Another new battery drained within 3 weeks

Hi all,

2019 Tacoma needed a new battery after about 11 months. now it's 9 months later and the truck sat for 3 weeks and it would not start. it was not totally dead, but not enough juice to turn it over. I have read about Toyota batteries being crap, but what's the chance of another one going bad? Can our vehicles sit 3 weeks without a charge? I do have aftermarket head unit and Viper remote start. By the way it was only around 30 degrees f here during that time so it's not the like the dead of winter.

 

If you put a battery tender on it, It'll probably bring it back to life, unless a cell is dead. Get the multimeter on it like @whatstcp said though

 

They should have at least a one year warranty. Take that crap back

 

Just 2 months shy of my manufacturer's warranty expiring, Toyota replaced my battery free because of a bad cell. Take it back to the dealer and let them deal with it while you are under warranty.

 

Finding a low current draw takes patients it is not easy. All of the fuses under the hood are live circuits (hot with the key off) some times a test light works some times it doesn't connect the clip to the battery the tip to the cable if it lights you have enough current to kill the battery over time. The other method is a current reading multi meter. If you see a current draw start pulling fuses one at a time until the draw goes away. All modern stuff has a parasitic draw to some extent. 9 months is a long time with out some recharge google "solar battery tenders" you will need one with battery clips because the lighter socked is dead with the key off.

 

You should have led with this...your problem is more than likely being caused by one or both of these things. I've had zero issues with the stock batteries so far, to include prolonged periods of no driving for 3+ weeks.

 

We have a bunch of trucks from different manufacturers sitting on out lot at work (Dodge, Ford, Chevy) if any of them sit for more than a couple weeks they need to be jumped. Parasitic draw is common to all modern vehicles. Your aftermarket stuff may cause further issues as well as it is continuously monitoring things, thus always drawing some power.

 

Had it happen to my Tundra a couple times. Couldn't figure out why my battery kept draining and dying. It was the dang tailgate, license plate bulbs which would never shut off for some reason. I just pulled the fuse to it. Didn't know originally what caused it because I always back into my garage, into a big foam pad and could never see it on.

 

That's how you get pulled over around here!

 

Does your viper remote start have a flashing led inside the truck somewhere to show its locked? My old car has this with the viper system and it drained my battery after about 2 weeks of sitting.

 

It is absolutely not normal for a Tacoma, or any other vehicle with a good battery to need a jump after just two weeks of dormancy.

Be it a bad battery or an abnormal draw on a good one, the OP has something wrong with his truck.

 

I really can’t offer you a solution myself but what I tell you comes from an installer with over 25 years under his belt. He told me Never put a viper system in a Tacoma. He said Nothin’ but trouble. Won’t install ‘em & won’t work on ‘em either.

 

Put it on a decent trickle charger (Noco or Ctek) or just disconnect it...oem batteries are like the oem tires...and that's not just Toyota.

 

Idk my company had a fleet of about 50 35 of those being Tacoma’s the other f350s and if they weren’t on a tender and temps dropped below freezing it was pretty normal for the batteries to die after 2-3 weeks.

 

That sucks, I have the original battery since dec 2016, so on it 5th NH winter and sucker is still very strong.

 

Yep, prolonged temps below freezing, I wouldn't doubt it. My post was addressing parasitic draw, specifically.
OP is indicating what I presume to be night time lows around 30° in his AO.
In his case, I'd say the smart money is still on a bad battery or something killing it.

Hopefully he'll get back to us with the answer.

 

I’ve heard most dealer supplied batteries are Interstate with a Toyota sticker.

 

I pulled mine and replaced it with an AGM, but threw the OEM on a trickle for a spare.
The sticker reads 'Distributed by Toyota Motors, Manufactured by Johnson controls.'
(Interstate)

 

Get you self a amp meter, take the negative battery cable off, hook one lead of amp meter to the cable removed and the other lead to the neg battery post. Put the amp meter on miliamp scale. [MAKE SURE KEY IS OUT OF IGINITION] Wait 30 minutes to the modules go to sleep. you want to see the miliamps under 50. this is normal. anything over that will bring down the battery. If over 50 start removing one fuse at a time till the drain drops down to specs. If no drain found like that, start removing the main cable to the alternator and so on. Hope this helps you, good luck...

 

My 2cents: my taco will sit stored for 1-2 months at a time twice a year. I've put an Optima Yellow-top in two months after purchasing the truck and it has never failed to start, worth the investment IMO.