Battery Has Discharged!

[RunningInPleasePass]

.......................According to my dealer Toyota have not heard of this problem with the new Auris and need to investigate further,......................................

I can only assume Toyota have cloth ears. I reported this problem to the dealer and to Toyota directly four months ago and received the same platitudes that you are getting.

I know, I suspect that Toyota are well aware of these problems but will be reluctant to admit it, but at least you got a new Battery which has sorted your problem out, so it can be done.

I also think the Prius and Lexus Hybrid's are also having 12v Battery problems that Toyota are unaware of!

Regards

Kevin

[Dasbob]

I received an email this afternoon from my whinge on the website to

I can confirm that I have forwarded this on to our Customer Relations Department at Toyota Head Office, and they will be in contact with you shortly with a response.

I hope to keep dialog with them about it over next week or so while they are looking at my car

[RunningInPleasePass]

I received an email this afternoon from my whinge on the website to

I can confirm that I have forwarded this on to our Customer Relations Department at Toyota Head Office, and they will be in contact with you shortly with a response.

I hope to keep dialog with them about it over next week or so while they are looking at my car

I have talked to Customer relations, and they seem to have got some wheels in motion, that is except my Auris Hybrid!!

Just take your car back to the dealer, get a loan car from them, and ask them to tell you when they have it fixed it, and can guarantee it will start.

I know you have lost enthusiasm for your car, but as I say, if Toyota cannot fix a flat Battery who can?

[Dasbob]

I think i might take that approach They giving me the loan car next friday, when i pick it up i will tell them to let me know when its fixed... and i dont want to hear "it just needs a charge"

on a side note on my theory that this sort of thing happens more often to "Kevin's" the chap who test drove a 9 month old prius with a flat 12v in the post next to this one at the moment is called Kevin

[jonesbach]

.......................According to my dealer Toyota have not heard of this problem with the new Auris and need to investigate further,......................................

I can only assume Toyota have cloth ears. I reported this problem to the dealer and to Toyota directly four months ago and received the same platitudes that you are getting.

I know, I suspect that Toyota are well aware of these problems but will be reluctant to admit it, but at least you got a new Battery which has sorted your problem out, so it can be done.

I also think the Prius and Lexus Hybrid's are also having 12v Battery problems that Toyota are unaware of!

Regards

Kevin

I wish I had Kevin,

I recovered the Battery using a smart charger recondition mode. Touch wood, it hasn't failed, but I'm trying to monitor it on a regular basis.

[RunningInPleasePass]

.......................According to my dealer Toyota have not heard of this problem with the new Auris and need to investigate further,......................................

I can only assume Toyota have cloth ears. I reported this problem to the dealer and to Toyota directly four months ago and received the same platitudes that you are getting.

I know, I suspect that Toyota are well aware of these problems but will be reluctant to admit it, but at least you got a new Battery which has sorted your problem out, so it can be done.

I also think the Prius and Lexus Hybrid's are also having 12v Battery problems that Toyota are unaware of!

Regards

Kevin

I wish I had Kevin,

I recovered the Battery using a smart charger recondition mode. Touch wood, it hasn't failed, but I'm trying to monitor it on a regular basis.

I'm sorry I thought you were one of the lucky one's, I've read your posts and it seems you went to a lot of trouble to try and figure out what was wrong, like you I think it is a surface charge or similar problem.

I'm reluctant to go down the 'keep charging the battery and carry on' routine for such a new car when it seems so obvious it just needs a new battery.

After reading loads of forums you would be amazed of what people are doing to keep their battery charged, solar panels, built in chargers, and even building into the car a booster battery for when the regular one is flat, I admire their spirit but it would be better to keep the pressure on Toyota to come up with a permanent solution.

[jonesbach]

RunningInPleasePass, I agree with your sentiment, but when this started there were only a few chickens in the roost and Toyota could ignore it. I believe you may start getting a response now as I suspect a whole flock is about to settle on their doorstep.

[RunningInPleasePass]

RunningInPleasePass, I agree with your sentiment, but when this started there were only a few chickens in the roost and Toyota could ignore it. I believe you may start getting a response now as I suspect a whole flock is about to settle on their doorstep.

I hope your right Alun, it's a real shame about this as the car is very good, a pleasure to drive, just not a good starter.

Thanks for your input.

Regards

Kevin

[Yolina]

You all have me slightly worried now - although I haven't so far had any 12v Battery issues since getting the Yaris last October, I'm on holiday and by the time I get to drive the car again, it will have sat unused for just about 3 weeks (but at least it's in the car park at home rather than at an airport and I do have one of those power pack thingymajigs). The longest I've left it so far is about 1 week with no problems but I guess I'll find out on Friday if it starts or not.

Good luck to those of you with problems. I would be demanding a new Battery very loudly (preferably on a busy day at the dealership :D )

[RunningInPleasePass]

You all have me slightly worried now - although I haven't so far had any 12v battery issues since getting the Yaris last October, I'm on holiday and by the time I get to drive the car again, it will have sat unused for just about 3 weeks (but at least it's in the car park at home rather than at an airport and I do have one of those power pack thingymajigs). The longest I've left it so far is about 1 week with no problems but I guess I'll find out on Friday if it starts or not.

Good luck to those of you with problems. I would be demanding a new battery very loudly (preferably on a busy day at the dealership :D )

I'm sure your car will be fine, this Battery thing only seems to effect a small percentage of cars, I suspect it's only just big enough, so if your Battery is not perfect it will let you down.

I'm going to buy a power pack and Battery charger, just in case, perhaps Toyota are missing a selling opportunity here and should include in their options list, Toyota approved, Power Packs, Battery Chargers, and Solar Chargers!

Just enjoy your holiday.

Kind regards

Kevin

[RunningInPleasePass]

A good article here about Battery problems.

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/what_causes_car_batteries_to_fail

It may be that what you need to do is give your Battery a good shake, and a prolonged higher voltage charge now and then?

[Joseph D]

A good article here about battery problems.

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/what_causes_car_batteries_to_fail

This is a good article and well written. Please remember, though, that the advice pertains to non-hybrid vehicles. Specifically, the 12v Battery in a hybrid should only be used to get the hybrid to Ready mode. ACC mode and IGON mode should never be used unless for a very specific and short term purpose. I'm not even sure why they are there really, except to make it the same as a non-hybrid. If you need to run accessories, put your hybrid into Ready mode.

The reason why a hybrid is different is that once in ready mode, all accessories and ancillary systems are powered from the HV Battery, which then also charges the 12v Battery. Therefore there is (or should be) very little load on the 12v and why it can be a smaller battery. But because of this, and where you have the choice, it is not recommended that accessories are run in ACC mode as, in ACC (or IGON) mode, the 12v is used to supply the power and it will drain very quickly when compared to the battery in a non-hybid.

It may be that what you need to do is give your battery a good shake, and a prolonged higher voltage charge now and then?

Battery maintenance is seen as a user maintenance function. Maybe it should be part of the service every year - a shake and a charge. :)

[RunningInPleasePass]

A good article here about battery problems.

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/what_causes_car_batteries_to_fail

This is a good article and well written. Please remember, though, that the advice pertains to non-hybrid vehicles. Specifically, the 12v Battery in a hybrid should only be used to get the hybrid to Ready mode. ACC mode and IGON mode should never be used unless for a very specific and short term purpose. I'm not even sure why they are there really, except to make it the same as a non-hybrid. If you need to run accessories, put your hybrid into Ready mode.

The reason why a hybrid is different is that once in ready mode, all accessories and ancillary systems are powered from the HV Battery, which then also charges the 12v Battery. Therefore there is (or should be) very little load on the 12v and why it can be a smaller battery. But because of this, and where you have the choice, it is not recommended that accessories are run in ACC mode as, in ACC (or IGON) mode, the 12v is used to supply the power and it will drain very quickly when compared to the battery in a non-hybid.

>>It may be that what you need to do is give your battery a good shake, and a prolonged higher voltage charge now and then?

Battery maintenance is seen as a user maintenance function. Maybe it should be part of the service every year - a shake and a charge. :)

Hi Joseph,

I take all your points, the battery is very small and not suitable for running accessories except for when the car is running.

In my instance, the car had completed a 200+ mile run, I put it in the garage, the next day I started it to take the sat-nav fingerprint to register it.

The car then stood for two days, I then took it out of the garage, parked it on the drive ready for the next morning when it failed to start.

The AA jump started it, when again I had to do a 200+ mile run prior to dropping it off at the dealer, the next day they tested the battery and it needed charging.

I don't think in any of the above I had abused the battery, and it had ample charging time, so I concluded that it may be a fault with the car and just charging it and sending me on my way was not the answer.

To be fair I think Toyota are taking an interest in my car and are trying to find an answer to my problem.

By the way, if the car had been in my, just big enough, garage, when it failed, how would you jump start it, you would not be able to open the bonnet to get to the jump terminals and the boot would be locked so you would not be able to get at the battery, perhaps I should try and reverse into the garage in future?

Thanks for your input.

Kevin

[Peter Sale]

I don't believe that the handbook advises how you should park and what you should avoid. Therefore, if it doesn't start in your garage it might be the dealer's problem as they have said that there is nothing wrong with the car !!

Seriously, 200 miles should fully charge the Battery so if it needed charging there is a fault somewhere. This must really fall under the consumer legislation of 'not fit for purpose'.

It's a shame that you are suffering with such a nice car as when they work right they are a joy to drive. I can understand you losing confidence in the car which will start to worry you about going anywhere and getting stuck.

Hope you get it sorted soon .. and the other Kevin

Peter

[RunningInPleasePass]

I'm sure it will be sorted eventually, I'll be more confident now I've bought a Booster Pack.

As to the garage thing, I think I'll cut a skylight in the garage roof, then if the car fails, I can drop down through the roof, just like Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible!!!

[jonesbach]

I think that article on Battery acid stratification is very relevant. When I recovered my Battery, the smart charger 'recondition' mode was intended to do just that by a controlled overcharge where gas production remixed the acid. The cycle repeated many times more than even the charger manufacturer specified and there was a very noticeable improvement after completion with further gains when I 'deep-cycled' it, which would have helped remove any sulphation.

We have discussed it on another thread and I believe most of the problems we are seeing can be put down to this. The Battery spends its life being trickle charged with 'once a journey' relatively small discharges. A 'normal' car battery gets a large drain followed by a decent charge(what it was designed to do), and the weaker the battery gets the greater the discharge and longer the charge so that it is, to a degree, self recovering.

This does not answer the case where the car is only a few weeks old, but it is possible the battery is older. As stated above this probably would not matter on a normal car where stratification would be 'dispersed', but the hybrid just makes the problem worse.

[IanIanIanIan]

When I make sloe gin I put the bottles in the boot and forget about them for a couple of months. The daily shaking by going over bumps and around corners as well as acceleration and braking keep them well mixed and I get a superb result.

I don't understand why the same is not true of the Battery. Sloshing around should destroy any 'stratification' that might occur.

[Dasbob]

Well small update. I had a phone call from Toyota Customer Care informing me they are going to keep in contact with me and the garage to resolve the problem. They said they had spoken to the garage about my car and they have informed them who to contact etc (i suspect the bloke in the garage is rolling his eyes).

Knowing i got some one at "head office" to speak to does make me feel a bit better about the situation.

Oh btw other Kevin, i put my booster into the boot then realised that if the Battery goes i wont be able to get to it... then remembered that you can easily pull forward the back seats (handles on the top left and right of the seats)... so i guess in an emergency you can do a great escape and slide into the boot and get to the main 12v Battery that way (i do recall the other chap who got his Battery working again by reconditioning did mention that)

[RunningInPleasePass]

Toyota Technical are still looking into my problem, I'm convinced they will come up with the answer soon.

It's a good point about the Battery being just trickle charged not helping, but the point about the Battery being older then the car is very valid, and I would have thought easy to check.

I also would have thought the Battery would get a good old shake in the boot of the car, perhaps I'm avoiding too many potholes!!!

Toyota Customer Relations are very good at placating their customers and it is a comfort to know they are at least starting to listen and act on our legitimate problems.

Kevin

[RunningInPleasePass]

Being the old cynic that I am I've been shopping this morning bought this Jumpstarter:

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_183849_langId_-1_categoryId_255204

It looks robust thing and have it on charge at the moment, It's only 17Ah but it should be man enough to start an hybrid.

Also ordered this:

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_818851_langId_-1_categoryId_255205

Looks like just the thing to keep a Battery in tip-top condition.

[RunningInPleasePass]

Had a call from Toyota Customer Relations, they are going to fit a new Battery.

The only problem is they don't have one!!!

[timberwolf]

What diagnostic investigation did they do to come to that decision?

[Dasbob]

I am sure they can source one.... like from the factory in the UK that makes the cars!

[timberwolf]

I am sure they can source one.... like from the factory in the UK that makes the cars!

Maybe Toyota have had such a shortage that they have been shipping new cars with batteries that they know have failed QA - now that would be a low thing to do to their customers!

[RunningInPleasePass]

What diagnostic investigation did they do to come to that decision?

To be truthful the dealer is not saying much about what was discussed between themselves and Toyota Technical.

It seems they have just decided it can only be the Battery, and they are reluctant to hand it back until it has been replaced.