Need help!!! In a bad situation with a dying battery, need advice asap!

It’s Sunday morning and I need to find a fix for my 2011 tacos dead battery issue before tomorrow morning. Any help at all will be so greatly appreciated!

Woke up yesterday to a dead battery. Jumped it with a portable jump pack, started right up with no charging time necessary. Runs great. Go run an errand, park turn off truck, get back in and the truck and it starts and I go home. Once parked back at home for over an hour or so, go to start again and won’t start (but headlights still work).
Hook up jump pack, starts no problem.
Final piece of data to be considered is I have aftermarket LED Alpha Rex headlights, and I’ve had a few instances where I came back to the truck and an amber colored part of the headlights were on.
SO, here’s the question…is it the battery, the alternator, or do I have an issue with my headlights drawing current while the trucks off?
If option 3, I’m decently capable but electrical wiring is like rocket science to me so explain like you’re talking to a child please!

Lastly, I have an absolutely insane week ahead starting tomorrow morning so any help would literally be a godsend Thank you TW!!!!

 

Did you just install those headlights or any other electrical stuff?
If so, then possibly yes it’s that.

How many miles on the truck?
I have an own alternator on my 4Runner that’s 326k miles old… unlikely.
With the truck running, measure the voltage between the battery posts with a multimeter. Should be around 14v.

When was the battery last replaced?
This is most likely the issues. Time for a new one. They can last anywhere from 2-6 year+. Depends on a lot of factors, heat, trip type, load on the battery, etc…

I’d run a grab a new battery from a dealer or other auto store. You should be fine.

 

I'd be hesitant to say it was the alternator. Others may have, but me personally have not had one go out at only ~13 years unless you bury it in water a lot. How old is the battery? It sounds like it is toast if it can't keep the charge after driving for a while, probably damaged from multiple depletions? Probably best bet is to go to Walmart for a quick replacement for your short term until you figure the rest out.

The lights - do you leave them in the ON position after you shut the truck off? Not sure, but maybe they pull current in that setting. Maybe try to remember to shut them off / on manually and make sure they're off when the truck is not running. Otherwise I'm not sure what may be going on with the wiring to give a draw without the truck on.

Keep the jump pack with you lol.

Side - what area of VT?

GL...


Edit: haha, beat me above. What he said...

 

@Sterling_vH111 @Archimedes

thank you both! I installed the headlights about 3-4 months ago, and have suspicions they might be drawing on the batt when off. I will go ahead and get a new battery, and manually turn off headlights from now on.
Will also do some amp testing when I have some time to in order to confirm any suspicions about headlights.

thank you both, so much!

 

You can always lift the negative battery cable between driving adventures until you have a chance to sort it out.

 

^ (good advice). Also, if you have a dc voltmeter, see what the voltage measures on the battery with the truck not running. Then measure it with the truck running.
A good battery will be around 12.7v when truck is not running, and 13.5-14.5 when it's running (charging). That'll tell you really quick if your alternator is working.
Another test for battery health, measure the voltage at the battery as someone cranks the engine over. If it drops too low, it's likely the battery is failing. Not sure on Toyota, but I'd guess below 9v when cranking is too low.
I should add - if your starter connection is failing (high resistance), you might experience the same trouble as you described. Battery posts and ground, too, make sure they are clean.
One more thing....a 'load tester' (available from Harbor Freight, etc.) is a more accurate way to determine battery health, but what I described above is the quick method, without utilizing tools that most people may not have.

 

I’ll bet it’s the battery.

 

Given the time of year and assuming your username as a guide to your location, @VERMONTACO33, I'd bet on the battery.

But try unplugging the headlamps or taking out their fuse and see if the car maintains a charge better.

And put the battery on a real charger for the day and overnight (using recondition mode if your charger has it) and make sure your jump-pack is fully charged!

 

Thinking battery as well, especially since now the cold weather is putting more load on it

 

Alpharex (and most aftermarket headlights, raptor lights, etc.) advise to tap into the INJ fuse to power the DRLs. Of course tapping headlights into a fuel injection system fuse is asking for trouble. When the truck does evap system self-tests after it's been off for some time, that fuse gets power and your DRLs light up. Open the fuse box, pull out the fuse tap, remove the lower fuse from the tap and insert the fuse into its original slot in the fusebox.

There's a fuse puller clipped to the underside of the fuse box lid. Typical fuse tap looks like this:



And yes replace the battery as well. Draining the battery degrades it.

 

OP, drive it to a parts store and get a load test done on your charging system.

 

First thing is this^^ Load test the battery, then check voltage off and running to see if you alternator is outputting 13/14 volts

 

how's the terminal connections ?

 

i agree 100%

 

This. Gotta know that

 

I fourth this, with one caveat. I’d take it to a shop or make sure they have a REAL load tester. One that actually loads the battery and not one of the handheld testers.

A real load tester will put a real cranking load on the battery and measure how much power it provides.

The handheld ones put a tiny simulated load on and extrapolate how well it’d perform with an actual load. But they’re rarely accurate in my experience, showing false good readings.

I had my battery shit the bed a couple winters ago. I knew 100% it was cooked. I’d killed it dead a few times and it wouldn’t hold a charge more than a couple hours, amplified by the bitter cold snap we were in. Went to oriellys to buy a new one. The employee kept insisting on testing it with his handheld, so I gave in and let him. And the toasted battery passed with flying colors. I insisted on buying a new battery anyhow and haven’t had a problem since. Just found it weird that the rep was actively trying to talk me OUT of a purchase by insisting my battery was good.

 

didn't think of that. That was smart on your part. That way it simulates it under actual load conditions

 

Yup. When they did the handheld on mine (I forget where) they at least knew enough to get the base reading and then start having me turn on the heat, radio, lights, etc..which I would have done anyway

 

I thought about getting my own load tester. So, ill keep this in mind

 

Mine was 5-6 yrs old and I had a hard start or two, so I knew something was up. Ended up doing battery and alternator both but my alternator was original.