Crap battery or is something wrong with my Taco?

Try it out maybe mine was a fluke battery worked fine pulled it out sat it on concrete 45 minutes went to start vehicle didn't work. Jump start the car worked fine since...

 

I tightened them down with my multitool until they no longer wanted to move without giving it a bit of effort. I had noticed the terminals do look to be a bit dirty, perhaps a mixture of dirty terminals and a crap battery, as well as it loosing some charge.

Also, I've been noticing a bit of a gasoline smell when I first fire the truck up. I'm at 94K and due for an oil change, haven't done any of the 90K maintenance yet. I'm probably just being paranoid and noticing things I wouldn't normally notice, but I'm getting up there in the miles and I depend on this truck and don't have the money if something goes wrong.

 

Sometimes the inside of the positive battery cable goes rotten, and it looks fine from the outside. I haven't seen this on a tacoma though.

 

i just hit 94k this week too, i'm not gonna do any additional maintenance on it

 

One morning I noticed my Taco having a hard time starting and the next time I tried, she would not start. DEAD battery!
Where I live batteries may last 2~3 years if one is lucky....
Heat kills...

I would be saving up for a new battery!

The concrete thing is only for batteries 40+ years old (maybe).... (Not true!)

Yuma Taco,

 

I was gonna have the transmission flushed, oil changed, spark plugs and diff fluid changed. Also planning on extending the diff breather at that time, all the flooding in the panhandle has got me feeling like I really need to get it done.

edit:

Yuma, I moved to Tallahassee about six months ago, and its on average like 10-15 degrees hotter than what it was in Jacksonville, the fact that I live in an inferno could contribute. It's been near 100degrees quite a few times in the last couple weeks. It is a two year old Walmart battery after all...

 

Putting comm batteries on concrete over night kills them. I've seen it happen.

 

oil is a given, i did my plugs when i got the truck 10K miles ago, it was the original set, and as for other stuff, if you're tight on cash, i don't see why those can't wait til 100K or even 120K, actually if i remember right, i think they were saying with these closed transmissions the fluid is supposed to last the life of the transmission, i'm not saying i believe that, but that's what i remember reading. I would add ur serpentine belt to that list, but again, none of those are essential in my opinion, others might disagree, but if you're tight on cash, they can wait.

 

I currently drive about 20 miles a day maximum, the miles aren't piling up on the truck like they where when I was back in Jacksonville driving 20 miles one way to work everyday. I just love this truck and want to do what I can to make it last forever. Totally forgot about the serpentine belt.

Is there a way I can pull my service records from my vehicle? Perhaps the dealer in Jax I had do most of my maintenance would have records from when I've taken it in?

 

Your cheapest battery is the free replacement under warranty from walmart, no? Up here, they sell Johnson Controls batteries with energizer labels, and carry a 3 year free replacment warranty, 7 year pro-rated. Johnson Controls batteries are pretty decent in my experience.

I'm still thinking connections though, nothing more.

 

since i was late on the headlight bulb, i can help out with the new battery! let us know when you have it tested and what the results are.

 

yea the dealer u went to would def have it

 

advanced auto parts i think is generally a lil on the expensive side, but they have great online coupons that u use online, and go into the store to pick up

http://dealnews.com/Advance-Auto-Parts-coupons-20-off-no-minimum-10-off-30-more-/576707.html

 

This is probably a big part of the problem here. Get a proper wrench or socket and tighten it down properly. A multitool is a piece of crap.

 

If you do this be prepared to replace lots of electronic parts.

 

If the truck started before you took the battery out what ever you did putting it back in was wrong. Remove the battery connections a try again.

 

Well, I haven't made it to Autozone. Thought I went into work a little later today than I actually do.

Went to start the truck a few mins ago (due at work at 2) to see if it would go, same story. Went and disconnected the neg on the battery and was examining the connections on the batttery. They are pretty dirty. The top part of the positive connection, not the one that actually goes onto the battery post, the one on top of it kinda, was a bit loose and would rotate if I moved it with my hand. So I tightened it back up, reconnected the battery and tried start it (no jumper), it started slow but came on. So I'm thinking it was that loose connection.

Still plan on cleaning the terminals and having the battery tested tomorrow. I gotta work 2-11 tonight, so I won't be able to hit the autozone today.

 

+1! I'm glad someone chimed in on this.

 

And I've done it hundreds of times without a problem.

 

http://www.toyota.com/owners/web/pages/home

Create an account and add your vehicle by VIN. It will show previous dealer service.
My Taco shows the accelerator recall and the pending spiral cable recall.
Interestingly, my wife's Rav4 shows an O2 sensor replacement at 30,000, but it doesn't show the San Bernardino dealership fucking around for 2 weeks before they finally replaced the ECM when it was 2 months old.