Jump to content
303

Any reasonable solution to battery drain?

Recommended Posts

Had the car about 3 years, don’t use it much, battery died, it was replaced for the beefier unit under warranty. Don’t use the car more so since Covid, new battery now dead everytime I use the car. I bought a NOCO booster which is great, albeit a faff as I have to lift the bonnet everytime I start the car - it might as well have a bloody winding handle 😂 The other thing is I have to leave the car unlocked (fine where I live) because when I do properly lock it elsewhere, and the battery inevitably drains, then it results in me looking thoroughly dodgy with bonnet up, attaching a weird looking device with the tw@tting alarm going off until it decides I’m not trying to steal it...

Even with less use, I’ve not had a problem like this with any other car I’ve owned, so the reality is I’m probably going to have to sell it, even though I do like it, as it’s just not practical.

Before I do so I wondered if there’s any practical none faff workaround? I don’t mind disabling the alarm (as long as I can lock it) pulling a fuse or relay or some other workaround to stop the drain, but I don’t want to be lifting the bonnet everytime I want to drive the car.

Cheers in advance!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I have an AA solar panel trickle changer. It plugs into the odb2 port and sits on my dash. Car used to die within a week (yeah really needs a new battery as still on original) but so far never been dead yet.

 

I just have to remember to unplug it before starting the car

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Just that each case of battery drained flat further decreases it's max holding charge. If it had been few times, imho current battery is already .. FAR from optimal, whatever the alternative charging uses employed.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@NJayThanks for this, could be the solution!

Do you happen to know if there are any reasons why you couldn't use a cigarette lighter version, or even the USB connector version? the odb2 port strikes me as a bit harder to use on a regular basis.

Actually thinking about it the NOCO Boost I mentioned has a 12V 2000A battery with a cigarette lighter adaptor, so I guess in principle I could use that to trickle charge as well? Just slightly worried about breaking the 86's electrics. 

@Church good point, I suppose i could try it and if the battery is too far gone, get a new one.

Appreciate the responses

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The cigarette lighter is not live when the car is switched off so it won't charge through that. The usb socket goes to the head unit which again is not live and mores the pont is 5v not 12v. The alternative is to run a feed from the battery and fit another aux socket.

However these boost chargers (I have one too) are designed to give a high amp short discharge kick when you crank the engine so I don't believe they can be connected and left as a trickle charger?

 

As to ease of use, the odb2 port is quiet easy to reach when sat in the drivers seat. I come home, place the solar charger panel (it's almost A3 size lol) on the dash and then just reach under the dash next to the left of the steering wheel and plug it in without looking. When I need to use the car I unplug it and place it face down in the passenger footwell ready for next time

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@NJay Thanks for taking the time to explain. The boost charger I have has USB / 12V in for charging (either any standard USB connection or off a car cig lighter when running) and USB / 12V out (for charging you phone etc. or running 12V peripherals) It's basically a big battery with jumper leads. 

I'll have a look for a larger arrayed solar panel as well then, we probably don't get anymore sun than you do down in Hampshire.

Cheers

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
16 minutes ago, 303 said:

@NJay Thanks for taking the time to explain. The boost charger I have has USB / 12V in for charging (either any standard USB connection or off a car cig lighter when running) and USB / 12V out (for charging you phone etc. or running 12V peripherals) It's basically a big battery with jumper leads. 

I'll have a look for a larger arrayed solar panel as well then, we probably don't get anymore sun than you do down in Hampshire.

Cheers

Sounds a bit different to mine 

Mine has a short set of crocodile leads which I can attach to the battery terminals. The other end is a bespoke connector which plugs into a port of the battery pack. This is only used to jump start the car.

it's basically an 8000mAh usb battery pack with a special socket on it for jump starting the car. So it does have a usb in (for charging the battery pack) along with a usb out for charging other usb devices. 

It doesn't have the 12v aux out though that yours has

 

The solar charger I have is the AA 12V Car Solar Battery Charger 4.8W. I had bought the 2.4w version (which is half the size) off of eBay but it was smashed on delivery so got a refund. Given that was £25 and the 4.8w version is £35 on Amazon I figured it was worth the extra £10 knowing it would probably come in a ridiculous amount of packing from Amazon....and it did lol

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

For me Toyotas replacement 60Ah battery wasn’t really much better than the original it replacement. I went for a better quality Yuasa 65Ah in the end and I’ve had no issues since but I do also use the car more. Since you use the car infrequently then you may have to tailor the battery capacity because of this, maybe going for something >80Ah for example.

CTEKs trickle chargers are great and very popular option for those who have weekend toys, CTEK offer a number of accessories which give you the option to plug and unplug their neat little proprietary  connector conveniently (including through the cigarette lighter), my Dad has one of their ‘comfort panels’ neatly installed in the boot of his MX5. He plugs the charger in and leaves it in the boot. I don't have the luxury of a garage so I’ve got a connector poking out the bottom of the undertray so I can connect the charger without running any cables through the bonnet/door shuts, and just leave it under the car. I might see if it can fit it in a hole of the front grille as that would save me getting on my knees do it. The plugs and charger are IP65 rated so can deal with being outside, its ideal as you don’t have to open any part of the car to charge it.

 

 

https://www.ctek.com/uk/products/car

I have to admit I am baffled that you would consider selling the car for such a simple issue. Do you consider selling your house if you have a water leak? 🤣

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You could drive it and let the alternator do the charging work. I've no reason to even move mine since various lockdowns back in March but I make sure that I take it out for at least an hour once a week. Also helps me ensure that everything it working, tires get rotated and the fluids circulated.

And, you know, it's fun.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Sounds very frustrating. It is ridiculous how poor these cars are when it comes to battery drain for people who don't use them daily.

Firstly, your battery needs replacing. If it's died that many times, it's now not worth dealing with and is compounding your misery. Buy a new and large capacity one, and start from there. That along with the solar panel mentioned above will do the job.

Out of interest, pre-covid how many days a week did you drive it, and since lockdown how many days is it now being driven?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I am sure somewhere it was calculated that even a brand new 60Ah battery would be dead within a month if not started given the battery drain. Going out for an hour's drive once a week keeps it going but it still lost 25% charge in between so would it even recover that much in an hour's drive?

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I have an Optimate trickle charger. Over periods of time I know I won't be using it much, like Xmas, I stick it on the car.

I've owned the car 2 years today and no battery problems.

Mine is a 60mAh that was on it when I bought it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Ended up taking it back to the main dealer that did the warranty work incl. the 60ah battery replacement a few years back. After explaining the issue and asking if they had anything beefier "can you fit a Hilux battery in there?" :D  they found a 65a Toyota battery (£85) and offered to fit and test the alternator gratis (all good), while I waited which was more convenient than doing it myself and having to book a slot at the local tip to dispose of the old one. Not 100% sure but it sounded as if the 65a is now standard replacement; so stock 40a, uprated to 60a, and now uprated to 65a.

My Covid usage sounds identical to @GravelRash  but outcome more similar to @NJay 's last comment.

Trickle charge would be the obvious solution, but not practical where I live, so I've bought a solar panel to keep the power greedy little sh@t topped up when not in use. It's been making me nostalgic for my GT-Four - four months travelling, left on the drive, started first time.

Thanks for the help!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

My car is now just a toy as I don't race it any more, the battery is never charged and now time for a new one. Going to get an 80 amp and trickle charger as it is in the garage so solar probably not an option.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Have been soldiering on with the AA 5w solar charger but as we've hit darker days, despite having solar charger in full view of sun light, it failed to start yesterday morning after just under a week

Even jump pack didn't work lol

Put the ctek 5amp charger on it for 90mins after which it started however, I think my battery is well past replacement. 

So looks like some have chose the yuasa 3014 60Ah which intrigues me as on paper it is lower CCA (450 or 500 depending on which version you end up with) than the 60Ah 520cca one Toyota use? Someone else has gone for the Lucas LP072T 70Ah 620cca battery which is wider at 260mm Vs 230mm but still fits the battery tray.

However, I've not seem anyone go for an EFB variant? Whilst not as good as an AGM they are better than a traditional wet battery at coping with deeper discharge. Given our current reduced usage (which to be honest isn't going to change as a mix of office/home working is here to stay at my work) then wouldn't these be better?

Basically I have my eye on this one and wondered if it's worth it

https://www.tayna.co.uk/car-batteries/enduroline/005r-efb/

They also do an Exide EL605 but it's out of stock :(

If EFB is on the cards does anyone else have any recommendations trying to hunt down EFB variant of our stock (005R) size of 230x175x225 or up to 260x175x225 of the Lucas 70Ah battery that also fits our battery tray?

Cheers

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I have the varta 005L/D47 blue on my gen 7 Celica. Previously had the Bosch S4024 but as they are the same battery (literally down to colour and design of blue top) went for the varta as it was cheaper not paying Bosch branding premium lol. That car is fine as it's garaged (has to be due to mods and the fact it's sorned at the moment lol) so can be tricked charged as required. 

I guess with a new battery I can put it on trickle charge once a week (not able to leave it on charge all the time) but was just thinking an EFB battery would cope better with the sat idle days better as even my two days commuting is all urban and barely covers the time needed to replenish it from that trip let alone the 2-3days sat idle so it's losing charge week on week without some form of trickle charging. The 5w solar charge was doing fine for the past 8months but lack of sunlight has put a stop to that

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

A CTEK charger with preinstalled battery terminal connector is easy to use and only needs doing once a week.  You could extend the CTEK connector from the battery (they sell an extension) for the connector to be just behind the grill, for instance.

140115?w=1060&h=429&qlt=75&fmt=webp&v=1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
So no one else have any comments re: using an EFB type of battery
Its an interesting question and technically its a half way house between AGM and Flooded lead acid again used fir cheaper start stop enabled cars. The honest difference between wet and EFB is no of starts 30K vs 270K per battery. Our cars are not equipped with stop start so even getting to 30K starts assuming 5 starts a day is 6000 days / 16 yrs. The deep discharge benefit is hugely over rated and under quantified. You can use a multimeter to check discharge current and voltage on a weekly basis and decide your CTEK recharge frequency as we never deep discharge our batteries, just that starts g needs a lot of charge. Deep discharge happens in marine/ caravan use.

Net net , wet batteries are more than sufficient and the AH is more impt than battery tech.

Sorry for a long response but hope it makes sense.

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Based on my research and a bit old data , following batteries will fit but some will go outside tray. Please recheck prices, check weights if you believe in gram strategy and see last few sentences on my reco

 

Part references : 069, 071, 072

 

Yuasa YBX3014, 60Ah, 500A, 14.9Kg, dimensions 23.2*17.5*22.5 (£56.99)

 

Yuasa YBX7014 65Ah, 620A, 17.5Kg, dimensions 23.2*17.3*22.5 EFB Start Stop (£121.99)

 

Bosch S4 025, 60Ah, 540A, Dimension 23*17.3*22.2, (£63.99)

 

Varta Blue 014, 60Ah, 540A, dimensions 23*17.3*22.2 (£75 @50%off, Eurocarparts), Sealed maintenance free

 

Bosch 70Ah, 630A, dimension 26.1*17.5*22 ( £64.95, Tayna batteries)

 

Varta 70Ah,  630A, E24DIN570 413 063 , dimension 26.1 cm * 17.5 * 22  ( to top of terminal) (£65.89)

 

Halfords HB072, 68Ah, 550A, 18.3Kg, Dimension 26.1*17.5*22 (£99)

 

Halfords Yuasa HSB072, silver 5000, 75Ah, 640A , 18.1 Kg, dimensions 26.9*17.4*22.5(£129)

 

OE uprated battery 62Ah, 620A, Dimensions 23*17*22.5

 

 Based on tray size go for length 25.5 max if it needs to fit tray width max 17.5, height does not matter much as there is space 

 

When battery is front facing us, Red terminal (+) to left

 

Good luck!

 

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Cheers for advice. 

Maybe I have misunderstood the deep discharge then.

I was looking at it from the perspective that the typical user doesn't recharge their battery weekly so over a say 2-3week period the culminative discharge would be a lot and that's what I saw as deep discharge of the battery. All my journeys are no more than 15mins so I don't think that's enough to keep the battery topped up?

The UK gt-86 (presumably the alarm) seems to have a higher discharge rate and without use a new 60Ah battery will be dead in a month.

I do have a ctek 5.0. and it just so happens after a few days of checking Amazon have the 2.5m extension lead on sale for £11.99 delivered so I will have that Wednesday

Now I just need to get a battery to suit my use case 🙂 oh and our battery is a 005R but why is there other types that have the same dimensions and terminal positions lol?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
4 hours ago, BRZ-123 said:

Yuasa YBX3014, 60Ah, 500A, 14.9Kg, dimensions 23.2*17.5*22.5 (£56.99)

This is what I have, from Amazon.  It's a drop-in replacement.  Yuasa are highly regarded in the battery world.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×