Dead battery - Will Toyota warranty given my mods?

Agree about the risk, but December would have been three years on an oem 24F. Given the average life span of batteries out here in this godforsaken desert heat, I'm actually impressed it lasted this long. Winch and light bars are used very infrequently, and always when the truck is running. I'm comfortable going with a single AGM at this point.

 

This. Stock battery is garbage. Get a yellowtop. It always cracks me up that people spend thousands on lighting mods but won't upgrade the battery to support them.

 

Thousands on lighting mods? Those must be some nice fucking lights!

 

Guilty as charged on the battery, but finally getting around to it now.

Looked at the Yellowtop but here are the specs



So the 24F X2 is smaller, cheaper, and has higher CCA & capacity than the 27F Yellow Top. Only advantage is that the Optima is 4lbs lighter. And that doesn't even get into the quality concerns that Optima has ever since moving production to Mexico. Although the auto parts guy I spoke to said he's seen more issues with Red Tops than Yellow.

 

I made a basic battery shelf out of heavy duty angle brackets and moved my 2017 stock battery to the back corner of my engine compartment for running the accessories and used a Blue Seas charging relay to keep it topped off. I put in a large Bosch AGM up front a little over three years ago. Was out camping earlier this summer near Anza Borrego and the Bosch died, so I had to jump the truck using my 5-year old OEM battery…. That little thing was good to me- it just died recently too so I replaced it with a deep cycle AGM as well.

 

Mike- at least get one of those small lithium quick starters- they’re pretty good when in a pinch.

 

While I agree you're probably better off just buying yourself a better battery anyway, won't the dealer be fairly OK with just replacing it under warranty? I mean, I suspect it's easy money for them... you bring it in, they test it, they swap it out, and then presumably send a warranty claim to Toyota – which I presume sends them a check or credit for time spent on warranty work.

Go in, be polite and upfront (without offering any negative input about why you think your lights helped contribute to the death of the battery), and see what happens. Worst they can do is say no.

 

I believe the OP said they already said no.

 

I have a

$300 Noco GB150 : 3000A UltraSafe Jump Starter – 12V Lithium Battery Booster Pack, Portable Jump Box, Power Bank & Jumper Cables - for 9.0L Gas and 7.0L Diesel Engines

Noco GB150 which has been a godsend. I've jumped other people with it, jumped myself when this battery died, and charge electronics when we go camping.

 

Yea as FL_TRD Sport pointed out, dealer said no due to presence of non oem electrical components attached to battery. I probably could have tried another dealership or gone through Toyota corporate, but with the help of other peeps in this thread, came to my senses and am putting in an appropriate battery for my needs

 

We are always happy to help other people spend their money

 

What happened to having to prove your mods were the cause?

 

Since when??? The dealership can deny warranty claims all day long due to customer mods. The owner has to prove it did not. And OP was wise not to waste his time trying to do so for a cheap ass battery.

 

In my understanding, the alternator is driven by the serpentine belt, and there's a clutch that regulates the speed of the alternator so that it changes the output level according to the demand.

I imagine that clutch is electronically controlled by the ECU.
So if you upgrade the stock alternator to a higher output one, do you have to retune the ECU to let it know and compensate the new rating?

 

Magnuson Moss Warranty Act

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/ffs-lets-all-stop-referencing-the-magnussen-moss-act.609911/

All well and good, and technically you are correct. The reality of it is the dealer will refuse to cover because of your mods and say they contributed to the failure. Once you exhaust the dealer management chain, you can go to Toyota. If they refuse then your alternative is to retain an attorney and file suit in Federal court for Mag/Moss violation. Most likely the first retainer check you wrote to a lawyer would exceed the cost of any repair, and in this case we're talking a $300 battery.

 

Damn

 

Yes, putting an AGM battery in these trucks requires a tune to up the output from the alternator...otherwise you are wasting money.

 

Not positive but I think some vehicle manufacturers play tricks and can command the alternator via the ECU to vary output in a way to increase mileage.
One thing I like to do is monitor the battery voltage via a cigarette lighter USB charger in another car. However, I think there are panel alternatives, and I'll probably resort to one on the truck.

 

The KDMax tune offers the AGM alternator output option. If you have been considering it this may give you another reason