kevinlieb

At least twice now my RX450h has refused to start with the tell-tale clicking blinking dashboard lights. Seems to me the 12v battery is on its way out and I can't take the chance of leaving my wife and kids stranded again. But I also can't pay the dealer $500+ for a battery swap.

I am looking at the Optima Yellow Top 8040-218 since www.batteriesplus.com seems to think it is going to fit. Anyone here tried this swap on this exact model car with this exact model battery? I need to make sure it is a drop in replacement.

Also from what I read it would be best to maintain 12v to the car while doing the swap to avoid having computer problems and having to recalibrate windows and sunroof. Is this true?

Thanks in advance!

drewcam888

iTrader: (1)

Optima are amazing batteries but I don't see a reason on spending that on a battery for a 450h. Maybe a vehicle that sees large loads and cranking.

vlad_a

RXh takes a regular 12V battery. If you can get it to fit physically, it'll work.
Yellow Top is good for deep discharging. Not sure if you will benefit from it, unless you run in ACC mode for a long time. 2013+ RX won't even allow it by turning off ACC after 20 min.
If you want 12V feed to remain constant during the change, you could use jump cables and power all electronics from another vehicle. There's a +12V jump start connection point under the hood.
That's not something that would be done typically during a battery replacement.

kevinlieb

Thanks for the feedback!

Well somehow my wife drained the battery to the point the car would not start yesterday. This is the second or third time this has happened. It is probably the original battery from the factory so after 3+ years due for a change anyway. She was running the car in acc mode for 20+ minutes. I think the yellow top Optima is like $200 and the stock battery from Lexus is significantly more but I am going to double check with my local dealer.

vlad_a

IMHO, buying a battery from the dealer is a waste of money. It will not be any better than an auto store battery.

As much as it annoys me that our RX is turning everything off after a period of time, it gives me a piece of mind that if my wife or the kids leave any light on on or forget to close a door, it will be taken care of.

UCSB

My battery died shortly after I purchased the 450h. It was under warranty and the dealer replaced it. When they wrote up the paperwork, I saw the price and it was reasonable ... something like $125 and had a long warranty that Lexus will support (84 months?). I have the paperwork out in my glove box, but you should just call your local dealer. $500 doesn't sound right.

Droid13

$125 was probably the installation labor

Gampa

Kevinlieb,
Funny you mentioned your experience with the battery replacement, because that is what happened to me. After three times of my battery going dead on my 2010 450h. I replaced it with the Optima yellow top from Sams club. I figure with the winter coming up and the battery being four years old it was time to replace it. I could not afford to have my wife stranded because I was too cheep to buy a new battery. Your decision was a wise one.
Gampa

Cruiter

Ordinarily if you just disconnect the old battery and pull it out to replace with the new one, you can loose some data and several settings in the memory to include past mileage records and radio presets to name a few. If you take it to a battery dealer, there's always the possiblility they'll take a shortcut and the data would be lost. Save the labor charge, it's easy to do.

To prevent any loss;
1st, get everything ready for the swap such as access to the battery, tools etc. Wear latex gloves.
2nd, start the car and leave it running (gotta do this outside the garage folks).
3rd, do the battery swap taking care to keep battery cables apart from one another (this is one car you don't want to short out with all the computers running). An extra set of hands could be helpful if you feel the need. Make all your connections and as the engine was left running while pulling old battery, no data should be lost.
4th, drive a few miles to ensure the new battery is fully charged.

5th and final when the job is done, have some wine & cheese and watch the Super Bowel while Mama fixes the Chili .

vlad_a

Jim,

Many new cars are not designed to run without a battery, on an alternator alone. Battery acts as a buffer and keeps the voltage steady.
I would not perform a swap on a running car.
A short will do some major damage and it is not worth the risk just for a few memory settings.

Cruiter

It was how I was told to do it by a Lexus tech. It worked for me. The time from the old battery being removed from the cables to the new battery being installed was probably less than three minutes. Someone sat in the back and held the cables apart for me.

vlad_a

Something tells me it is not a standard battery replacement procedure.
It would be safer to use jump-start method without starting the second vehicle.
There's a 12V access point under the hood.

When I was shopping for a leftover '12 RX450h, I found one at a local Lexus dealership. We couldn't test drive it because its battery was dead. Of course, the battery is in the trunk and it won't open when it is dead. To make things worse, the vehicle was backed into the parking spot with its rear facing thick bushes. A Lexus Tech came out with a jump start battery. He looked under the hood, and we eventually found the +12V jump-start terminal. Unfortunately, he could not figure out what to do with the negative terminal.
Needless to say, I did not test drive that RX, nor did I purchase one there.

litzdog911

Too funny! A Lexus Tech couldn't figure out how to ground the negative cable. Wow.

kevinlieb

I also don't recommend replacing the battery while the car is running. At least with traditional cars this is a bad idea for the alternator reasons stated above, among other things. I will hook a trickle charger or my more powerful "toaster" style battery charger to keep the car's brains juiced up while I do the swap. I'll post my reply.

Gampa if you can confirm the model number of battery you used please post it here.

Gampa

Used the 35 series yellow top with the spacer on the bottom. Came to little over 200 with tax
I was wondering if the red top with 1000 cca would have fit. I used it in my tpyota camry and it fit great. Should last me for the next four years plus
P S I installed it first with wires... That got all tangled up... So I just seated the battery with no connection . In think I lost memory for seat position and lift hatch memory. I took a few time butt the got everything back to normal

Gampa