Parasytic Battery Drain?

OK, I have a 2019 TRD OFF RD PREM
My bat is typically12.7V after driving then 12.5 V after I let it sit awhile, to rmv surface charge. In 16hrs, or so, , the chg will drop to 12.35V. That isn't the worst bat drain, but seems abnormal. I'll lose .2-.3V in 100 hrs. Maybe 1.5V in a wk. Weather is cold, about 32deg in garage, happens with with OEM Panasonic and now new Interstate 930 CA. Car always STARTS QUICK, little cranking. My ANCEL Bat tester will say Good Bat 75% , or Gd battery50% RECHARGE. I do lv Garmin GPS & Dashcam plugged in, but off. Phone. cords disconnected. I guess I'm not sure if I have a problem, but could have in 2 or 3 wks. Never worried about checking bat's b4, don't know what normal is. Your thoughts would be appreciated. Are your Gen 5's similar. Thanks, Nolan

 

I only drive my 22 ORP once a week or so and I suspected a drain. I now keep it 24x7 on a CTek charger in the garage when I'm not driving it. I put a plug-in pigtail adapter on the battery posts so it's a very easy part of my routine. I have the same setup and routine with my Polaris Ranger.

 

Why are you testing it to begin with?

 

My 4 year old, daily driven, well maintained, California OEM Panasonic battery acts about the same. Yours is probably OK.

But if you’re concerned you can measure your parasitic current draw.
https://www.4runners.com/threads/ma...ck-wont-start-at-all.21042/page-2#post-309640

The resting voltage measurement gives you a quick estimate of battery health. Or go get a load test at an auto parts store.
https://www.4runners.com/threads/clicking-sound-and-not-starting.24209/#post-317604

 

There is always a drain on the battery for the computer's "Keep Alive" memory circuit. A good battery should not have any issues with this normal (and small) drain unless your vehicle sits several weeks without being started. If this is the case then you might want to consider disconnecting the battery when the engine won't be operated for several weeks. When batteries get weak (due to age or defects) you may have battery issues just after a week to ten days but "normal" operating batteries can handle the slight computer drain for 3-4 weeks without the worry of a dead battery..

 

If you are losing a substantial amount of battery power to some type of parasitic drain, 10 bucks says it’s some type of dealer installed tracking device they put in in case you didn’t make your payments.

 

Bat was a couple yrs old when I got it. Checking battery condition w/my fancy new DMM & ANCEL tester seemed like thing to do.For all I know, all my different cars and bat's have behaved like this.

 

When Checking for bat draw, some just disconnect bat term & measure mA's. Others make sure bat is never disconnected using jumper wire. Hoping my UTI clamp meter will work on it. I guess my main point is : Do I have enuff drain to be concerned about? Battery should not be too low to start in a couple weeks-but don't ver remember going that long.

I have used my NOCO Genius 5 bat tender now set up similar to cuse93's recommendation to use quick. Hangs on wall mount they provide. Also carry a bat booster NOCO or Nexpow at all times. Tested both & they will start vehicle with bat disconnected.

 

Thank you for replies, and also for those links.

 

If your DMM clamp-on current probe can read down to tens of milliamps you can characterize your battery standby current. 10 to 50 milliamps would be normal for a stock 4Runner.

 

It was good, under 25 mA's. Open door to vfy meter is working, jumps to 1.5A. And yet, overnight I'll be at 12.35V or so. Alternator test says ok.

 

You’re OK, still good. That’s typical of a normal aging battery.
Mine was at 12.4V this morning.

I’ve seen various charts for the state of charge for resting batteries. Here is one.

 

My battery is a new 24F interstate. 935 CA, 750 CCA. I do have cranking pwr to spare.

 

It’s been pretty cold here in NY and I started my 22 for the first time in 15 days yesterday, started right up everything was good. I try to avoid driving in the slush and salt so winter it will be sitting a lot.

 

I'd posted before that the battery on my nearly new 4Runner died after the truck sat unused for just 4 days. Normal temps, was in a garage etc. I suspected that the culprit was the computer running too much due to Toyota's piss poor implementation of its "Safety Connect" and "Remote Connect" systems, which involve regular communications to the Toyota mothership over the truck's built in cellular connection. I suspected this because this has been the main theory behind the documented epidemic of battery drain in the Rav4.

Soooo, for what it's worth, my truck just sat for 7 days with no use. And then it started up immediately. The only difference between these two events that I know of? I since turned off all that internet connected nonsense.

Not proof, but it is evidence. And a suggestion for anyone experiencing unexplained battery failures in 2020+ 4Runners.

 

I turned all that off before I ever drove away from the dealership, both on the app in the communication / privacy / data section & I had a sticker on the lamp assembly by the sunroof that said to disconnect communication from all services to hold the SOS button down. If I push sos nothing happens now. I had mine sit for 15 + days in the dead ass of NY winter and she started up right away no complaints.

 

https://www.4runners.com/threads/ho...s-tracker-consume-how-to-get-rid-of-it.33233/

I met the shit

 

how long you waited to get under 25ma? with hood closed or open？

 

have you checked this?
https://www.4runners.com/threads/ho...s-tracker-consume-how-to-get-rid-of-it.33233/

 

7 days is nothing have you tried to let car sit idle for longer time say 3 weeks?

 

"My 4 year old, daily driven, well maintained, California OEM Panasonic battery acts about the same."
Do you mean the voltage will drop from 12.6v to 12.35v in 24hrs?
How you measure the voltage? is it with load(open door) or OCV/resting?

I measured voltage drop from 12.6v to 12.52v in one week (measured right after I opened door to open hood not OCV)
https://www.4runners.com/threads/wh...r-one-week-intermittent-parasitic-draw.33374/
Thanks a lot for your input as reference

 

Well, 3 months after that post my battery died. I was listening to the radio while parked for 10 minutes after which it would not start the engine.
It did start with my jump starter battery pack, which I always carry in my tool kit.
The next day I bought a new Costco battery and going forward will do this every 3 years. Don’t want to wait for a failure at the wrong time.

 

abnormal voltage drop seems to be a signal of a failing car battery?

 

If your battery doesn’t hold its charge then it could be heading toward failure. You have to make that judgement based on how much the voltage drops over what time duration.

Here’s a reference:

 

If it's possible, Can you post your new battery voltage drop over one/several days?
I'm suspecting my new battery is toasted by extra parasitic draw and losing charge recently
I need a reference to judge if it's abnormal
Thanks a lot

 

For my 14 month old Costco (Interstate) 24F flooded lead-acid battery I got these readings:
After driving for 4-5 hours, ambient temperature of 75-85°F, 12.70V.
After sitting overnight for 12 hours, 12.50V.

 

12.7v to 12.5v overnight?
how you measure the voltage? right after you open door/hood? or it's a resting reading long after open door/hood?
Have you tested State of Health of your battery?
It seems that your 14 month old battery already struggled to hold charge now

Found a reference
https://www.optimabatteries.com/exp...tery-after-a-week-without-starting-the-engine
2001 BMW Z3 voltage drops from 12.6v to 12.46v after park for one week
Author didn't mention age of the battery

 

Batteries will always slowly discharge. Even with no connections to the terminals. Modern cars have a number of circuits that draw quiescent (aka standby, keep-alive, parasitic) current that contributes to the slow discharge. That’s why you have to daily drive your vehicle or charge the battery periodically to keep it as healthy as possible during its service life. But it still slowly deteriorates. After several years you just need to replace it. Hot ambient temperatures accelerate the deterioration.

If your quiescent current, measured after the ~20 minute time it takes for the MB ECU to go to sleep, is less than 50 mA, that’s the best you can do. If you have an aftermarket head unit or dealer installed GPS tracker or extra circuitry plugged into the OBD port (which provides always-on 12V) your current may be greater.

It seems your battery experience is typical. I wouldn’t stress about it.