Reoccurring dead battery

My 2015 4 Runner has had 5 battery replacements, the last being 19 months ago. I live in New England so I don't think heat is the cause. I have a dealer installed car seat that doesn't work, so it is in the off position. I have a car starter which is used infrequently (installed by a local shop which sells them). Every time I turn off the car, I turn off the radio and heat. One time we added some water to the battery which worked for a while. It doesn't seem to need water at this point. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Check the alternator. A bad diode can drain the battery when the car is off, but charge it when it’s running.

 

You need to do parasitic draw test. Many vids on youtube explaining how.

 

Welcome. Sounds like something is continually draining the battery. Are the battery replacements new? How long does the 4Runner sit between driving?

 

I have tried to start my car everyday for the last year. If I don't , chances are that it won't start. Last new battery was in Oct. 2022. I don't drive it everyday but will start it up and let it run for a minute or so. I agree about something draining it. Thank you.

 

Ryan99Z28 and Rocko9999 : thank you for your suggestions. I will look into these.

 

I bet its one of those add ons.

Doesn't matter if you use it or not.

 

Parasitic draw test for sure. If you don't use the aftermarket stuff, take it out IMHO.

 

It’s really bad for an automobile engine to only run for short periods. I would start using a battery tender (trickle charger), and I wouldn’t start the Runner unless you wan to drive it.
I’ve had good luck with both inexpensive and nicer ones.
The last battery I replaced in one of my cars that only gets driven occasionally lasted more than 10 years, only changed it because I wanted to go to a lighter/smaller battery. Granted, this particular car’s computer only controls the ignition.
I use a battery tender on my runner.

 

Two fold benefit, keeps battery top charged and rats don’t like to make camp in cars with open hoods normally.

 

My bet is that it is car starter that causes this issue. As a temporary solution and workaround, you can purchase battery tender/trickle charger.

 

Why do you think it’s the starter?

 

My son has a 2009 Corolla that has an aftermarket remote start (not starter, so apologies if that's what Sin4R is referring to) that failed, and the first evidence was a parasitic drain causing the battery to go flat after a few days. I tracked down the fuses in the steering column and removed them, all good for years now.

 

How many miles? Alternator brushes start to fail near 200k miles. They start having trouble topping off the battery, which gets slowly worse. A $20 fix.

 

Do you know the manufacturer of the remote start? Any other aftermarket items?

 

I meant aftermarket remote starter. Because these tend to malfunction and not properly shut down.

 

A trickle charge is not the fix its a band aid.

I drive my Tacoma maybe once every couple weeks and I have never had issues with the battery. And most of the time its short drives just to tow the boat to the pier.

Unless you are ok with the band aid I wouldn't be.

 

It was a suggestion for OP that has been starting and running motor for a minute or two repeatedly, not giving the battery time to charge.
Edit: battery tenders will help prevent sulfating that kill batteries. I’m not saying don’t check for a short or current draw while the car is off. I am saying starting a car and only running the engine for a minute or two isn’t replacing the charge lost while cranking engine.

 

People tend to chose the easy way out now day.

OP already knew there was an issue so the fix was to start to try to start it every day. Suggesting a tender at this point its just a bandaid.

 

I'm with @Gracio here. I don't think a minute or two is enough to top off the battery.

I think, if you don't drive it every day, a battery tender as mentioned above will be the best solution.

But, I think it's worth checking for parasitic draw as well.

Welcome to the forum!

 

I think its 20min per turnover to recharge what it took to start.

OP seems to have disappeared, i was going to point out some remote starts pull 40ma but OP never replied what starter OP had.

 

Very good point, if you’re use a bandaid to deal with a problem, trickle charger is much better than the 1 min run cycles.

The car care nut had a video on an Avalon with 11,000 miles that was only used on very short trips. It had a hole host of issues that all came out of the short trips. The ecu makes the engine run rich until it gets warm. If it’s always run cold, the rich fuel mixture washes the oil film off the walls of the cylinder, and you get fuel leak-down last the rings. You can tell if this is happening if your motor oil smells like fuel. In some bad cases, your engine oil level can even increase due to the amount of fuel that leaks down.

For cars that are not used frequently, it’s much better to schedule a 10 mile drive every so often, instead of frequent short runs. Besides rich fuel, short engine runs won’t allow condensation to evaporate, and you’ll fill the exhaust with water and rust the exhaust out sooner than it should.

Regarding the weak battery symptoms, it’s probably a faulty aftermarket electrical item. Whether it be a remote start module, or one of those stupid “lo-jack” tracking devices dealers like to quickly install before putting cars up for sale.