Oliver Enterprises

One last mention about this subject. I installed the battery last night. Not without challenges. First of all, these companies need to get their act together and better adhere to the definition of what a size 24 battery is. The NAPA battery was about 1/4" - 3/8" taller than the Panasonic. I normally would just yank the sucker out and get one that directly fit, but I decided I would "customize" the one battery hold down bracket. I don't like doing that type of customization, but in the end I was glad I did.

What happened was that since the battery was taller, the hold down bracket, once hooked into the rear (firewall side) bracket, the hold-down bracket would not lay down in position. It was angled up, nowhere near the threaded rod on the front. I considered to bend it right there, but decided it was more likely to break the rear bracket than bend the hold down. So I got my vice grips and began the customization. I only wanted to bend it just enough to fit. So I bent it just a tad and kept trying it until it was close enough to go down on the threaded rod and put the nut on the rod's threads. I'm going to TRY to attach a sketch below so you can understand what I had to do.

Another note: When I got in the car to check things out, I forgot to NOT put my foot on the brake pedal. And I pushed the button and VROOOM ... for 1 second. And the engine shut down, and I was like, "uhhhhh ohhhhhhh." So I just sat there, and the Nav screed said something about initializing, so I just sat and waited for about 15 seconds. And then the Nav screen looked normal. I pushed the button again, and VROOOM. And it kept idling. Sounded great! Nothing was reset, all memory seats presets, and radio presets were still there. And I had the battery disconnected for probably 20 minutes.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE. WOW! Now, from the time I push the button until it roars to life was soooo much quicker! The starter turned over what sounded like twice the speed. I wasn't expecting that much difference. And I wasn't aware of how lazy the starter sounded prior.

Oliver Enterprises

Maybe it will let me attach the image here. Wow, big, but I don't know hot to make it smaller.


Bracket Modified due to taller battery.

roadfrog

I don't recall having that issue with my AC Delco replacement. Sounds like you "MacGyver'd" a solution just fine though! LOL

Becker135

Mr. OE(M),
I'm sure you're a car guy, but it shouldn't have taken too much research to find a few posts on the potential size issues that these batteries have presented to us LS owners. I simply took the dying one out of the wife's car, put it beside the potential replacement at the auto parts/battery store, and saw the difference in height of the two. Since you need to give them the old one anyway for the few bucks of a discount/rebate it seemed like the simple thing to do...

Oliver Enterprises

Yes it does, but I didn't do it that way. I didn't have time nor the logistics to remove from the car first. I bought the battery and brought it home, using a different vehicle. Matter of fact, I still need to return the Panasonic for the core charge.

vegasgs400

iTrader: (3)

my battery just dead, great. it wasnt driven for a week or so.
so after I replace with the new battery, should i just press "start" button without foot on the brake, so the system will initialize by itself? how long should i left it there?

jmcraney

I think you will get good results either way. Just allow a minute or two before you turn it off. But, you do need to be sure the Ignition is OFF when you are installing the new battery.

Oliver Enterprises

JM - I think you're right. When I replaced my battery and got in the car to check it, I forgot to NOT put my foot on the brake, and it cranked right up. For what seemed like exactly 1 second. When it shut off I thought, oh crap. But I just sort of froze and noticed the Nav screen saying "Initializing." It all went fine after that.

vegasgs400

iTrader: (3)

thanks all.
after the new battery was installed, i just turned on ignition and let the system re-intialize. then i waited until the audio was playing from the hard disk, i turned off and started the car. everything is all good. thanks all again!! happy holidays!!

wayman28

I started this thread about two years ago when my one-year old Lexus battery inexplicably died on me and I received a free warranty replacement Lexus battery. Well almost two years after I had that new battery installed it died on me about a month ago. Luckily I had just left the Lexus dealership and drove next door to get some gas. I turned the engine off for however long it takes to fill up a tank. When I went to restart it it struggled a bit. I knew that sound and sensed my battery was about to die. So I pulled to the side of the gas station parking lot and turned the car off for another couple minutes. When I went to restart it I got absolutely nothing. I walked back to the Lexus dealership next door and they eventually replaced the battery at no charge again.

So I have now had two Lexus batteries completely die on me for no apparent reason. One was about one years old and the second was about two years old. I'm wondering if I should just get an after market battery and stop playing with fate, My nightmare scenario is if the battery dies on me when I'm in the middle of nowhere late at night with my wife and child in the car.

Lexuslsguy

I would pick up a nice aftermarket AGM battery. Interstate Mega-Tron series are great batteries.

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

I think that was probably just bad luck.. Having said that, maybe they're not making batteries like they used to! I carry a small jumper battery in my older vehicle now (the RX300), just in case.

jmcraney

If I understand correctly, from what you have told us, your car has experienced 3 battery failures in 3 years. Flooded cell car and truck batteries have a life of 40 - 60 months over a wide range of operating conditions. Batteries do fail prematurely but that is rare. Seems to me indications are very strong that there is something wrong with your car. I'd like to remind you again that your multiple battery failures are likely related to a defective driver's doorjamb switch.

Oliver Enterprises

wayman28 - I was about to say the same as jmcraney. Batteries are too consistent nowadays for it to just be bad luck. There's got to be a drain somewhere. I would do as jmcraney says. It can ruin the whole experience of ownership. You could have the baddest *** LS 460 in all the land, but if you're worried it won't start when you go somewhere, that would suck. Someone who is better at electrons than I could help you isolate the drain. I was thinking that maybe probing the fuse box could lead to it. But I don't know if that would work. My best guess (but I wouldn't do this without asking someone else who knows more than me) is to take a multimeter and put it in ammeter mode. Pull fuses out and probe from one side to the other. I would think most circuits should be pulling nothing. Something along those lines.


Jason Oliver

wayman28

Thanks jmcraney and Jason. Yes it was basically three batteries in about three years. The first of the three failures occurred with the previous owner. Based on the service history the previous owner had replaced the battery a little before I took ownership. I assume they replaced it because his battery died but that's an assumption. Since I have owned it I have replaced two batteries that have gone absolutely flat dead without much warning.

How would I go about troubleshooting a possible unknown drain? How would I figure out the defective door jamb switch theory?

Thanks again.