kodiak issues...bflan, kingpin, need your input

L

ladywolf

New member
So, if i've got the fridge in the truck, or without the fridge in the truck, its getting to the point where if i leave the truck sit untouched for over 24 hours or so, the main battery is dead and i'm having to use the aux battery to start the truck. had the batteries tested yesterday at my dealer....main battery is 75% and aux is at 50%....and they arent even a year old yet. WTF???? Any advice, see if i can warrantee them? Both batteries when they got tested yesterday were sitting at around 12V.

I'm thinking between the CCA and whatever else.....these batteries arent just cutting it now.

Idea is: Find a main sized battery, figure out an alternate place to install the kodiak kit, and have my neighbo up the road mod me out a tray to install another small battery, but my questions with this are:

how is this going to affect alternator and in general electrical system? The batteries are in parallel so I know its not really affecting anything, but I want to make sure I'm not creating more problems than I'm solving. The other alternative....run a stock sized battery and install an aux in the cargo area. :dammit::sniper::lightsaber:
 
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ladywolf said:
So, if i've got the fridge in the truck, or without the fridge in the truck, its getting to the point where if i leave the truck sit untouched for over 24 hours or so, the main battery is dead and i'm having to use the aux battery to start the truck. had the batteries tested yesterday at my dealer....main battery is 75% and aux is at 50%....and they arent even a year old yet. WTF???? Any advice, see if i can warrantee them? Both batteries when they got tested yesterday were sitting at around 12V.

I'm thinking between the CCA and whatever else.....these batteries arent just cutting it now.

Idea is: Find a main sized battery, figure out an alternate place to install the kodiak kit, and have my neighbo up the road mod me out a tray to install another small battery, but my questions with this are:

how is this going to affect alternator and in general electrical system? The batteries are in parallel so I know its not really affecting anything, but I want to make sure I'm not creating more problems than I'm solving. The other alternative....run a stock sized battery and install an aux in the cargo area. :dammit::sniper::lightsaber:
Click to expand...

Interesting.... I have the same set up but had no issues yet. Yvan (Owner of Kodiak Industries) told me you want make sure you drive the truck almost everyday otherwise these battery's will die quick... not sure thats your issue though.

I would call him: 408 591 1029

He has been extremely helpful with some issues I had when I first installed the system.

Good luck, curious to see what the outcome is please keep us posted.
 
That is odd, from what I heard those are great batteries. You may have a draw on the batteries that you dont know about, ie something is pulling power from them when the car is off and draining them down. I dont know a lot about the Kodiak kit, I installed Sam's but dont really know the details with it and dont know if you can use the system with different batteries. I would assume you could but would check with Kodiak first. I think its best to have two of the same batteries but it really does not matter.

Before I buy anything I would check with either Kodiak or Odyssey and see if you cant get those replaced under warranty. They should just send you two new batteries.
 
phillyd2 said:
Is this the case with all duel battery systems?
Click to expand...

It all depends on your setup, your use, etc... I cant say to be honest. All I do know is that Kodiak highly recommends regular use of the truck with their dual battery setup to promote and longer lasting life of the batteries.

Back to Ladywolf: I think this is a question of monitoring to find the solution...?

If you have dual batteries and have accessories connected, you need to know what's going on. Many vehicles alternators struggle with supplying enough charge for extra accessories as they are designed to cope with the vehicles system only. The only way to tell would be to fit a "monitoring gauge". See image attached:

I'm very curious to your outcome, so please keep me posted.
 

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I haven't had any issue with my setup. I've left it for a few days in an airport parking lot with out issue. Are you sure it's hooked up right and there are no drains?
 
The reason I decided against the Kodiak/Odyssey kit was because my experience with similar smaller Odyssey batteries in another vehicle was that they don't have anywhere near the capacity of many other typical size batteries--the fact that you can fit two batteries into the footprint where one regular-sized battery normally resides is a good clue of their limited capability. I don't think that most of the various options differ much in their constitution--these are all variations of the same lead/acid concept--thus unless you can get NiMH or some other type of battery, you shouldn't expect a smaller battery to outdo a larger one. My dual battery set up uses an Optima yellow top as the 2nd battery. I still am using my original battery for my main. I have no problem going for several days without starting the engine and my fridge is running at about 37 deg. F the whole time. It may be that my IBS controller is doing a better job than the Kodiak, but since it should have little to do with decharging of the aux. battery other than isolating it from the main battery, I doubt it.

Cheers,
Greg
 
libido said:
The reason I decided against the Kodiak/Odyssey kit was because my experience with similar smaller Odyssey batteries in another vehicle was that they don't have anywhere near the capacity of many other typical size batteries--the fact that you can fit two batteries into the footprint where one regular-sized battery normally resides is a good clue of their limited capability. I don't think that most of the various options differ much in their constitution--these are all variations of the same lead/acid concept--thus unless you can get NiMH or some other type of battery, you shouldn't expect a smaller battery to outdo a larger one. My dual battery set up uses an Optima yellow top as the 2nd battery. I still am using my original battery for my main. I have no problem going for several days without starting the engine and my fridge is running at about 37 deg. F the whole time. It may be that my IBS controller is doing a better job than the Kodiak, but since it should have little to do with decharging of the aux. battery other than isolating it from the main battery, I doubt it.

Cheers,
Greg
Click to expand...

Let's just keep in mind here that there is only one person with an issue with the setup. Those two "smaller" batteries have a footprint significantly larger than that of the stock battery and shouldn't be discharging in two days. I can run my fridge for 2 days and still start it.
 
I've been having the issue for quite awhile. It got to the point that I just completely removed the ARB fridge and left the truck parked. After a day and a half it stumbled on start. I know i've got the system wired correct. I did the troubleshooting when I first got it with Kodiak, when I had the connector that clips into the drivers footwell fusebox in the wrong slot. It ran great for a couple of months, then the weather got warm and the reliability went to snot. I had the truck parked from about 130 yesterday till just before 6 when i went home, and it wouldnt start. I had to use the aux battery, and the weather didnt get above 75, with the windows cracked and ventilation. I'm currently waiting on a call back from Kodiak.
 
I'm not sure. The husband and I removed the fridge and had gone on a couple of different smaller road trips, but were a couple of hours a piece. I would think this would have been more than enough time to recharge the batteries.

I sat this morning waiting for people to show up to work with the truck on for over an hour running, after a 20 minute drive into work. had the windows open all day, due to it being cool and nice. Truck sat for 3.5 hours this afternoon and barely started so I could drive home.

When I tested the batteries the other day, they were both sitting at around 12.8V
 
Measure the voltage while the vehicle is running to determine if the alternator is able to keep up with charging. While charging your voltage should be above 14.
 
I wanted to respond to this. You need to determine your electrical load, but in general, it sounds like your charging system cannot handle the overall load...

this is an alternator. No matter what battery you install, if your charging system (alternator) cannot handle it; batteries will always die quickly. One of the first after market installs I would do on a trail rig is a new, higher capacity alternator. Lights, fridges, compressors... they all quickly overload the charging capacity of a car.

Consider that an alternator is not a generator. A generator and an alternator are similar but different. A generator is set to run at a static load, usually, and once you cycle the generator's engine up to operating RPM; the electrical production is constant.

An alternator in comparison is a variable electrical production, determined by engine speed. You usually don't start producing more than your car consumes until you reach a higher rpm. At idle, you are either in the hole or perhaps dead even.

This is why I know a ton of city folk, who do nothing but city driving here in D.C.; will every now and then walk out to a car that won't start. It is good when you live in, and mainly drive around, a city to get up on the highway and run for a bit.


TL;DR. A fridge... an additional compressor... I would suggest a newer, higher duty alternator.
 
I think you may just have a bad battery. Get both batteries load tested, I bet your main bat is done. Also if you have a Fluke (multimeter, measures volts, amps, ohms, etc) test to see what the voltage is coming from the alternator to your main battery. There is a wire that is going to your main battery that charges your bats, that should be around 14.0 volts give or take. If this is low, then you need to take to Toyota under warranty for a new alternator (unless the give you sh*t about having dual bats).

Let us know what you find out.
 
I tested the batteries while at idle tonight and both are charging at 13.2 volts, and with 1200+/- RPMS the voltage never changed. As a benchmark, we checked the voltage on our 2500HD duramax, both batteries were charging at 14.2-14.4. What voltage are your batteries charging at? Also does anyone have and links for a high output alternator. Mean Green doesnt make one yet......

Thanks for the help
 
It sounds like your alternator may not be up to snuff for that set up. The fridge alone shouldn't draw your battery down that fast. Is the fridge kept mostly full? Cooling air in a mostly empty fridge seems to draw much more power than maintaining one cold that is mostly filled with solids and liquids. If you fill in the empty space in your fridge with more stuff (obviously beer would be ideal), it should help at least a little. A fridge cover that is insulated also should help quite a bit. Is there anything else in your vehicle other than the fridge that may be draining the battery? Have you considered adding a solar panel--I don't know if the Kodiak system is compatible with this but the National Luna and IBS systems can work with this to help extend your battery life while the vehicle is parked.
 
Yea the fridge is kept pretty full as it has drinks and lunch for me and the husband during the day. We have the battery saver on the fridge set to low, and here it really hasnt been to warm during the days. As for other power draws, everything inside the 4runner is on switched power from the igniton. THe only thing that is wired directly to the battery is the fridge.
 
also, when I called kodiak today, being as the only "local" odyssey battery dealer is a batteries plus...and apparently odyssey doesnt have the best working relationship with them, the guy at kodiak is giving odyssey a call tomorrow to find me someone who can test the batteries with a "odyssey" battery tester. If indeed the batteries are bad, apparently batteries plus will not warantee them. something to do with their deal with odyssey, i dunno.
 
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