Battery keeps dying

Hello all

I have a 2017 TRD Pro that I just recently changed the battery on to the red top Optima. (I think) the previous battery had gone bad as I kept having to jump the truck to get it going. Now, a few weeks later after replacing the battery, I am having issues with the Optima battery and cannot get the truck started. What could be the issue?

I take the truck out once every 3-4 days, so it is typically sitting in my driveway in Florida. When I do take it out, I am typically just running the DRLs, the "raptor" lights in the grill, and my stereo (subs and all). I do have other items hooked to the battery... 3 other light bars, ditch lights, and under carriage lights but I do not typically run those.

Is it just from sitting?
Is the battery not getting enough of a re-charge when I do take it out?
Do I need stronger alternator?
Dual battery?
Possibly a persistent electric leak?
Something else?

Any help to point me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

 

all the above ( singularly ) could be Ur headache

ALL accesories should be connected to the vehicle thru a device like a " Centech '

connected to the battery

if ANY issues arise simply disconnect ALL NON OEM electronic accessories
by disconnecting the Centech a process o elimination

the gremlin is from the OEM Unadulterated wiring harness

or

its a gremlin raising its ugly head from the Centech side
giving a better opportunity of trouble shooting

 

what is your battery voltage with the engine off?
what is the voltage with the engine on?
did you have this problem before you wired up your lights and amp?
if not start disconnecting your wiring from the power and see if that helps

 

Thank you for your thoughts. I am running everything off of the switch pro so I will check this.

 

Thank you for the information. I know Optima has lost a lot of fans over the years. I may (eventually) switch out to Odyssey batteries when I move to do dual battery system. As for the connections, I've tested to make sure all are tight and that the terminal areas are all clean. This is maybe 3 weeks after installing the new battery. Thank you for the video also, I'll check that out and see if I can find anything.

 

Thank you for your reply. I will check the voltage in a few hours and see what I can come up with. I've been running this same setup for quite some time (2+ years), with similar vehicle use, without an issue. This is a relatively new problem (past 4-5 months) that just started happening.

 

Maybe too much parasitic draw from your electrical accesories
https://youtu.be/B1moJh5HpyY

 

Check your battery terminals

Check your aftermarket add ons that are electrical

Check to see if your battery has water (not sure if it is a sealed unit or not)

Check to see if your alternator is bad

 

I agree, check for parastatic losses from your accessories but you may also want to check the 'resting' Voltage on your battery after the truck has been sitting for a day or so. I just had a 1.5 year old Optima Yellow Top fail in a similar way in a different vehicle. In my case if I let the car sit for a couple of days my 'resting' Voltage would drop to 11.5VDC. Charge the battery or bump start the car and the battery would be fine again for a while. The good news is I returned the battery the Autozone where I bought it and they immediately gave me a brand-new Yellow Top to replace my bad one. We'll see how long this one lasts but it appears that their quality has gone downhill.

 

One thought. Do you make a lot of short trips. Short trips are worse than letting it sit. The frequent starting and short drive times end up in a insufficiently charged battery.

 

Bad alternator ...

 

Thank you all for your replies...It looks like it is a combination of my lack of use of the truck, short trips, and constant pinging of cell towers from my alarm system. Putting in dual battery and solar panel this week to keep the battery charged. Thank you guys for pointing me in the right direction.

 

Just to update, after installing the solar panel I have not had any further issues.

 

It still may be worth it to find the source of the power draw.

 

Sorry, should have updated with that also... it was my alarm system constantly pinging the cell with the updated location and confirming connection.

 

Interesting. How did that start causing issues? I mean, I'm assuming it was working normal before.

 

I think the biggest difference was my use of the truck. When things were going good pre-solar panel, I was using the truck a lot more. Then I guess I with quarantine and everything I stopped taking real trips and would only use the truck maybe once a week for a short trip to supermarket. It is very possible that the issue is/was somewhere else but we couldn't find any leaks or issue with the alternator. The alarm system is the only thing we've deduced so far.

 

My mom’s RAV4 battery kept dying. Turns out the head unit was not going into standby/suspend when the car was turned off. Took several days to diagnose to the root cause.

 

wow maybe Toyota corp. should standardize Solar panels on all their vehicles

 

Is it a aftermarket Alarm System?