isnt all that surprised since I dont use the car much and when I do not for long periods of time. Thanks Chris

 

[Mark86]

It either sounds like a dead battery or maybe the alarm is preventing your truck from starting somehow. It is kind of rare for a battery to go after 2.5 years. If it is your battery, maybe your alarm caused the battery to die (going off all night which causes the lights to flash). A quick way to check if it is the battery is to look at the battery itself. There is a little window on the battery that you can look through and see a colored circle. If the circle is blue, the battery is fine and if it is white, it is dead. If your truck has the Panasonic battery, you will have that meter.

 

[alpha]

It could be the battery or alarm.. I know that when my alarm is going off, I can't start the car. I have to use the key fob to disarm it, as putting in the key would not disarm it. If I'm in the car, and the alarm sets, I have to disarm the system before I can start it as well. But it could also be a dead battery. Rare to see a battery go so quick, but I have seen quicker. I actually went through three batteries in the course of a month with my accord because it didn't get driven or started everyday. With the cold winter and the idea that it maybe got driven once every two weeks and didn't get started just to start it every now and then, the battery died.

 

[TranceKrayz]

IMO it's not rare for the stock battery to go out after 2 years. I had the same problem in my corolla, and so has many of my friends (mostly in toyotas). I don't know what to think of the stock toyota batteries. Are they not designed to last long? Is toyota trying to save some money? I'm waiting for my 03's batteries to die, so I can get a better quality battery.

 

[RickyCRX]

It's not just Toyotas... My '02 Honda S2000 only has 11,500 miles on it and the battery is just about to die. I have an Optima sitting in the garage waiting to go in the car when I get some time. I rarely drive the car, so I'm sure this contributes to the problem quite a bit.

Ricky

IMO it's not rare for the stock battery to go out after 2 years. I had the same problem in my corolla, and so has many of my friends (mostly in toyotas). I don't know what to think of the stock toyota batteries. Are they not designed to last long? Is toyota trying to save some money? I'm waiting for my 03's batteries to die, so I can get a better quality battery.