2004 Camry-4th Battery Replacement in 7 Years, what Gives?

[morphius909]

Hi All,

My mom owns a 2004 Camry LE/4Cyl. Bought it brand new.

In the 7 years of ownership, she's had 4 battery replacements (all by Toyota). The latest was yesterday.

so what gives? is this common? is there a short or something bleeding the batteries?

[satyrias]

I have a 2002 Camry XLE, 4cyl bought in Dec 2001 have replaced 4 batteries as of now. The last one was about 5 months ago.

Somebody is making battery for Toyota and its quality is not good. Since it has a two year warranty I don't care, let them take the toll.

I remember the early days of Toyota cars, which are all made in Japan had excellent quality. After they started producing in the USA with their first plant in Kentucky, the quality all went down. Most of the parts are subcontracted out to someone in Mexico or some other parties in the US. I had to replace several items, starting from door handle to various small items in the car, which are all made by some third party contractors.

Anything made in the USA has poor quality compared to Japan and Germany, not just cars, various consumer items. I am not talking about the recent Chinese outsourcing effect on quality, before that time. Now, everything is made by Chinese with crappy quality.

This is the consequence of Stock market. The top executives in public companies need to show higher profit margin to boost their bonuses at the year end. Only way is to make it cheaper.

[Glenn8963]

Originally Posted by morphius909

Hi All,

My mom owns a 2004 Camry LE/4Cyl. Bought it brand new.

In the 7 years of ownership, she's had 4 battery replacements (all by Toyota). The latest was yesterday.

so what gives? is this common? is there a short or something bleeding the batteries?

ok, here is what is "supposed" to be done BEFORE a battery is put into a car...

even though BRAND new, the battery should be given a quick charge to bring it up to 13-14 volts....THEN placed into the car..over time, ANY battery sitting on a shelf will lose a bit of a charge...not a whole lot mind you but a bit..

when that battery is put into the car, then it would be up to the alternator to bring it to a full charge, which sometimes it cannot do..

ok next, there can be a low out put of the alternator...that needs to be completely tested.

there can be a bad ground, preventing the battery from being fully charged.

there can be too much of a draw of amps when starting, maybe a bad positive cable or a bad starter.

there can be a "parasitic" draw, like from the clock, computer, that should NOT be there. some current draw when the car is off is acceptable, again, for the clock, or computer, but not a drastic draw, and as i mentioned, there may be that "parasitic draw" meaning something in the car is drawing current when it should not be, again, this MUST be tested. heck, maybe the truck light circuit can be bad as an example.......

i find it hard to believe (as you do) that this many batteries are being replaced, but it DOES START from the time the battery is purchased and "quick charged" before you take delivery of it.

one cannot simply drop in a new battery after the second time (let alone the first) and NOT do some testing..

take your car to a reliable shop for extended testing....

[xywolap]

Battery in my yr 2000 v6 lasted 10 yrs. (Australian made Camry & battery though)

It could be many things...

A few possible causes....

Poor quality battery... the cheapest is not the most economical in the long run.

Short trips... battery doesn't get a chance to charge.

Dirty terminals? Earth cable connection to chassis also not clean?

Electrical fault... short.. alternator... Best to take it to an auto electrician to be sure with these items.

TIP.... If you park the car in your garage then remove the keys. Don't leave them in the ignition.

[satyrias]

In response to the post above, in my case the Toyota dealer replaced all the batteries.

[Tom 2000]

Poor quality battery?

My 2000 Camry (made in Japan) went almost 9 years on the original battery.

[satyrias]

Originally Posted by Tom 2000

Poor quality battery?

My 2000 Camry (made in Japan) went almost 9 years on the original battery.

That is exactly what I said go back and read.

Your car made in Japan not in the USA and lasted 9 years for you.

My car made in Kentucky and changed the battery 4 times. Moreover, had to replace several items within one year of my purchase.

[Donald E. George]

How long does a "new" battery sit on a dealer's shelf before it is sold? I replaced the battery in my 2004 in December of 2009 because I didn't want to go into a severe winter[which we had] with a five year + old battery. The 3 year Walmare Max battery has not been a problem although at leat one member has said that he worked at Walmart and there were a lot of defective batteries replaced under warranty. If most of the driving is short trip/cold weather, the battery will never reach full charge and may in fact die. Take the car out on the highway for 50/100 miles.

[JohnGD]

+1.

OP should have the electrical system checked. Either the alternator isn't properly charging the battery or there is parasitic draw that drains the battery.

If the dealer doesn't know how then let Autozone do a free checkup of the charging system and battery.

Originally Posted by Glenn8963

ok, here is what is "supposed" to be done BEFORE a battery is put into a car...

even though BRAND new, the battery should be given a quick charge to bring it up to 13-14 volts....THEN placed into the car..over time, ANY battery sitting on a shelf will lose a bit of a charge...not a whole lot mind you but a bit..

when that battery is put into the car, then it would be up to the alternator to bring it to a full charge, which sometimes it cannot do..

ok next, there can be a low out put of the alternator...that needs to be completely tested.

there can be a bad ground, preventing the battery from being fully charged.

there can be too much of a draw of amps when starting, maybe a bad positive cable or a bad starter.

there can be a "parasitic" draw, like from the clock, computer, that should NOT be there. some current draw when the car is off is acceptable, again, for the clock, or computer, but not a drastic draw, and as i mentioned, there may be that "parasitic draw" meaning something in the car is drawing current when it should not be, again, this MUST be tested. heck, maybe the truck light circuit can be bad as an example.......

i find it hard to believe (as you do) that this many batteries are being replaced, but it DOES START from the time the battery is purchased and "quick charged" before you take delivery of it.

one cannot simply drop in a new battery after the second time (let alone the first) and NOT do some testing..

take your car to a reliable shop for extended testing....

[NegativeTen]

Batteries generally aren't supposed to sit on any shelf for more than 9 months before they're deemed unfit for sale as "new." I'm sure most dealerships have such high inventory turnover that this isn't an issue, so I doubt you got 4 bad batteries in a row. The average life expectancy of most batteries is around four years. I've had some that last 9, I've had some that last 2, so your mileage will vary.


The problem is more likely within your electrical system, as others have said. However, it's pretty unlikely that a failing alternator is the cause, because if it's been going out for seven years, it would have been long gone by now. It's always a possibility, mind you, but I would look elsewhere first. Check all your grounds, make sure you don't have any corrosion on them, follow all wires leading to your battery and make sure you don't have any broken insulation. Check your terminal ends and make sure they're making proper contact with the posts (though, if they weren't, your dealer should have told you).

Do you have any aftermarket electrical equipment installed (Remote start, head unit, speakers/amp/sub, etc?) If so, it's possible that someone did a poor job installing and you've got a short somewhere.

Beyond the obvious checks of following wires and checking grounds, take your car up to Autozone and have them run an alternator test. If I recall, your model should have either a 75 or 85 amp alternator (double check with Autozone when you go), and so it should put out awfully close to that. If it's putting out less than that, before you spend $200 on a new alternator, make sure your belt has no slack in it, and all of your pulleys are spinning freely. Slack in a belt or a pulley with failing bearings can put greater strain on your alternator, causing it not to charge to its full potential.

If none of that is the issue, break down and put a new alternator on. If that still doesn't fix your problem, start buying batteries with longer warranties (Duralast Gold at autozone is ~$100, 3 year free repalcement, 5 year prorate, so 8 year warranty total, good at any location nation wide).

Best of luck!