New battery failing, or is there more to it?

Hi all

I've had my 2020 Tacoma TRD Off Road since February. After leaving it untouched in the garage for about 10 days, I went to start it last night, and I heard a rapid clicking sound, lots of lights flashing (interior and headlights) then nothing. On the second attempt, the engine struggled to crank and did not turn over. After an hour, I tried again, and the engine again cranked very slowly about three-four times and then turned over. I drove it on the highway for about an hour afterwards.

Today, I went to investigate a bit further. After not driving it since last night, I popped the hood and got a reading from my multimeter: 12.08v.

When I opened the door, it dropped to 11.95v

When I started the engine (no headlights on nor AC nor radio), it kicked over faster than last night, but not as fast as it normally does. Voltage dropped to 7.64v!

Once the engine was running, voltage jumped up to 13.98v and stayed around there, even as I turned on AC, radio, and hi-beams. When I revved the engine to about 3000rpm, there was no change in the voltage reading.

So do you think this battery is toast? And here's the other thing: On the day I picked up this truck from the dealer, it had a very similar problem and the salesman said it was probably because it had been sitting on the lot for a while. He replaced the battery with another, and I thought it was all good.

So my other question... do you think there's something else going on, like a parasitic drain? And any ideas on an easy way to test that out? My vehicle is totally stock, and I hadn't left anything on or charging during those 10 days, so I'm a bit unsure about the whole situation: how can a new truck go through a battery that quick.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

(Battery type is Toyota TrueStart.)

UPDATE: Truck wouldn't start again this morning (rapid clicking sound), so gave it a jump and took it back to the dealer. They said they needed to do a full charge of the battery and then test it. After they did (took about an hour) they confirmed that the battery was bad and replaced it. I did mention the potential of a parasitic draw and they said they couldn't find any evidence of that, but if it happens again they'll get a Toyota engineer to work on it. Thanks to all the helpful people who replied.

FINAL UPDATE, 12 MONTHS LATER: I haven't had any more battery issues since they replaced it a year ago, so it looks like it was just a bad battery.

 

Toyota batteries suck in case you didn't know.

 

Check the water level in the cells. My 2017 battery crapped out within 2 years, but still can't hurt to verify.

 

Its still on warranty . Drag it by the stealership and let them throw it on a load tester .
Dont feel too bad though . At 40 below zero where I live , you are lucky to get a year out of a quality cold cranking amp battery $$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

Were it just the one time I'd say battery. The fact that your dealer had a similar issue and replaced it gives me pause to believe a parasitic drain.

Make them take it back and test it more than just a battery swap.

 

Thank you, I didn't know that... I'm pretty new to all this!

 

Can't speak to the new ones but my wife's 2005 Rav4 had the original battery 11 years, my 2010 Tacoma lasted almost 10 years. Both were made by Panasonic for Toyota, for what it's worth.

 

Toyota does not make batteries any more than they make tires or lube oil.

They are contract made likely by Johnson Controls or whatever the current name of that company is. Or Exide. There are only a few battery producers.

They are the SAME as any other battery.

10 days of inactivity takes my battery from 12.6V to 12.5V.

You quite possibly do have a parasitic drain.

The bad news is that once it's been discharged below 12.4V or so, sulfation sets in and the battery never fully recovers.

The worst thing you can do to a battery is to let it sit discharged.

Charge the battery with a charger, and go from there. A trip to the dealer is the best advice. The battery is warranted for 3 years I believe.

 

I'm about to get a battery maintainer now that weather is getting cold. If you don't drive much, I would do the same.

 

I've seen vehicle batteries die after 10 months, and after 10 years. Anything electrical is hard to predict. Sometimes they just go bad for no rhyme or reason. A battery maintainer is probably a good idea if you let it sit for extended periods, there are some things on newer vehicles that draw power even when they aren't running.

 

You don't mention where you live (in terms of winter temps), but sitting in a garage for 10 days should not drain the battery in a stock 3rd gen. Get on the dealer and make sure they set you up with a solid warranty fix.

 

Im still on my original battery and its still going strong. In summers when i go camping, i listen to music full blast with truck off and no issues at all. I dont see why my battery wont last another couple years. I dont even drive my truck on weekdays, it sits for 5 days in a row every week.

Dont understand why everyone shits on toyotas batteries. Are you just repeating what everyone else is saying?

 

Dont believe everything you read on these forums. Nothing wrong with yotas batteries.

 

Turn your headlights off when you kill the engine instead of leaving the switch on. That is the likely culprit.

 

Did you physically see the dealer replace the orig batt? I'm betting they told you to come back in an hour to pick it up and they just charged it. After which the initial drain had already done it harm.
My OE started cranking more slowly after about two yrs. So I replaced it.

 

maybe take it back to the Dealers for warranty work

 

No they aren't. My battery lasted 6 years before I replaced. The one is my lexus lasted 5 years. Seems good enough.

Batteries just like everything else can have a defect.

 

The factory battery lasted 7 years in my 07. The one I replaced it with less than 1 year. It should have been covered under warranty, but the place I bought it from ended up being a PITA to work. I needed a new battery RIGHT NOW and didn't have time to argue with them. I said F-EM and bought one somewhere else. So far the 3rd battery has been in 5+ years.

 

I dont understand why so many guys throw mud at OE batteries. Absolutely nothing wrong with them.