12V Battery Replacement

[Think Different]

So a little while ago I was having staring problems that I am attributing to the 12v Battery being on the way out.

I also received a letter from toyota saying that my car had a recall so I booked in with toyota to swap the Battery and do the recall work, I had to unfortunatly cancel my appointment with them this week due to work commitments and have been told that I can't get it booked in now until march!

I am therefore just going to swap the 12v Battery out myself but have a few questions:

1) being a hybrid is it a regular 12v battery as the contacts on it seemed smaller than I'm used to with my other cars?

2) there were the two connectors and a tube coming off from the bottom that needed to be plugged into the base of the battery, I have no idea what this is and want to know if there is something specific that I'm asking for when getting a new battery?

I'd just buy one online that says it's compatible and be done with it, if not for the weight, I am therefore assuming that the best option would be just to pop into Halfords toyota owners discount in hand and hand over the money, swap the battery and hopefully no longer have any starting issues.

 

[Anthony Poli]

1 hour ago, Think Different said:

So a little while ago I was having staring problems that I am attributing to the 12v battery being on the way out.

I also received a letter from toyota saying that my car had a recall so I booked in with toyota to swap the battery and do the recall work, I had to unfortunatly cancel my appointment with them this week due to work commitments and have been told that I can't get it booked in now until march!

I am therefore just going to swap the 12v battery out myself but have a few questions:

1) being a hybrid is it a regular 12v battery as the contacts on it seemed smaller than I'm used to with my other cars?

2) there were the two connectors and a tube coming off from the bottom that needed to be plugged into the base of the battery, I have no idea what this is and want to know if there is something specific that I'm asking for when getting a new battery?

I'd just buy one online that says it's compatible and be done with it, if not for the weight, I am therefore assuming that the best option would be just to pop into halfords toyota owners discount in hand and hand over the money, swap the battery and hopefully no longer have any starting issues.

 

Have you tried using a external Battery charger?

The hybrid batteries are different, they don't need to power a starter motor. They just power the systems for dashboard, lights and smart entry etc.

The pipe is to vent any gas to the outside of the car.

The Battery is an AGM, so there isn't any danger of acid spills.

Last year i had left something on and drained the Battery, but after taking the battery out and charging it using a smart charger. I have had no problems since.

I used a jump starter to keep the car powered up overnight, so i could operate the central locking system while the battery was charging in side the house.

 

[Beekeeper D]

There are various other Battery replacement threads on this forum. 

But one important bit of info is that Toyota dealers offer a fixed price replacement service that is cheaper than you can probably find the 'proper' Battery on discount. 

 

 

On Sunday (27th), Lidl will be offering a £35 Lithium Battery pack (like a fat cellphone external battery, so still pretty small) which, as well as the usual usb outputs and a torch, features a couple of croc-clips and a jump start facility. I haven't even seen the thing, much less tried it, but it does sound interesting! 

http://www.lidl.co.uk/en/our-offers-2491.htm?action=showDetail&id=39459&ar=12 

 

[Think Different]

Sorry all for the late reply, it's been rather hectic with my home life at the moment.

Just to keep you all updated on my next day off (sometime next week) I am going to pop into Halfords and see if they have a compatbility chart or something and hopefully swap out the Battery.

I have tried charging the Battery but it made no difference and I'm certain that it's the Battery casuing my woes... only swapping it will make me feel better, I'm just annoyed at toyota for not being able to book me in before "march" ... flipping useless local toyota dealer, it's just a 10 min battery swap after all!

Anyway when I can I shall report back and hopefully all should be fine...

[Anthony Poli]

29 minutes ago, Think Different said:

Sorry all for the late reply, it's been rather hectic with my home life at the moment.

Just to keep you all updated on my next day off (sometime next week) I am going to pop into Halfords and see if they have a compatbility chart or something and hopefully swap out the battery.

I have tried charging the battery but it made no difference and I'm certain that it's the battery casuing my woes... only swapping it will make me feel better, I'm just annoyed at toyota for not being able to book me in before "march" ... flipping useless local toyota dealer, it's just a 10 min battery swap after all!

Anyway when I can I shall report back and hopefully all should be fine...

What about getting a Battery from the spares department at Toyota and fit it yourself.

From past experience, I have found the Battery prices to be as good as buying from elsewhere.

 

[Anthony Poli]

Can I ask what is actually happening?

When i had an issue, the symptom was just a case of the ready light not coming on, connecting a jump starter to the car, it came up with ready and I was ready to roll. My Battery voltage had fallen below 12 volts, due to something i had left connected to the OBD port.

[Think Different]

THIS IS WHAT WAS HAPPENING

So Anthony Poli you're idea of just getting the part directly from Toyota is what I've done, don't know why I didn't think of it, what a pillock!

I had a cheap lidl charger but that seemed to make no difference on the original Battery.

Anyway I went and bought the 12v from Toyota £118.80 BUT as soon as I fitted it the car burst into life without hesitation, so all being well it's looking like it's finally all sorted out.

I'll report back here if it doesn't work so anyone reading this months from now, no update means this was the problem 

[Anthony Poli]

4 minutes ago, Think Different said:

THIS IS WHAT WAS HAPPENING

So Anthony Poli you're idea of just getting the part directly from Toyota is what I've done, don't know why I didn't think of it, what a pillock!

I had a cheap lidl charger but that seemed to make no difference on the original battery.

Anyway I went and bought the 12v from Toyota £118.80 BUT as soon as I fitted it the car burst into life without hesitation, so all being well it's looking like it's finally all sorted out.

I'll report back here if it doesn't work so anyone reading this months from now, no update means this was the problem 

Sorry my post didn't read the way it was meant.

When I said " Can I ask what is actually happening? ", I was trying to ask what symptoms were noticing.

Glad to hear you have got a Battery now