Why is my battery out at 40K

[Murfe]

I wonder if it ate too much mud?

I believe it may have. oops.

 

[philsey]

Shut up. Jerk. :clap2:

Reported.

 

[alnem1126]

I bought my truck brand new from the dealer September 2011. Going on 6 years with my stock battery with no issues so far.

 

[e60ral]

I bought my truck brand new from the dealer September 2011. Going on 6 years with my stock battery with no issues so far.

you should replace it before next winter, you are past the life of your battery

 

[alnem1126]

you should replace it before next winter, you are past the life of your battery

This is actually my plan for this summer.

 

[flyrv9]

About 25 years ago I bought one of those roll around battery chargers from what is now Costco. I use it all the time to charge the batteries in various vehicles, lawn mowers etc. Best $50 I've spent in a long time.

Many years ago I worked in a service station for the summer. They had a Snap-on battery - starter tester. Connected to the vehicle it would read battery output, alternator output and charging rate. Also, you could crank in a load to how the electrical / charging system handled it. Many batteries will check good until loaded down.

 

[OkieMedic]

The factory Panasonic battery in my 07 FJ was still going strong when I sold it back in 2015. I wish there was a place to buy them here.

 

[Jetboy]

After a few days of driving it seems to hold a charge well overnight. Starts normally. So either I have a battery that won't hold a charge long term, or a some type of slow drain. I'm thinking it may be a slow parasitic loss from either the winch solenoids or my 12 Anderson style stub out. The 12v Anderson connector in the grill tends to get a lot of corrosion due to the fact that I soldered it to copper wires. Lead plus copper and salty/wet roads = corrosion buildup. Enough of that plus some salt and humidity and I think it could be enough to cause a slow drain on the battery. I think I'll give it a baking soda and scrub and test the solenoids and see what happens. Unfortunately it's a tricky thing to test without leaving it for a couple weeks.

 

[philsey]

[MENTION=118321]Jetboy[/MENTION] Why don't you just go to an Autozone and get the battery tested? Haven't you put it on a charger? Surely a guy with all your tools has a charger.

:lookout:

 

[1engineer]

After a few days of driving it seems to hold a charge well overnight. Starts normally. So either I have a battery that won't hold a charge long term, or a some type of slow drain. I'm thinking it may be a slow parasitic loss from either the winch solenoids or my 12 Anderson style stub out. The 12v Anderson connector in the grill tends to get a lot of corrosion due to the fact that I soldered it to copper wires. Lead plus copper and salty/wet roads = corrosion buildup. Enough of that plus some salt and humidity and I think it could be enough to cause a slow drain on the battery. I think I'll give it a baking soda and scrub and test the solenoids and see what happens. Unfortunately it's a tricky thing to test without leaving it for a couple weeks.

Use Coca Cola. Works better.

 

[jspagna1]

I replace the batteries in all my vehicles every 5 years no matter what. I used to by Die Hard but for the last few years have gotten good results with Interstate Batteries. They have been around for years and my mechanic uses them at his shop for replacements as well.

 

[Toffees]

Minihijack coming; but its scary to think what coke can do like cleaning corrosion off of a battery and yet we still drink it. But still, :cheers:

Well, your stomach acid is also highly acidic, so unless you have a gastro issue, it's not that dangerous.

*but if you've got something going on, it can make things worse.

**and if you've got reflux, it's terrible for that, but due to carbonation, not ph

What is even worse is that Coke is used to clean blood from the streets. Also if you put a tooth in a glass of Coke, the tooth gets completely dissolved in 24-hours.

If your teeth are sitting in a glass of soda instead of your mouth, you've got worse problems than dissolution

 

[Toffees]

About 25 years ago I bought one of those roll around battery chargers from what is now Costco. I use it all the time to charge the batteries in various vehicles, lawn mowers etc. Best $50 I've spent in a long time.

Many years ago I worked in a service station for the summer. They had a Snap-on battery - starter tester. Connected to the vehicle it would read battery output, alternator output and charging rate. Also, you could crank in a load to how the electrical / charging system handled it. Many batteries will check good until loaded down.

I had a C172 that read good output until loaded down. Unfortunately that was when I flipped on the strobes after getting takeoff clearance.

We figured that one out, but it was a surprise to say the least.

 

[ToyoDriver]

Are our OEM batteries sealed? I haven't looked.

 

[Jetboy]

[MENTION=118321]Jetboy[/MENTION] Why don't you just go to an Autozone and get the battery tested? Haven't you put it on a charger? Surely a guy with all your tools has a charger.

:lookout:

I do have a charger - but it won't really help me on this one. It's an automatic one - I accidentally backed over my old school analog gauge one a few years ago. The automatic charger won't tell me much. It's minimum charge output is like 2 amps, so below that it wouldn't identify a fault - and my fault is probably quite a bit lower than 2 amps. My old analog charger would have been a lot more handy.

I'll probably have toyota test it. I'm due for an oil change so I'll probably do it in the next week or so.

 

[Jetboy]

Use Coca Cola. Works better.

I thought the corrosion was acidic - so a base would be better for neutralizing the acid. I've always used baking soda or ammonia. Plus it foams - so it must be fixing it right? Regular water probably works too - but how much fun is regular water?

 

[cbreze]

I like the Panasonic battery my 2012 SR5 came with. Is this the standard replacement Toyota uses in their service departments? It's been great since new but I don't drive it as much as some people so it's more of a time issue than a mileage one. I always make sure the water is up to the proper level. Or is Coca Cola better ?

 

[Lester Lugnut]

The factory Panasonic battery in my 07 FJ was still going strong when I sold it back in 2015. I wish there was a place to buy them here.

Me too. I had an internet conversation with someone from Panasonic USA a few years ago. They are not available in the U. S.

The True Start dealer replacements are junk.

 

[e60ral]

If you are in NC I've got a 1 year old Panasonic battery I just removed

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

 

[Lester Lugnut]

I like the Panasonic battery my 2012 SR5 came with. Is this the standard replacement Toyota uses in their service departments? It's been great since new but I don't drive it as much as some people so it's more of a time issue than a mileage one. I always make sure the water is up to the proper level. Or is Coca Cola better ?

It is not. As mentioned above the dealer sells a Toyota battery branded as "True Start". They are nothing but junk.