Battery died

My battery died Monday night. Had AAA come out to jump it this morning and they tested the battery and alt. Alt tested fine, but the battery came back with 0 cold cranks. It's a completely stock '14 Limited and I don't even have a cell phone charger in my car. As I was walking back inside, my neighbor heard my alarm going off Monday night. I do remember that night when I got out of my car, it kept beeping as though lights were on or there was another issue. I checked all the usual things and noticed nothing out of the norm. Any thoughts on what could have drained the battery? Do these have a known power leak somewhere?

So of course I have done some research on new batteries. It seems the way to go might be a AMG battery. I've read that Optimum are no longer a great brand since they were bought out. Any suggestions for brands?

 

Yes yes AGM’s about $180 I think from Advance Auto...You got 6 years out of a battery....

 

I'm confused.

If it kept beeping after you tried to lock it, did you go back to see what the problem was?

If so, did you fix the problem and get it to stop?

If not, that's pretty much definitely what drained the battery.

Either way, that battery is at least 6-7 years old. From what I've read, that's longer than many are getting out of their batteries these days.

 

Oh, I see where people might be confused. Maybe I can clear it up. Battery was dead Tuesday morning. On Wednesday morning I had it jump started. That is the day my neighbor came out and said that on Monday night he heard my alarm going off. Don't Toyota alarms turn off after a certain period of time? That's what I've experienced in all of my previous cars (non Toyota). If they are known for staying on, then that is why my battery died.

 

Could be a combination of the alarm and a seven-year-old battery.

But, you said you heard it beeping as you were getting out. Was it after you shut it off? Or, after you got out and locked it? When you lock a Toyota and it continues to beep, that means a door is open or something. I don't think it will stop until you close the door.

 

Probably your alarm, or whatever the neighbor was describing to you, was a symptom of the bad battery. Electrical systems do weird shit when a battery takes a final crap. The battery is 6+ years old, which is pretty old. Replace it and that'll most likely clear up any other weird electrical issues.

 

Ah, crap. Had I only read what it was your comment was about. Sorry about that. I blame it on the lack of coffee at the time I responded . Yes, that initial beeping was resolved. I closed the drivers side door (me still in it) and reopened it. That beeping stopped.

One other thing that was weird for a few weeks leading up to this was occasionally I would have to hold my key fob to the push button in order for the car to start. I'm assuming that was an early sign of my battery dying.

 

Sounds right. 6-7 years is pretty good for a battery. I would replace it and not think twice about the other stuff unless it keeps happening.

 

I just made (2) years on the original and its coming out before it dies.

6 years is damn god on any battery.

 

This makes me nervous about mine!

The OEM battery on my '03 lasted about 8-10 years. I don't recall exactly. But, at 15 years old and 257K it was on it's second battery. The original was a Panasonic.

 

My batteries on my Colorado and wifes Highlander both died shortly after the 2 year mark. My TBSS died right after the 3. Luckily both times it was dead when trying to leave home and not stranded somewhere.

I'm not taking any chances. And since I don't drive my 4R much the battery is just sitting.

 

This is what worries me. I have a jumper pack, but I don't really trust it.

 

I change before 5 years rolls around.

 

Hot weather kills batteries. I was lucky to get two years out of a battery in Arizona. Same deal with tires. Usually had plenty of tread left while the sidewalls were cracking and getting dangerous.

 

I used to drive trucks, buses, jeeps across India in the early 1970's for a school I was at. In summer, all the heavy traffic would have to stop after about an hour driving in midday to let the tires cool down. That was the only way to keep the rubber from coming apart. Compounds were crude, and your sandals would sink into the asphalt. Batteries would last one year and vehicle maintenance was a full time process.
There were great funky Sikh trucker line hotels every 10 or 15 miles on any major road that served India's best fresh tasty food and great sweet milk tea. Customers sat outside on woven rope wood bedframes, where you could conk out for a while at night or after a meal or some tea and sweets while your tires cooled down. Sometimes the rivers would run, during the monsoon season rains that are happening right now, and we would get stuck for hours or a day or longer waiting for the water to go down. Then the long line of waiting trucks and buses and wedding parties in cars would get across and travel on in a long line. Good memories.

 

Yeah, it seems that heat is the biggest enemy of batteries. In the cold climates, everyone worries about their battery dying in the middle of winter. But, it's more likely to crap out on them in the summer heat.

I only wish that the battery in this 4Runner could live up to the OEM Panasonic battery that came in my 2003 4Runner. That thing was way above average and how long it lasted. Plus, it functioned perfectly until it was dead.

 

2014 is way overdue for a new battery. Panasonic OEM one is great battery but 6+ years is pushing it. As for AGM i cant say yet since I'm using Northstar AGM and loving it for 3 years now. If it lasts more than 5 years I'd recommend it if less I wouldn't because of premium price. The time will tell. GL

 

Wish we could get Panasonics at the local parts store.

 

Same with my '01. The OEM battery lasted about 9 years. Best I've gotten on replacements is 4 years. I used to buy Exide batteries at Kmart since they were easy to warranty out and replace.

The battery on my '18 came up DOA after about a year. Had the dealer run the usual warranty diagnostics and everything came back as "normal" so they wouldn't replace. It's been doing fine since then.

 

How is experience with Interstate? They used to be better than most.

 

our 2018 4runner Panasonic battery, we have had no problem till today, and it is dead, we only drive it once a week. but we have a 10 yr old Camry that I put a float charger under the hood, and we keep it plugged in it of course does fine. but this is too new to die from what I see on here about this battery People say it will last 6-10 yrs? we didn't leave anything on or any doors open, my wife drove it yesterday. I figured since we bought it new in early 2018, the battery can be from 2017. But that's as bad as a US battery. My sons store sells the AMG, He's going to get us one tomorrow, I am just not sure why it died like it did.

 

If you drive once a week. I recommend a trickle charger for $30-$50 on Amazon. You want to top off the battery then let it low every week. That's how battery pre-mature dies.

 

Yeah we have a Camry also and we don't want to be without a car, so the Camry is in the driveway with a float charger that I mounted under the hood a yr ago, to keep it charged we only drive it in town,(it's our backup car) and we try to drive it once a week, but the 4Runner we drive sometimes once a week, sometimes several Times, but we have times that it will sit for a couple weeks .
Thanks for the charger idea, I guess I was in a wishful thinking when I thought the 4Runner would do ok with as little driving as we do. I am going to mount an onboard float charger in a few days , My son brought us a new battery yesterday. Its a really good AMG , Gel battery. We still do some off road, ( so gel is best, plus with the float charger it may last 5 yrs) When we put it in the 4runner cranked over much faster than it has in months!! so it has been not getting a good charge or the battery may have a cell going bad. With only a $5 core I decided to keep the old Panasonic battery, I may be able to use it with solar system,, I have 3 separate solar panel systems for my 12v home setup, We loose our AC power in the winter, at times, so I keep adding on to my systems in any way I can. We still love our 2018 4Runner, even though we can't get enough off road time. So it's most likely our falt the Panasonic only lasted almost 3 yrs.

 

haha, my 4Runner drive less than yours. I wash my 4R more than I drive it. The whole month since I purchased it's only 55 miles. Two things I don't let my car get low is Battery and Tire pressure. Hey, take some pics of your floating charger installs, what brand is your AMG Gel battery?

 

My 2015 Trail still has original Panasonic battery. May change it out soon, you guys are making me nervous!!

 

I will get the float charger installed next week on the e4Runner. The Camry is a vey old install, so not a good source for a pic.

 

I have a 2011 4Runner and the Panasonic battery started acting up last year, so I replaced it. It never did die. Excellent battery.
Replaced with an Odyssey Extreme, which, I found out after the fact, requires more than 14.1 volts to keep charged. I added an ArclightLED voltage booster (https://www.arclightleds.com/collec...ooster-5th-gen-4runner-fj-cruiser-pg2tb-brs6a), which seems to keep the battery satisfied.

 

Welcome.

 

Take a look a battery tender on Amazon. I bought these years ago for my boat and cars.

They turn on and off automatically and personally I love them. Guys with classic cars use then a lot and boats. Very simple hook up with alligator clips and plug it in.

 

I can't remember getting any more than 3 years on any battery I've ever owned. My OEM tundra battery last 1 year. My Blue Top Optima lasted 3. But, I live in Arizona and heat kills batteries. I'd say you are way ahead of the curve.