silvercobra

Hello,

I have a 95 Toyota 4Runner that is going through batteries like they are going out of style. I also have a 2010 Toyota Yaris that I drive 90% of the time, so my Runner no longer gets the attention it used to but I try to drive it a little ways at least once a month. During the winter it was having a hard time starting, would crank for a while before finally kicking over. Once started though it ran fine. Then in December the battery completely died while I was out. The battery was maybe a year old, thought that was strange. Got a new battery and now 4 months later the new battery is dead again. Had my alternator check and it was running fine. I had a sound system hooked up to the battery with a fuse and amp but I have now disconnected that. Anything else that might kill a battery or am I just getting extremely unlucky? I use batteries from Walmart and they said the batteries "need to be replaced" each time. Check engine light is on but that thing comes off and on sporadically since I had to have my headgasket replaced a little over 2 years ago (for the second time.) Pretty high mileage on the vehicle.

Thanks for any advice.

FlamingToast

Just a thought until one of the more seasoned members chimes in. I would grab a multimeter and do a current draw test. There may be something slowly discharging the battery when the vehicle is parked. Winter temperatures will mess up a dead battery in short order. A quick google search should get you a walkthrough on how to do it. If the current draw is excessive you can start pulling fuses one at a time to find which circuit the drain is occuring on.

mrbcyota92

try replacing your connections on the battery terminal? When was the last time you changed your spark plugs?

scope103

"Dead battery" usually means discharged. You get it started (jumpers? Charger?) and drive for about 10 miles, and the battery will be charged. Batteries will self-discharge (to "dead") over a few months, but if you drive it 5 miles once a month that's not the issue. Parasitic draw can cause the battery to drain overnight; you just put an ammeter in the circuit with everything off; the current draw should be less than 100ma or so (enough to keep the clock running.)

But "need to be replaced" means the battery has been damaged, which discharging alone won't do. (I assume you had the battery tested on something like a carbon-pile tester.) With your multimeter, you check the voltage at the battery. Should be about 12.6 off, about 14.1 engine running. If higher than 15v, your voltage regulator is dead and the alternator is cooking the battery.

Yes, batteries last longer than 1 year. When I learned to drive in Central Illinois, winters got to -18F, and cars had tube-radios. To be safe we replaced batteries every 3 years, and batteries are much better today.

silvercobra

Not sure about the spark plugs, probably been quite a while.

Thanks for the replies, I am going up to see my father soon and he has a multimeter so I will check it then. Pretty sure they checked that when I had them check the alternator but could be wrong.

Also could the batter connections cause the battery to die? One side is practically brand new but the other side has some corrosive stuff/rust on it. I have been wanting to replace it but it is just wires leading up to the metal that goes around the battery terminal and I don't mix well with electricity.

I will ask how to replace that also to my father and see what he says. If I have any follow up questions I will shoot a reply on here.

Thanks

RJR

How cold does it get where you live? If something is discharging your battery, it can be in danger of freezing. A fully charged battery is good down to -40F or more. A discharged battery can freeze at well above 0F. Freezing a battery will definitely damage it.

RJR

silvercobra

I live in Arkansas. I don't recall when it got cold but I think we had snow in February or March. Also I am not sure when the battery died exactly or was low enough for that, I just tried to move it when I was needing to mow my yard and realized it was dead.

That is very useful information, thanks. It's possible something is killing my battery and it just got too cold and damaged it.

Also in the slight case this might be useful I can smell gas sometimes when I get in my vehicle or sometimes after I drive it when I get out, never noticed that before but started noticing it this winter. Asked someone with more automotive knowledge than I if that was a problem and they said it was nothing to worry about. I have an oil leak but that has been there for quite some time and it is extremely slow.

RAD4Runner

Spark plugs will not discharge batteries. Don't unnecessarily spend money and time changing things until you verify what's defective.

Listen to Scope103^^^ Find out what system is drawing current.

It could be something simple but easy to overlook; An office mate struggled with similar problem for so long, until he found out that a trunk light stayed on even when trunk was shut. Could also happen to glove compartment light, etc.

RJR

Just to clarify and correct my battery freezing post, here are some more detailed numbers:

At 100% charge, a battery will freeze at -77F. At 75%, -35F. At 50%, -10F. At 25%, 5F. At 0% (totally discharged), 20F.

It has to do with the ion concentration in the electrolyte.

So, keep 'em charged up when it's cold out. If you let your vehicle/battery sit for long periods unattended in winter, the battery is definitely at risk.

RJR

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

If your not driving this for long periods either pull the negative battery cable off.

in the winter bring the battery in where it is warm.

I no doubt lost 20 batteries or more by forgetting to do this in the last 10 years or so.

The clock is enough of a draw to drain the battery over enough time. even the radio preset memory .

silvercobra

We did some testing, couldn't figure it out. He cleaned the one connection that isn't the best but it is crimped onto the wire leading to it so I don't have the ability to replace that.

He tested both positive and negative and when he put the meter to them they jumped up to 12.5 Milliamps but slowly went down to around .2 mA. When he took the leads off it would do the same for some reason, jump back up to 12.5 and climb down. Each time he was testing with one lead on the cable and the other on the battery.

Checked and made sure both my dome light (which doesn't work) and my back light "truck" was in the off position. My door lights are working as intended. I looked in the glove compartment and there is a button that decompresses when you close it but I couldn't find a light anywhere.

My dad believed there were fuses under the dash that would couldn't access easily so I may have to pull the manual for those. The only other things that can possible draw in my Runner would be the alarm system (which I believe was user installed since it is just tied to the horn,) and my stereo. My Runner also has a computer but I wouldn't think that would draw much.

We thought about pulling the fuse for the stereo but would have to locate it first. My stereo is the only thing that has changed recently in my vehicle and it is just messing up. During winter the display was acting weird, buttons were doing opposite jobs they were supposed to, and now the display is totally gone but it still works and plays CDs. Could a messed up mp3 CD player be drawing too much over time?

We also considered maybe that one connection is messed up and the battery isn't receiving the full amount of charge.

Let me know any thoughts, thanks.

FlamingToast

12.5 mA is reasonably low. Are you sure you were reading the meter correctly?