Dead Battery after 1yr, 8months. Guess what saved my A$$?

So I walked out to my truck yesterday morning and my 2017 wouldn't start. Loud clicking sound when hitting the push button but no turn over. All my lights would power on fine and nothing was left on the night before. Immediately I started thinking about what I would have done had I been camping off grid or in a remote spot with no other vehicles close by (I do this fairly frequently).

So what saved me this time (and totally justifies buying this little gadget recently) was a portable battery tester/jump starter. Damn I debated about this thing, but I'll tell you that $60 was well worth it to get my truck to the dealer, let alone if I was really out in the middle of nowhere!

Anyways, Toyota warrantied the bad battery and told me it died so soon because I have Baja Designs ditch lights and a CB radio hooked up to the battery terminals directly.

I'm hesitant to believe these things killed a battery, but what do you guys think?

TLDR: Buy a portable jump starter!

 

I thought you were gonna say that you got a jump from a Ridgeline

 

HA! That would have been good. No Ridgelines on my street. Just a few other Tacos, a Tundra and a Gladiator.

 

the stock batteries are trash you should replace it anyway.

it is possible you have parasitic draw but unless you left something on, shouldn’t kill it unless it’s sitting for a while.

 

I've got one of those too. They really are pretty great. Doubles as a phone charger and flashlight too.

 

I thought you were gonna say MT.....so I stopped reading at PUSH BUTTON

 

Yeah for sure. That was my thought exactly. I know the stock batteries are terrible but still, I don't have anything crazy going to it. But yeah it makes me thing about a duel battery setup as I add more.

 

If it was a manual I could have just pushed it down a hill and popped the clutch right? HAHA

 

I keep one of those emergency jumpers in my truck box as well. It has saved my ass once or twice in the last few years.

 

I thought you were going to say you have a manual and just popped the clutch and were good to go.

 

Mine has only been used to help others that were stranded, but they do rock. If you want USB C ports, I really like mine:
https://www.amazon.com/iClever-2000..._5?keywords=iclever+800&qid=1573235760&sr=8-5

 

Yep! Very similar to the one I have: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MY9FZM4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

I’m running a single 27f in my truck. All my accessories (except fridge) go through a switch pro so they are shut down with ignition. Fridge has low voltage shutoff. I also have a jump pack.

 

stock batteries are garbage. mine died for no reason whatsoever. luckily it was at home so AAA replaced it and i was on my way. deep cycle optimas are on my future mod list tho. i wouldn't run any real accessories without a deep cycle.

 

Yeah same here. Have never had to use it on my truck, just other people's cars. So nice not having to back their cars out of parking spaces and maneuver your car around yada yada...

 

Those portable jump starters are awesome. I would recommend everybody have one! I take mine out and charge it every 2-3 months.

As others have said, I've never had to use it luckily but I have jumped 5ish other random cars with it.


And OP, my truck is older than yours and I have a CB, ditch lights, light bar, 600w amp, HIDs hooked up...no issues yet but I imagine I'll get that same run around by the dealer when mine finally goes out.

 

I have one too, never had to use it on my truck but when my wife's Honda wouldn't start it worked great to fire it right up. I think they are a smart thing to carry whether you go off the grid or just commute around town. Much simpler than having to get a jump from another vehicle, though I do carry jumper cables just in case.

Also easier than having to collect loose change, sponges, and whatever else Walt and Jesse used to make a DIY battery to jump start their meth lab RV in that one episode of Breaking Bad

 

Toyota Warrantied the battery even though they claimed to find that things you added caused it to to bad? You have a good dealer. Mine blames any problem I've had on anything they can possibly think of, even if their excuse barely forms a coherent sentence.

Edit: just realized you're in so cal. Me too, what dealer do you go to?

 

Got 7 years out of my stock battery and I replaced it before it ever died.

Sorry yours crapped out but glad you had a way to get it started.

Got a good lol at the MT comments

Happy Friday y'all

 

Haha!! Same thing saved me as the OP. Used it to jump the truck, got to work that day and just picked up a new battery the next day. Got a year and a half and 40,000 miles out of my stock battery