skwinter

I recently bought 2005 RX330. There was a dime in the 12 volt floor receptacle. I removed it and plugged in the power cord for GPS and that caused the battery to die. Had to use jumpers to start. What's wrong and how can I repair?

Thanks

litzdog911

Did that receptacle actually power your GPS? Are you sure it's still working? Odds are that with a dime inside its fuse would have blown.

neelnaik

Welcome to Club Lexus, skwinter! Congrats on the new RX!
I agree with litzdog911. If there was a dime in there, I would think it would have blown the fuse. What happened exactly when you plugged in the charger for your GPS? In any case, it shouldn't have drained the battery because all power outlets turn off when the key is moved to the OFF position. So I think the battery dying is not related to your power outlet issue, unless you ran the power outlet for a long time with the motor off, which would drain the battery, not leaving enough juice to start the car.

Check your battery and see how old it is. If it is a Lexus battery (actually, even if it isn't, I still recommend doing this), you can go down to your local Lexus dealer and have them print out a complete detailed service history of the vehicle. This report will show every service ever done to the vehicle that was completed at a Lexus dealer in the US (maybe Canada too?). You can also view an abridged version of the service history (and many other things, like an electronic version of your owners manual) by registering your vehicle at owners.lexus.com. The service history on owners.lexus.com will only give the category and the mileage a service was done. For example, for a battery replacement, it would likely say something like Electrical, XX,XXX miles. However, a complete service history printout from a local dealer will show the details of everything, including service adviser notes.

There should a date of manufacture on the battery itself (should be on a sticker on top or the side). If it's older than say 3-4 years (for a cheap aftermarket battery, 5-6 for a Lexus or Toyota battery), it's likely time for a new battery.

Now of course, before you spend money on a new battery, have an auto parts store test it for you, and you can go from there.

Good Luck!

skwinter

New battery and fuse replacements for the 2, 12 volt receptacles fixed the problem of the car not starting 2/3 of the time and needing a jump.

litzdog911

Thanks for the update.