12v battery maintenance

On 3/16/2023 at 2:56 PM, Phil T said:

Bit late but still.......Where are you connecting the trickle charger to, as  power ports inside the car are only live with the ignition on, unless it's a special connection.

Power port meaning the cigarette lighter port, some cars are still live with the ignition off and some remain on, I assume the Toyotas are off because my external Sat Nav shuts down when I press the stop button, which leads to another question,  where do you connect the solar charges inside the car, if they're left outside they will be stolen

26 minutes ago, Roker said:

where do you connect the solar charges inside the car

Typically via the OBD port ...

1 hour ago, philip42h said:

Typically via the OBD port ...

What is a OBD port, as we discussed the cigarette light socket is not powered when the car is switch off

On 3/16/2023 at 2:56 PM, Phil T said:

Bit late but still.......Where are you connecting the trickle charger to, as  power ports inside the car are only live with the ignition on, unless it's a special connection.

Power port meaning the cigarette lighter port, some cars are still live with the ignition off and some remain on, I assume the Toyotas are off because my external Sat Nav shuts down when I press the stop button, which leads to another question,  where do you connect the solar charges inside the car, if they're left outside they will be stolen

24 minutes ago, Roker said:

What is a OBD port

Google is your friend: On-board diagnostics

Basically, it's the port that the technician plugs into to read diagnostic codes.  I believe that it is in the lower dash to the right of the steering wheel in most of our cars.

But for this purpose, it provides an unswitched connection to the 12v Battery positive terminal. If you search for Solar panel chargers you can look for ones that support an ODB connection. Like this one for example - you can see the OBD socket in the picture.

Should be under the dash to the right of the steering wheel, If I remember correctly. It will look like this (a photo of a generic ODB plug)

On 6/25/2023 at 4:54 PM, barriechris@aol.com said:

I have owned a 2020 C_HR for about two years. Previously I have owned one hybrid Yaris, several Prius’ and an Auris. Never had a flat 12v battery and many were left at airports whilst on holiday. Last week the car would not start and following a call to Toyota Roadside Assistance, the AA arrived and tested the battery. The result was a voltage of 3.8v. The previous seven days amounted to approximately 800 miles, so not due to lack of use. The AA jump started the car, my main dealer had the car and tested the battery to find it required changing. This battery is three years old on a car that has covered 32,000 miles. The dealer changed the battery under warranty at no charge to myself. Having driven Toyota hybrids for many years because they are so reliable, indeed apart from tyres and servicing never spent any money on them, they have been absolutely faultless. So, what has changed with the 12v battery. I was pleased with the services of both the AA and main dealer, but doesn’t this suggest something has changed with respect to the fitted 12v batteries now used by Toyota?

My experience matches yours Chris. I do think that something has changed. In my case 17 years driving hybrids without a problem of any kind. These current batteries can't be nearly as powerful as older models. My breakdown man today has told me that my car won't start because the voltage drop is down from 12v to 9v. Surely there should be enough power in a Battery running at 9v? It took him just 15 mins. to get things working again.

24 minutes ago, Ratho1 said:

My experience matches yours Chris. I do think that something has changed. In my case 17 years driving hybrids without a problem of any kind. These current batteries can't be nearly as powerful as older models. My breakdown man today has told me that my car won't start because the voltage drop is down from 12v to 9v. Surely there should be enough power in a battery running at 9v? It took him just 15 mins. to get things working again.

So, no, 9V isn't anywhere near enough to generate the necessary hydraulic pressure to make the brakes work - and Toyota won't let you start a car that doesn't have brakes! 😉

It may be that slightly lower capacity batteries are being fitted but the real issue is that the demand from the electrical systems is ever increasing ...

Interesting Reading this post. My wife has a 2020 CHR 1.8 Hybrid and the Battery has failed us for the 5th time since we bought the car from Toyota about 18 months ago.

Its been back to them who tested it for 24hrs and claimed nothing was wrong with it.   There is no pattern to when it fails, could start fine one morning, then fail when you go to start it in the afternoon.  It failed us once when we were on holiday and I'd driven it about 15 mins beforehand, then other times its failed when its been left for a few days. The AA man told us not to leave the key too close to the car overnight as it might be unlocking itself, so we always make sure they keys are well out of reach. That hasnt made any differenace either!

Our Halfords strore will fit a new Battery for just over £100 (we are in the UK). I think I am going to just have to go with it and see if it makes any differance 

https://www.halfords.com/motoring/batteries/car-batteries/?isVrnSearch=true

Sounds like a familiar story @JTL6060 the exact same thing has happened to me. Even the AA man said the same thing. 

I bought a jump pack, so I could jump it if needs be. Used once so far.

16 hours ago, UncleZen said:

Sounds like a familiar story @JTL6060 the exact same thing has happened to me. Even the AA man said the same thing. 

I bought a jump pack, so I could jump it if needs be. Used once so far.

Luckily I already had a jump pack, as we used to have a camper van that would always needs jump starting after being stored away for the winter, so that has come in handy a couple of times!  

43 minutes ago, JTL6060 said:

Luckily I already had a jump pack, as we used to have a camper van that would always needs jump starting after being stored away for the winter, so that has come in handy a couple of times!  

Just had the Toyota garage spend 5 days checking my Battery and surprise surprise it's A1 OK. So why did it let me down? I use the car every day both short and long ( 30 min. ) trips, weekly hours in ready mode in excess of 4 hours. The technician says that I must run a continuous 40 min. drive once a week which seems to be the Toyota mantra and somewhat contradicts what I've been reading here. If true it's an unnecessary waste of time and money if a larger capacity Battery is all that is required. Interestingly I see that Halfords recommend a 20% higher capacity Battery for this car, 54aH. Maybe that is the answer.

To my way of thinking, if Toyota tests the Battery and say it is absolutely fine, but the car continues not to start, then there is something wrong with the car - they can't have it both ways. Making a car which HAS to have a 40 minute continuous journey once every week is an admission that the car is not fit for purpose.

I've been driving all manner of makes & models of cars over the years - at least 40 or 50 different ones, and this is the only car that regularly lets me down in regard to starting.

I just wish they'd admit that the supplied little Battery isn't man enough and fit them with better ones.

I also wish, despite this problem, that I didn't like the car so much. As I'm on a 4 year PCP deal, there's no way I'm subsidising Toyota by purchasing a better Battery for it myself.

1 hour ago, O.W.L. said:

To my way of thinking, if Toyota tests the battery and say it is absolutely fine, but the car continues not to start, then there is something wrong with the car - they can't have it both ways. Making a car which HAS to have a 40 minute continuous journey once every week is an admission that the car is not fit for purpose.

I've been driving all manner of makes & models of cars over the years - at least 40 or 50 different ones, and this is the only car that regularly lets me down in regard to starting.

I just wish they'd admit that the supplied little battery isn't man enough and fit them with better ones.

I also wish, despite this problem, that I didn't like the car so much. As I'm on a 4 year PCP deal, there's no way I'm subsidising Toyota by purchasing a better battery for it myself.

I'm with you OWL. I like my car and don't want to change it but the uncertainty of it means that I will fork out the £100 for a Battery. It will be cheaper than spending £6 a week on petrol to do an unnecessary run.

Surely it wouldn't cost Toyota much more to put stronger batteries in cars in the first place when you think that we pay £20,000+ for them in the first place.

On 9/18/2023 at 1:45 PM, JTL6060 said:

Interesting Reading this post. My wife has a 2020 CHR 1.8 Hybrid and the battery has failed us for the 5th time since we bought the car from Toyota about 18 months ago.

Its been back to them who tested it for 24hrs and claimed nothing was wrong with it.   There is no pattern to when it fails, could start fine one morning, then fail when you go to start it in the afternoon.  It failed us once when we were on holiday and I'd driven it about 15 mins beforehand, then other times its failed when its been left for a few days. The AA man told us not to leave the key too close to the car overnight as it might be unlocking itself, so we always make sure they keys are well out of reach. That hasnt made any differenace either!

Our Halfords strore will fit a new battery for just over £100 (we are in the UK). I think I am going to just have to go with it and see if it makes any differance 

 

https://www.halfords.com/motoring/batteries/car-batteries/?isVrnSearch=true

 

Looks like your Halfords Battery is HSB 12 thats what comes up on my link if so its also YBX 5202 on Tayna site its the same Battery!.

7 minutes ago, Derek.w said:

Looks like your Halfords battery is HSB 12 thats what comes up on my link if so its also YBX 5202 on Tayna site its the same battery!.

Its not the same HSB12 is 207L 175w 190 H

                          YBK 5292 is 175 175w 190H

I've now bought a new Battery from a local independent company  for £80. they only sell battereis and seemed to have every possible one under the sun.  I had ordered the Halfords one but they cancelled the order as it was out of stock.

Its a Duracell Battery, lets see what happens.....

https://www.duracell-automotive.com/en/Products/Car-batteries/Duracell-Advanced/24-DA-60

On 8/17/2023 at 2:30 PM, Roker said:

Power port meaning the cigarette lighter port, some cars are still live with the ignition off and some remain on, I assume the Toyotas are off because my external Sat Nav shuts down when I press the stop button, which leads to another question,  where do you connect the solar charges inside the car, if they're left outside they will be stolen

I was thinking, would the old type square latter batteries connected in series gives 12v have enough power to jump start the hybrid system.

Certainly a lot cheaper than buying a power pack and possibly last a lot longer

1 hour ago, Roker said:

I was thinking, would the old type square latter batteries connected in series gives 12v have enough power to jump start the hybrid system.

Certainly a lot cheaper than buying a power pack and possibly last a lot longer

Hi Dan

I've no idea really. My present plan is to trickle charge once a fortnight, just in case, during the lifetime of the Toyota guarantee ( 1 year left) then trade it at Halfords for for a 54 aH Battery i.e. 20% stronger, for peace of mind. Overall I do like the car very much.

interesting that 2 uTubers brought car to life with a power tool Battery.

2 minutes ago, loz8 said:

interesting that 2 uTubers brought car to life with a power tool battery.

Honestly, no it's not - but who knows what excites u-tubers ... 😉

2 hours ago, Roker said:

I was thinking, would the old type square latter batteries connected in series gives 12v have enough power to jump start the hybrid system.

Certainly a lot cheaper than buying a power pack and possibly last a lot longer

If you mean 6v lantern batteries then 2 fresh batteries connected in series the right way round would, probably, provide enough power to raise the voltage of a not too tired auxiliary Battery sufficiently to enable a hybrid to go into Ready mode. I'm not sure that I could be bothered to try the experiment though ...

Yes, you could get a pair of them for £12 - £15 (Amazon) and the cheapest jump start pack that would do the job is probably around £20 - £30 (Amazon) so twice as expensive. But a rechargeable jump start pack would last for years, while the zinc carbon batteries would probably need to be replaced every year if you wanted a reliable solution.

Any way you can get 12v! It doesn't take much, just enough to power the ECU long enough to activate the traction Battery contactors - Nowhere near the current needed by a starter motor. My colleague used his son's remote control car Battery to start his Auris once  

22 hours ago, philip42h said:

… Yes, you could get a pair of them for £12 - £15 (Amazon) and the cheapest jump start pack that would do the job is probably around £20 - £30 (Amazon) so twice as expensive. But a rechargeable jump start pack would last for years, while the zinc carbon batteries would probably need to be replaced every year if you wanted a reliable solution.

I purchased a jump pack from Amazon back in 2018 for £25, but so far have only used it to jump start a neighbours diesel Golf which it did easily. 
 

I have been away from home for 3 weeks now and have my Prius connected to my smart charger via a smart plug. I have it come on twice a week for 7 hours and that always works well for me. I have the original Battery from 2017. Luckily my car is garaged so I am able to do this. 

A  CHR passed me in the street today and there was a solar trickle charger on the dashboard.

1 hour ago, UncleZen said:

A  CHR passed me in the street today and there was a solar trickle charger on the dashboard.

That can be dangerous under heavy braking or worse a accedent as it fly off the dashboard!.