nanotech

iTrader: (2)

I was simply listening to some music on my Nakamichi Sound System, setting the memory seats and trying out the factory Lexus cell phone in my gs4. I was only in there for about 20 to 30 min or so, and after I turned the radio off, pulled the key out, and put it back in to let my cousin listen to a song, the radio wouldn't turn on. I didn't know what was wrong, I thought maybe the cell phone was still on or something so I tried pressing buttons on the phone, but nothing happenned even when it was off.

Then it realized what had happenned when I pulled the key out this time and the steering wheel didn't move out of my way, the battery was dead. I tried to start the car and it didn't work, it gives a clicking sound everytime I try to start it but it doesn't start.

I listen to songs and stuff a lot in all my cars while I am cleaning them and the battery never goes dead, how come it went dead so soon in my lexus? I did buy this gs4 used, and I noticed the battery was "Sears DieHard".

I don't know what's up now, do I just recharge it? Or do I need a new battery? Or is it something major? My dad knows a lot about cars but when he finds out that my lex doesn't start he will get worried, so I don't want to tell him.

Can any of you help? I hope it just needs recharging, and if so, how do I do it? And the car is in the garage and I can't get another car in there, is there a way to get the car out to recharge the battery? Any procedures for recharging would be very helpful.

Thanks

babyGS3

this is what I did when my battery died because of not starting the car for over a month and a half: I took out the battery and brought it over to my gas/service station or even my napa autoparts store... there they would charge the battery or test the battery to see if it CAN be recharged. 9 times out of 10.. if the battery died like that, the battery could not be charged again.. in other words... you'd have to buy a new battery. DO you know how old the battery was? Do you know if the previous owner just put a junky battery in there just so that he could sell you the car? If it isnt the battery... I would check your alternator and see if it is still charging... that, you'd have to tow your car to your nearest shop/dealer.
I too always listen to my music on full blast while detailing my car.. up to 6 full hours! nothing wrong... well.. good luck! I hope the best.

~manny

OH AND ANOTHER THING!!!! VERY IMPORTANT!!! If your battery is totally dead, DO NOT try to jump start your car... sure it will start and run for a while... but you WILL burn out your alternator! This happened to another car of mine. Luckily it was covered under warranty... otherwise it would have cost me 5-800 dollars to fix!

QBranchCars

Most OEM batteries last around 4 years and then they have to be replaced. I can only guess you bought your car just recently, and the battery was just replaced by the previous owner. He could have replaced it because of the age of the OEM battery, or it died on him. If it's from a private party, see if you have the receipt and take it back to Sears. The DieHard is usually a good battery. They will check the battery for you and also your charging system. If it's from a dealership, see what you can do under pre-owned limited warranty. If it's a certified pre-owned, let the dealership take care of everything.

As for your Dad, I would let him know about your problem. I'm a Dad myself, and though my kids are much younger, I would want them to tell me if they were having problems with the car. He'll find out eventually anyways. They always do.

If you have AAA membership or similar, they can jump the battery for you and you can take it to Sears or whereever.

Good luck.

Manny, I personally had dead batteries jumped with no problem, even in my Lex. I'm not saying it didn't happen to you, and I don't know the details of your situation, but it seems to me the burnt alternator could have been the cause of your dead battery, and not the reverse. It could have been an improper jump also.

nanotech

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for all the help guys, but amazingly enough, my 16yr old brother started the car with no problem. All he did was put the key in and turn and it started and then he applied a little pedal to prevent it from going down I guess.

He says I could have done it to I just had to wait a while for it. But I don't think the battery should go dead that fast, I mean, if someone can get 6hrs of high volume with engine off, then I should atleast be able to get 3 with low volume? I didn't even get 1 hr !

I am going to take the battery to Sears on Tuesday and let them check it out, we have people over there anyway.

Thanks for your help though, I am just starting to learn about the mechanics of a car, before it was all just beauty, luxury, and electronics for me, now power, speed, and mechanics is coming in too ! :-)

biggie27

personaly I had the same problem with my batteries ever since I put my sound system in and I had to jump start the car every week or so for like 3 weeks I got tired of it so I just went out and bought me an optima yellow top batterie and havent had a problem since I just thought that when you buy a car thats worth over 50k you would think they would provide you with a better batterie than that of a 10k car especialy since this car needs alot of power to run the thing everything needs batterie power even the brake pedals need them when you turn on the car which I found out I think the fourth time my car died out

babyGS3

Calvin...

yep.. actually.. you are correct... my broken alternator killed my battery... I changed the alternator.... jumpstarted the car and 10 minutes later... something smelled like burning oil... I knew something was wrong with the alternator right then... so I brought it back to the shop to have it tested ( it was also tested before I took it home...charging normally) Now, it was shot! I asked the guy what could have caused it to break within that short of time... He asked me if I had checked/changed my battery and asked me to bring it over to have it checked... sure enough, it was discharged and unable to be charged... The guy told me that the alternator burned out because it was trying hard to charge the broken battery...

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeellll... I'm just quoting what the guy said... I dont know all the intricacies about the charging system of a car... so heeheeeh.. I'll take back what I said if it's not true. The guy may have just been trying to BS me and I'm pretty easily BSsed 'specially since I'm not an expert... sooooooooo.. sorry if I'm spreading untrue info! Jez tryin to be safe... dont want anyone to go through what happened to me!!! There's my disclaimer... hahahahah!!!! ya ya.. i know I look like a total idiot now... but hey! I'm an idiot with a GS! ahahahahahahhahaahh ok.. now that's getting demented! :eek:

Percy

Drop in a Optima Battery. I took out my OEM a little bit ago (sometime last year) and have never had any problems with the Optima. Interstate makes one similar. They're a bit more expensive than your "standard issue" Diehards but they're well worth it.

http://www.optimabatteries.com

Percy

QBranchCars

Manny, no prob. I think we all have something to learn from each other. That's what makes this a great forum and site. Thanks for sharing your experience. It certainly brings up the point to be cautious when jumping a dead battery.