bacardi11

iTrader: (1)

This has been a problem with the 430sc since the start. I have never had a car that will not start after a week or less. My Sister has a Honda and has never had this problem. I have a deep cell battery that cost just over 259 and it will not start sitting less then a week. The Lexus Dealer has check this car out and find nothing. They say keep a charger on it when sitting over 3 days. This is a ******* answer. Them saying this to me says there is a problem with this car. Is this a problem with all Lexus cars.

bb430

iTrader: (1)

I did not encounter this issue. I had left the car for 8 days when I left for CA in January. The car started as normal after I came back. I have an Interstate battery about 2 1/2 years old and I didn't use any trickle charger when I left.

ShawnOk

iTrader: (1)

This was a very strange coincidence. I had the same problem years ago when I'd leave the car sitting for about a week. I had it tested and no one could find the parasitic drain. I noticed that after I changed my interior halogen lights to LED's, the small door puddle lights would remain lit even when the car was locked and security was active. I feel that with halogen lights in the puddle lights, there wouldn't be enough power to actually illuminate them but with the low voltage LED's the tiniest voltage will light them. Could this account for all our parasitic drain?

bacardi11

iTrader: (1)

shawn
I use LED interior lights no map lights. close doors no lights on. a long time ago I read about the clock was the problem. did any one hear this.

ShawnOk

iTrader: (1)

bacardi, I'm referring to the puddle lights on the interior of the door panel, not the map lights. Once the doors are closed and about after 5 minutes, will you check those please? Mine stay on very very dim but no map lights or anything else to signify that the door is open. I know this is not from any of my mods, since i did not alter any of the OEM wiring. Thanks!

FLYCT

I see you have a Focal 1 amp and aftermarket sub. How is it wired? Could it be creating parasitic draw?

You need to get someone to get an accurate reading of parasitic current draw. My SC430s are stock and draw about 50ma after sitting for a few minutes. At that rate I estimate a fresh full capacity fully charged battery would fail to start the car in 7-10 days.

I'm out of town now and here is my garage security camera view. As you can see both cars have hoods up and are connected to battery tenders.

Car batteries like to remain charged. Deep cycle batteries handle discharge/charge cycles better but they will still discharge if parasitic draw is excessive.

OBP

I leave my car in the garage for 8-10 days at a time and it usually starts every time with no issues. No battery tender. The one time recently where it did not start, it was clear my battery was going bad, I switched over to another Interstate battery with a price discount due to the guaranteed life of the first Interstate battery not being reached and I have been fine. It has been about 3 or 4 months since the switch. The first Interstate battery survived about nearly 4 years and it was supposedly guaranteed for 5 years.

I have mostly LEDs on the interior of the car ( except for foot well lights ) and a few exterior lights have gone LED too ( parking lights, reverse lights and license plate lights ). I am probably not affected by parasitic draw so I am OK at this time.

sixonemale

I agree with Flyct, you need to get an accurate read of your parasitic draw, it seems too high. We've gone on several one week long vacations and the SC has had no problem starting, plenty of juice. Just the other night the original battery died. I used Triple A and they came out and thoroughly tested the battery and then replaced it with an Interstate battery that has about 760 CCA's for $150. They also hooked up a device so I did not lose any seat, ecu, etc., settings while changing the battery out with the exception of having to reset the clock. I'm a fan of Triple A's battery service due the fact that although it's a simple job, they test the current battery and if not good, they replace it and warranty their Interstate batteries for three years with free replacement and should it fail from years 4 - 6, they prorate it and apply the left over amount to a new battery.

dave42

I've got an 2007 PB and found the battery usually started to fail around 14 days or so. Since I only drive it in NICE weather ( it now has 2500.0 miles) I put a battery tender on it to be safe. I'm getting ready to sell it and it still had the original 07 battery in it so I just installed a new one.
I was told that the car has so many computers and memory functions that iit took its tolls on the very small battery that the cars are equipped with.

If this helps !

sc430faste

if you have a garage, buy a battery tender and hook it up when it is sitting for more than a few weeks.

DarthSid

I couldn't agree with you more. I learned the hard way many years ago. Also consider going with the latest technology. If you have an old battery charger that dates back more than 10 years, why not invest in a solid state device which is programmable, compact and more efficient.

mrblister

I have a 2005 PB bought new. One year later OEM battery failed. Dealer replaced with new OEM battery Just says made in Spain [ Same as the first battery ] Today exactly 8 years and one week the 2 nd OEM battery is dead as a door nail. I only drive car when I can put top down. Mileage now is 7314 I am going with the interstate megatron plus $ 153.00 installed . I have always used a battery tender plus on all of the batteries I have had in the car. I hope I get as much time out of the new battery.

LexBrett

I have also had the same problem with my '02 sc from the start. If I leaving it more than a few days without starting, I always seem to have problems. I beleive I am on my third battery in 6 years. I have had the alternator checked but it is fine...

SC43052

Three days is awfully short and either you have a parasitic drain or after a year or two of being low on charge the battery has already experienced sulfur crystal buildup on the plates that inhibits charging.

As previous posters have advised, buy one of these and with daily use your problems will disappear. You can maintain whatever life you have left in the battery, and when you get a new battery, daily use of this type of microprocessor mapped charger will give the battery an extended life.

Both of my car batteries are in excellent health, but I still "top them off" weekly with this charger to keep them in tiptop condition.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/15779498?w...250550&veh=sem

LexBrett

How is that battery charger that you suggested better than a regular battery charger? If you have to keep charging your battery, doesn't that mean something is wrong? Excuse my limited mechanical knowledge :-)