Battery problem with Toyota Corolla tourer - Hybrid

The car went in for its first service and came out with a FAIL on the Main Battery. When  I queried this I was told it is because I only do approx 4500 miles a year.

To solve this problem RRG AT ROCHDALE, LANCASHIRE have supplied me with a SOLAR PANEL which I have to plug in every day when the car is parked at night.

Surely a new car which I bought in April 2022 should not have a fault like this.

3 minutes ago, Gillian Buckley said:

The car went in for its first service and came out with a FAIL on the Main Battery. When  I queried this I was told it is because I only do approx 4500 miles a year.

To solve this problem RRG AT ROCHDALE, LANCASHIRE have supplied me with a SOLAR PANEL which I have to plug in every day when the car is parked at night.

Surely a new car which I bought in April 2022 should not have a fault like this.

 

 

I got a Corolla just before lock down and it did less than that in that year but had no issues

It's a well known problem there is a 62 page thread in the Yaris forums -

To save you time reading the whole thread you have some options -

Drive the car more than a couple of times a week.

Leave it in ready mode when  stood still with someone in the car the engine will kick in occasionally this will top up the 12v Battery.

Buy a charger if you are not going to drive often, only of any use if you can park where you can plug a charger in.

Use a solar panel to keep the Battery from dying, i believe they wont charge the Battery but will stop it getting any lower.

Change the car for a non hybrid if you don't intend to drive it often.

The 12v Battery in hybrids and some EVs (not just Toyotas) only power the ancilliary systems, rather than start the car. If doing a low mileage or with infrequent use, the 12v Battery doesn't get charged sufficiently, and can fail due to this.

Trickle or solar chargers can help maintain the 12v Battery.

You can also put the car in Ready mode for a short period of time to charge the 12v as outlined in the previously linked topic.

Even some petrol cars nowadays, including our i20, also have warnings appear if using the multimedia or sat nav systems without the engine running.

A common problem with a low mileage and new car 😞

41 minutes ago, Dala said:

A common problem with a low mileage and new car 😞

A common problem with a low mileage and new Hybrid car,

Its only the hybrid that has the tiny 12v Battery as Frosty says above it only powers  the ancillary 12v systems the car doesn't have a starter like an ICE so doesn't need a huge Battery.

On 9/28/2023 at 5:33 PM, Gillian Buckley said:

 

To solve this problem RRG AT ROCHDALE, LANCASHIRE have supplied me with a SOLAR PANEL which I have to plug in every day when the car is parked at night.

Surely plugging a solar charger at night is a no no. Where does it plug in to, as the internal power socket is ignition feed so will not charge the Battery. Would have to go direct to Battery. 

Aside from the above, if plugged in at night surely it would need to be a lunar panel .....

It doesn't help that the corolla has conected services (think mobile phone permanent switched on) as well as security alarm. 

I've had my 2019 Corolla TS nearly 4 years and have done about 15000 miles in that time.

The Battery failed me last Christmas when I washed the car with the key in my pocket. The doors kept locking and unlocking, but I thought nothing of it till I tried to start the car after packing it. Nothing happened except the dash lit up with all the lights on. The AA started it and told me to keep it running for a while.

It's been fine since though I carry one of the rechargeable starter batteries now, though have never used it.

The last service in February noted a drop in performance of the 12v Battery, so I guess that was the cause but it keeps working & I have the backup so I'm not worried. If it fails to start again for no reason I'll have it changed.

These days, we should have jump starter in any cars. The electronics and mandatory emergency calls and too much background electronics can anytime went bananas. A good proven save small Battery pack should be enough. The car only need 60Amps to start the computer and hybrid system on. 

On 9/28/2023 at 5:37 PM, simond64 said:

I got a Corolla just before lock down and it did less than that in that year but had no issues

On 9/28/2023 at 10:27 PM, Corolla Mike. said:

Surely plugging a solar charger at night is a no no. Where does it plug in to, as the internal power socket is ignition feed so will not charge the battery. Would have to go direct to battery. 

It is plugged into a socket underneath to the right of the steering wheel. There is white socket you have to bend quite low to see it, and the connection end of the Solar Panel is connected to it. Toyota told me that is where they do all there updates

1 hour ago, Gillian Buckley said:

 

It is plugged into a socket underneath to the right of the steering wheel. There is white socket you have to bend quite low to see it, and the connection end of the Solar Panel is connected to it. Toyota told me that is where they do all there updates

That sounds like the OBD port.

16 hours ago, Gillian Buckley said:

 

It is plugged into a socket underneath to the right of the steering wheel. There is white socket you have to bend quite low to see it, and the connection end of the Solar Panel is connected to it. Toyota told me that is where they do all there updates

Thats sounds right as it is the OBD diagnostic port. Hope this has sorted the issue for you. 

One important thing to all Toyota hybrids owners and the 12v Battery problems.
Better option is to have a smart charger or keep the car in ready mode and top up your Battery once a month or so and never let it run flat instead of having a jump start as emergency back up.
Once the Battery is totally dead likely never going to rejuvenate its full potential and you will need to replace it.
Keep your 12v batteries topped up and they will last for ages. 

I find it hard to believe that the engineers at Toyota didn't think this issue through. Essentially, you have a many amp hour 600 volt Battery under the back seat that is useless if your little 12 volt Battery goes dead.  If only they had installed a voltage converter on the big Battery to run the aux and gas engine starter.

I've had this issue from lack of use. Jump start and the engine runs for a few minutes and shuts off= no restart!

17 minutes ago, JayDZ said:

I find it hard to believe that the engineers at Toyota didn't think this issue through. Essentially, you have a many amp hour 600 volt battery under the back seat that is useless if your little 12 volt battery goes dead.  If only they had installed a voltage converter on the big battery to run the aux and gas engine starter.

I've had this issue from lack of use. Jump start and the engine runs for a few minutes and shuts off= no restart!

Problem here is if the HV Battery is itself on the low side you could end up with insufficient SOC to start the engine and then you are looking at a bigger job, probably not roadside and possibly a bill too. 

Also that requires additional components and circuitry that add to the cost of the vehicle. Given that most owners have probably never had a problem with their 12v Battery (I never have through Covid Lockdowns and leaving the car at airports for a couple of weeks) it may be very difficult to justify that.

The motor industry has always been very, careful about build costs. I they can save 1p by omitting something they will do so.

My 2000 Corolla 2.0 hybrid has the same issue. After it started doing some weird stuff and wouldn’t move, Toyota recovery was called and the guy from the AA couldn’t have been more helpful.  It was a failed 12v Battery.  I cover 16K miles a year so it hasn’t failed from low mileage. Interestingly, he said that he had been called out to a lot of failed Toyota batteries in the last few months. Mine is covered under warranty so it will be back at the garage tomorrow as this is the second time it has happened. They need the car for 48 hours to charge the Battery and retest. What’s the betting they tell me it’s fine like the last time? 🤔

I’ve had batteries on a few cars only last 3-4 years, they don’t seem to be as well made as earlier ones. 
 

if they run the proper midtronics tester on it, that should tell you if it’s ok. Just a voltage reading isn’t enough. 
 

the newer cars seem to have higher capacity batteries, so hopefully if they replace it you will get a better one. 
 

I know someone who gets 10+ years from a Battery, but that’s a giant 20kg one in a diesel landrover. 

Are they going to give you a courtesy car for the 48 hours they claim to need the car to charge the Battery?

When the 12v batteries on our C-HR and Corolla were showing signs of coming to the end of their life I pondered attempting to claim from Toyota under the warranty. However you can buy good quality Varta or Yuasa batteries in this size online, delivered, for about £75. I decided life was too short to faff around trying to claim from Toyota and instead bought and fitted new batteries myself. 

Nick,

When you changed the batteries yourself was it just a matter of removing the old and fitting the new?  I was wondering what needs to be reset, radio is the most obvious but is there anything else.

Just now, Trewithy said:

Nick,

When you changed the batteries yourself was it just a matter of removing the old and fitting the new?  I was wondering what needs to be reset, radio is the most obvious but is there anything else.

Yes, it was just a straight swap on both cars. Toyota have (so far) avoided the silliness of some manufacturers where the new Battery capacity needs to be programmed into the ECU! 

The only issue was that the Corolla needed to be driven a short distance afterwards to clear a dash warning relating to one of the safety systems. That's apparently normal, and is just for the system to recalibrate itself (I can't remember the exact warning message now). 

9 hours ago, sportse said:

I know someone who gets 10+ years from a battery, but that’s a giant 20kg one in a diesel landrover. 

Ahh my diesel Yaris was like that - Never had to change the Battery in the whole time I owned it and it was over 10 years old by that point; I suspect it still had the same Battery from factory judging by how dirty it was  

It was starting to get a teeny bit sluggish to start in particularly cold winters but I got KHAAAAN'd before it got anywhere near bad enough I considered it needing changing.

Still, my Mk4's is still doing fine (touch wood, touch rabbits foot, spin round 3 times, throw salt over shoulder etc.) so will be interesting to see how that does!

My Battery survived 13.5 years , all lockdowns and occasional use previously. No connected services and no screens in the car.