I have a fairly new battery, replaced in January under warranty (after pulling teeth at Walmart), but it is an Everstart (JCI manufactured), and has a manufacture date of 12/12. The old JCI battery (Energizer) had heavy corrosion at the terminals, bad enough that I had to cut off the ends of the factory battery cables, and repair it as well.
The cables I fixed myself, with standard parts: screw on battery terminal clamps, short segments of 4 gauge wire, and butt connectors to join to the vehicle's battery cable. I should note that while I did a guestimate match of the cable as 4 gauge on the vehicle, it seemed more like maybe 3 gauge, though I already had everything disconnected from the jerry-rig I did to temporarily get the vehicle running until I would complete the repair. The vehicle side cables fit the butt commector, but only just, with maybe a dozen strands out of hundreds not fitting in. I did an overnight charge with my smart charger after installation, and did a couple more since: once before a road trip my wife was going to take but didn't, and then another one before a road trip last weekend. I was trying to baby this battery after the last one failed after just 3 years. I even noticed the headlights seemed brighter after battery replacement. Vehicle has been garage parked overnight, unheated, but temps about what you would expect in a refrigerator. It has also been parked other times during the day in temperatures that have been as cold as -20C / -4F.
All was going well until last night. My wife was at a friend's house from about 6pm until 11pm when she tried to leave. Temps were actually quite mild, -5C / 23F. The rest is as she described what happened:
Unlocked the vehicle with the remote, tried to start, all instruments and the interior dome lights went dead. Nothing, nada. She, her friend, and her friend's husband didn't know how to jump start, and they didn't attempt it. Friend's husband fiddled around to check fuses under the hood to see if something blew, and in doing so, he noticed the interior dome lights come back on (no fuse was blown, it could have been a coincidence when the power seemed to return that he was checking). He tried to start, and nothing, everything went dead again.
CAA was called, and when they arrived, the driver got it boosted. He tried to perform simple diagnostics, but his tester wasn't working. He noted the battery was new, so that seemed to be a low chance it was the problem. He suggested alternator could be an issue, or a parasitic load sapping everything, or maybe the lights were left on. I doubt there is a significant enough parasitic load, no accessories have been added to the vehicle in years, in fact, it decreased since the battery, as I left the brake controller for towing disconnected (will change the spade connectors that got corroded this spring before towing). Driver who boosted did say he's seen accessories that were fine for years suddenly spike in parasitic load though. Not the lights either, as my wife says she didn't turn on a map light inside before leaving the vehicle, and the headlights have auto-off in case she forgot. Door couln't have been ajar, since the vehicle beeps continuously if the door isn't fully closed if you try to lock it with the remote (the only way she ever locks it).
My conclusion seems to be that it is either the alternator, some accessory failure causing a huge parasitic load as the driver suggested (though I don't think so, as this morning, the charger was on a float charge, and if I even open the dorr while it is on a float charge, I see the charger kick in immediately to compensate. Or could it be an entirely different electrical problem?
Vehicle is a 2006 Toyota Sienna, with 160,000 km (100,000 miles) on the ticker. I don't think I've left out any details, but ask in case I have. Quite perplexed at this.
The cables I fixed myself, with standard parts: screw on battery terminal clamps, short segments of 4 gauge wire, and butt connectors to join to the vehicle's battery cable. I should note that while I did a guestimate match of the cable as 4 gauge on the vehicle, it seemed more like maybe 3 gauge, though I already had everything disconnected from the jerry-rig I did to temporarily get the vehicle running until I would complete the repair. The vehicle side cables fit the butt commector, but only just, with maybe a dozen strands out of hundreds not fitting in. I did an overnight charge with my smart charger after installation, and did a couple more since: once before a road trip my wife was going to take but didn't, and then another one before a road trip last weekend. I was trying to baby this battery after the last one failed after just 3 years. I even noticed the headlights seemed brighter after battery replacement. Vehicle has been garage parked overnight, unheated, but temps about what you would expect in a refrigerator. It has also been parked other times during the day in temperatures that have been as cold as -20C / -4F.
All was going well until last night. My wife was at a friend's house from about 6pm until 11pm when she tried to leave. Temps were actually quite mild, -5C / 23F. The rest is as she described what happened:
Unlocked the vehicle with the remote, tried to start, all instruments and the interior dome lights went dead. Nothing, nada. She, her friend, and her friend's husband didn't know how to jump start, and they didn't attempt it. Friend's husband fiddled around to check fuses under the hood to see if something blew, and in doing so, he noticed the interior dome lights come back on (no fuse was blown, it could have been a coincidence when the power seemed to return that he was checking). He tried to start, and nothing, everything went dead again.
CAA was called, and when they arrived, the driver got it boosted. He tried to perform simple diagnostics, but his tester wasn't working. He noted the battery was new, so that seemed to be a low chance it was the problem. He suggested alternator could be an issue, or a parasitic load sapping everything, or maybe the lights were left on. I doubt there is a significant enough parasitic load, no accessories have been added to the vehicle in years, in fact, it decreased since the battery, as I left the brake controller for towing disconnected (will change the spade connectors that got corroded this spring before towing). Driver who boosted did say he's seen accessories that were fine for years suddenly spike in parasitic load though. Not the lights either, as my wife says she didn't turn on a map light inside before leaving the vehicle, and the headlights have auto-off in case she forgot. Door couln't have been ajar, since the vehicle beeps continuously if the door isn't fully closed if you try to lock it with the remote (the only way she ever locks it).
My conclusion seems to be that it is either the alternator, some accessory failure causing a huge parasitic load as the driver suggested (though I don't think so, as this morning, the charger was on a float charge, and if I even open the dorr while it is on a float charge, I see the charger kick in immediately to compensate. Or could it be an entirely different electrical problem?
Vehicle is a 2006 Toyota Sienna, with 160,000 km (100,000 miles) on the ticker. I don't think I've left out any details, but ask in case I have. Quite perplexed at this.