Battery Drain from Dealer added Fog Lights

Hello, my 2012, Tacoma has been at the dealer for over a week now. It all began when after my truck would sit over night it would not start the next morning from a dead battery. The dealer stated that it was from a fog light kit they added but they have not been able to find the point of discharge. They have had the Toyota engineers on the phone and they have assured me they will find it but so far no luck. I almost ready to tell them I want a new truck. Has anyone else had a problem with the battery discharging or I think I heard it called a parasitic drain? Thanks, Tim

 

I've drained batteries to almost-dead (lights dim, amp cutting out) playing the radio while driving, because the system was drawing too much power, but I've never had a problem with anything draining the battery while the truck was turned off. Sounds like it's their beef if they installed the fog light kit. They should pay for it if they did it, IMO.
There shouldn't be any need for buying a new truck just because of this, though. Get them to take out/swap kit if they can't find the discharge point. And you may have to buy a new battery, if this has happened more than a few times, because this sort of thing will fry a battery.

Good luck, OP!

 

They induced a parasitic drain somewhere. Do the factory foglights, added as aftermarket, require wire splicing? Have them give you a rental car and fix it! If the battery keeps getting deep discharged over and over and over (I'd say no more than 10 times), it'll go bad. It may be worth getting a cheap harbor freight or craftsman multimeter to check the terminal voltage (run the truck then turn it off for 3-5 minutes, check) just so you can start establishing some facts to the dealer. Voltage should be roughly 12 to 12.5 Volts when off. If its 11 Volt or less for a brand new truck, then they owe you a new battery as well since they have prematurely reduced its lifecycle. Measure it after a deep discharge as well.

Lots of scary dealer stories lately...and as I watch various respected mechanic's youtube videos on how grim it sounds to be a mechanic/technician right now, either factory certified or working in a mom/pop garage, just the fact that most of these guys only get paid when their hands are wrenching a vehicle, I could see some of these guys 'creating' minor work for themselves. I always suspect the worst unfortunately.

 

how much draw does it have?

 

If it were me and I needed my truck - I'd point out nicely that the repair has taken far longer than would reasonably be expected for such a small job.

I'd say I'm happy for them to take as long as they need to reliably repair the problem they introduced - but please provide me a loaner while they're working on it.

 

Wow... so basically your dealership can't even handle the most basic of wiring jobs. God forbid if someone needed a remote start or an alarm installed

 

Good luck getting a new truck because the battery is dead. No rocket science in finding a parasitic drain. Tried leaving the battery disconnected over night?

 

Apparently it's rocket science to that particular dealership...

 

Could be the battery is bad, also check and make sure they did not burn something else up.

 

When they "create" minor work they are fixing it for free, so there is no advantage to them breaking things for work. The issue the op is having will not be covered by warranty as it was dealer installed. The tech that installed it will be trying to fix it as fast as he can as he is likely not making any money working on that vehicle.

 

Tim, have you talked to the Service Manager? If no joy, continuing politely escalating. Eventually your will find someone in the dealership who will get it fixed to get you out of their hair. Ask for them to provide you another vehicle until they can find an auto electrician competent to fix the problem they induced. If Georgia has a Lemon Law process, you can follow that.