2 months old-dead battery

[05Limited]

First vacation with the new Avalon and I get stranded in a Las Vegas mega parking garage and it is 100 plus degrees outside. To top it all off the Toyota roadside assistance phone number in the book is only Monday thru Saturday and is closed on Sundays. Gee they must have forgot to mention that at the dealership. Even the brochure says 24 hour assistance available. It just does not say 7 days per week.

Had to make the 400 mile drive home on Sunday without shutting off the car including a stop for gas and food.

I guess my Avalon never got the word that it is not suppose to breakdown on a Sunday. Thanks Toyota.

[Bunthy]

well, since you got the car started, the alternator should've charged the dead battery.....this wasn't the case? Thats kinda f-ed up, a brand new 05 having a dead battery in 2 months.....thats really shitty quality of the new avas. At least you got home safe with your fam!

[johnd]

05,

Were there any unusual lead ins to this battery failure? Prolonged use of something that may have drained the batt.? Just nothing and then a dead batt.?
I'm not questioning you regarding this, just trying to understand the situation.
Spooky, huh?

[Tercel GTS]

Just goes to prove that no matter how well something is built there eventually will be defects. Just for safety sake though let's make sure there isn't a hidden story line here. I can tell you of a person on another forum that worked for a toyota dealership in georgia. This person posted once about how he was cleaning flood cars from PA to be sold in FL. The buyers in FL would have no idea the brand new cars they're looking at were under water 2 months before in another state.
A quick way to see if this is your situation is look at some electrical connectors in low areas inside and outside. You're going to be looking for a greenish corrosion on the terminals and any bare wire you can see. Look at fog light connectors, oil pressure near the filter and inside look behind the drivers side kick panel. Should be a large group of plugs there for the door and trunk harness.
If you find corrosion inside the car on the harness I'd talk to the dealer first about trading for another or a refund. If the car is a flood victim the dealer most likely knew it before selling the car.
I hope it's just a defective battery or alternator, but it's better to know what's up.

[05Limited]

Dropped it off at the dealer this morning and waiting to hear what they find. I didn't tell them it was a dead battery, just that if it is turned off it will not restart without a jump. After that long trip home I parked in the garage and turned the engine off and then tried to restart to see if the battery charged some but just got click-click-click.

[preskev]

05 Limited - Toyota TSB PD001-05 covers a topic where they require that a shorting pin be installed at delivery. This is what the introduction shows:

To minimize battery discharge during transportation and storage, the Short Pin has been removed at the assembly plant and temporarily stored in the engine compartment Relay Block. During Pre–Delivery Service (PDS), the Short Pin needs to be re–installed into its original location.

This is the first step in the PDS, and it is in very large letter. I assume someone forgot to install these before. I wonder if the short pin was never removed from your car at the factory. This could have put extra wear and tear on the electrolyte level and combine that with the heat in Vegas and you have a dead battery.

If the dealer doesn't find anything, check your voltage level and verify it it is over 12 volts (I think). Anything under means your battery is dead and will never hold a charge for long.

[05Limited]

Got it back and all is well again. Gee they even washed it for me. Appears to be a lousy battery. They said the charging system and some other things I didn't understand all checked out. I noticed the clock was off by three hours. The nav system defaults to Eastern time and I had to set it all up to my favorites again. I had to reprogram the seat memory too but the radio presets were still set to my stations, go figure.

[ruoknow]

An original battery can last 10 years, even though it says 7-year warranty.
I just replaced the original battery for my 96 avy last week.

I sold my 96 camry in the end of May with the orignal battery too.

So there must be something not right. What preskev said sounds reasonable.

[Leroy Brown]

My wife came home today (summer day) after using the car around town with no problems. I went out this evening to use the car ('00 Avalon XLS) and DEAD BATTERY!

The speedo, etc. moved a bit, but when I turned the key, the dials danced around, and all I got was click-click-click of the starter solenoid.

SO - I put the charger on the thing - the battery needed some water, so I added it, but after HOURS on the charger (which said I really didn't need a charge), I try it again... CLICK CLICK CLICK.

I had cleaned the battery terminals and the clamps (or whatever they're called) in the meantime - they weren't dirty.

Questions - what the H could have caused the battery to die, and why in the world (even with a 50 amp boost charger) can't I get any more than CLICK CLICK CLICK?

All input appreciated!


BB62

[airskeeter]

The cells are probably dead. It was probably your battery's time....

[DanEz_yoda]

My wife just had a similar situation to Leroy Browns post. She went to pick up our daughter in daycare (5 minute drive) and when she came out the care was dead. Dash light dim and all.

Dealership said car batteries are dying like this now. No warning. BUT When I asked why it died so quickly, he also spouted something about that they are making batteries without lead. that is comlete BS.