The trusty(?) Everstart

[capnblinski]

Folks,

My trusty Everstart battery has gradually over the past two weeks been starting my '00 camry slower and slower after sitting overnight. The battery starts the car fine when sitting less than five or six hours. Then last week the dash warning for the taillamps came on at the store and when I came back out and started up, the light was out and has stayed out. The bulbs back there are all good. Then went to Advance Auto and the test showed that there was, from my way of understanding,
out of 600 something, only 300 something was left in the battery and it should be replaced. The battery is maintained and is five years old.


My dilemma is – rather than replace a battery that is quite possibly still good, – even in the depths of minus ten degree wind chills just last winter – do I maybe have an excessive current drain somewhere? And is there is a connection between the brake/taillight warning appearing and then disappearing and a possible short/drain/broken wire snafu in the electrical system? Are there common area's with Camry's when it comes to a possible excessive current draw while the car is sitting?
wheww, is that all..

Thanks again folks.


Any and all thoughts/comment/suggestions welcome.


dc.

[fenixus]

time for a new battery, no doubts.

the numbers you mentioned were the Cold Cranking Amps (CCA) most likely. new batteries carry from like 500 up to over 800 CCA depending on brand and model. it goes down with age.

If car is 4cyl 5s-fe than I would suggest getting this battery from Autozone, it's stronger than it's counter part from Advance Auto (Autocraft 24F Gold 700CCA) :
Duralast Gold 24F 750CCA !!
well worth its price of only $90 (plus tax) and has nice warranties
it will make the car happy for next 5 years or more.

1mz-fe OE fit would be (surprisingly lower CCA, higher price)
Autocraft 35-DLG Gold 640CCA
Duralast Gold (35-DLG) 640CCA

While both 35 and 24F can be used on 5s-fe, I am not sure why 1mz-fe is recommended to run only with 35-DLG? perhaps a mistake in web store catalogs.

new batteries usually carry 8 years pro-rated warranty (pro-rated discount towards replacement) and 36 month replacement warranty (usually no questions asked) on either Autozone or Advance Auto models respectively.

it's always a good idea to check for a parasitic drain somewhere, but honestly if battery is old it may be loosing its charge over night too. old batteries do not get re-charged as good (not for long at least) as new ones.

[capnblinski]

Cool man - I thank you.

The engine is the 5s-fe.

So most likely i'm off to wm for another everstart, but am going to look into your suggestions on battery brand.

The slow starting problem manifested itself over a three-day period
and gave me pause for thought as to a battery going bad that quickly
and there that one goes..

dc.

[TrailDust]

Originally Posted by fenixus

time for a new battery, no doubts.

+1. Five years, it's time for a new battery. Get more CCAs, or as much as you're willing to pay for in the new battery.

[Tom 2000]

Originally Posted by capnblinski

And is there is a connection between the brake/taillight warning appearing and then disappearing and a possible short/drain/broken wire snafu in the electrical system?


dc.

About 4 or 5 years ago, my wife told me that the brake/taillight warning light came on, but disappeared. I drove the car and it was fine, she drove again and told me it came on again.....A couple of days later, it stayed on.

It was the center high-mount brake light.

A battery can last pretty long time, but factors that contribute to the lifespan are extreme cold and heat. If your car enounters either on a a regular (or seasonal) basis, it's a good bet that after 5 years, your battery has lost its pep. In your case, the test confirms it.

I had a Die Hard Gold Battery last as long as 9 years in my Maxima and the OEM Panasonic Battery in my Camry lasted 8 years. In both cases, the car was garaged every night (no low temps) and the summers are very mild in Western Washington.

When I lived in So Cal, I don't think I had a battery last more than about 5 years.

[arabianobsession]

5 years is pretty good, especially for an Ever Start from Walmart. I used to work there, and easily 50% of the batteries came back bad within 6 months! However, I think the trick with those is as long as you're not powering a million accessories (i.e. newer cars with power everything, moonroof, etc.), or a sound system, they usually last for a decent amount of time.

[pmesfun]

Its second nature for us to get Everstart batteries from Walmart. 4 years on the 99, 1 year on the quest(original everstart lasted 6 years), 2 months on the xterra(Duralast had a premature death).

[fenixus]

well, Duralast Gold is a nice series. Wife's car had 35-DLG battery for numerous years (4.5yrs IIRC) on her 5s-fe and served HID lights for almost a year with zero starting trouble ever.
just at end of this Winter it became weaker in holding a charge and getting drained easier if we left lights & radio on (e.g. engine shut off while waiting for 20 minutes in car by a store or so).

It was still good, but sometimes she forgets the lights do not shut off when she stays in car and doesn't open driver door. It happened to her during day, she couldn't start car afterward. I jumpered it to my V6 and re-charged the battery while driving her car on highway, then brought car for battery testing in Autozone, was still showing over 12V on tester (battery off car). decided to replace only because it was old and I wanted more CCA (640 on 35-DLG vs 750 on 24F). other than that never a problem.

I believe any battery on a car that never gets garaged and is subject to wide temperature swings (NJ is great example) over a year, should get replaced (here) after 5-6 years tops. Texas may have more stable (and much warmer and less humid all year round?) climate, that probably helps battery too.
East Coast in this region, is a mixture of sometimes deep freezing cold Winters (wind chills at times down to -15F e.g. in early mornings), lots of snow and then very humid and hot Summers (105F is not uncommon here).

In V6 I have fresh (purchased last Summer by prev owner) Autocraft Gold 35-DLG (640CCA) battery and it's great too. car starts from a touch of ignition ... but of course that is not really related to battery entirely, 5s-fe used to do the same in past but no more so some component in it gets weaker or out of tune, but since it never fails completely I cannot find it ... and now even stopped looking for it hehe, I let it be

anyways, point is go with what you like, I have nothing against Ever Start LOL, I may actually try it in future if they offer good warranties and specs are good. bottom line is, go with whatever works for you in your climate

Have a Happy Easter weekend, people
so stop reading this bull shit and spend some time with your families

[Bdub215]

Toyota Trustart batteries. Best bang for the buck and come with a warranty.


Sent from my iPhone using Autoguide

[capnblinski]

Thanks for all the replies – a new battery is on the back porch and waiting to be installed, and the cheapest of the above mentioned brands was – the everstart – so that was the one I got. This here '00 Camry is a nice car that needs a thou or so to get back in really good shape. I've had it a little over a year now and it was well maintained by the original owner and is a looker. But stuff wears out. That's the bitch of it. Now if I can just figure out how to get a photo up here… lol

'00 Camry LE 5s-fe 150xxx
needs – as far as I can tell – rear sway bar bushings.. tires.... and a good underbody cleaning w/wire brushes and hot Ajax water, and follow up with some strategically placed white lithium grease.. lol.

[TrailDust]

Originally Posted by capnblinski

Now if I can just figure out how to get a photo up here… lol

How to post pictures.

[capnblinski]

Thanks!

I read the how-to, but I came out a bit confused. I'll look at your link asap.

great avatar!


dc.

[capnblinski]

OK - I believe I need to use photobucket to paste an image into a post. I'll keep trying.

The new Everstart battery is kicking the engine over like nobody's business. I'll keep posted on it's performance.

The stories I got on battery snafu's...

Once, after having cleaned a battery and all the associated parts, I dropped it onto a macadam driveway - didn't notice any leakage until after it was installed and I was headed out for a cruise. It failed the next
day.

And the time a battery was out for another reason and fell on it's side,
unnoticed, leaked all kinds of electrolyte that I replaced with tap water, and still that one lasted until the following spring.

Sometimes it's better to leave well enough alone!

[capnblinski]

There we go: