2013FSport

iTrader: (2)

Car was new to me July and starts and all options work as intended. Along the way in 80°F temps battery voltage (car off) was 12.44v which is low and I knew it was the original battery from late 2012.

Sunday Afternoon.
I loaded Techstream for tinkering and had the key in run position engine off. Along the way I heard the fan in the Nav unit decline in pitch and then witnessed the Nav screen drop out at about 10.5v or less. So I disconnected and turned the ignition off. It had been on about 10min total.

Sure enough, push start button, it cranks one lick and click click click.... No starting on that battery. Jump it with an old AGM 10Amp motorcycle battery, fires right up.

Monday.
Drive to work all is well. That night multiple short trips in 40°F temps with lots of accessories on.

Tuesday.
Temps in the mid 30s, heat and seat heater on and the strange behavior begins while driving to freeway.

Car has jacked the idle to 1700 rpm so while braking and stopped its wanting to go. Turn off seat heater and the Idle drops a bit. Turn off heater. Idle goes to normal at 650'ish...

Don't ignore the signs.....
It got a new battery that day. 700CC, 875 CA 130min reserve... $130

edit: Point - if you see the tach jump for no obvious reason it could be a sign that your battery in not meeting the needs of the system i.e. it is below voltage and the car is trying to offset this by raising the RPM.

Johnhav430

Those sound like the specs of a Costco/Interstate for the LS430, which is popular on the 3rd gen forum, around $80 and some folks just replace it they say every 2 yrs. as Costco has a don't ask policy when the old one comes back. The other way is to simply load test it to be sure. Agreed there's no need to wait until one day it doesn't work. On a German car where there is programming, maybe it is worth it to actually wait. BMWs can be 6-10 years before replacement needed...

Aron9000

I know the local Toyota dealer can be the same price maybe even cheaper than the Autozone/Advance Autos of the world. I think the battery for my Tacoma was actually cheaper at the dealer by $5-10 and had a 7 year warranty instead of 5 year from Advance Auto. Also oil filters at the dealer are $5 a pop, good price on those as well.

Johnhav430

I can tell you my experience, good luck trying to get a replacement battery at Advance Auto (I had a 84 mo. battery fail at 30 mos., no free replacement and no pro-rata which made no sense whatsoever, even with receipt--maybe my location but I wasn't going to drive all around so that time I went to Sears), so consider their battery lacking a warranty YMMV I do drop my used oil there, as the three stooges give me a hard time where I live (no state law says they must accept used oil)

We don't want the same co. controlling every aspect of our lives (world's richest or 2nd richest man), but imho, one really has to find excuses not to buy at Costco. Price, and service, they win on top tier gasoline (esp 93 octane), batteries, tires, etc. sure, it's hard to leave the place without some sort of impulse buy.....

now my latest discovery on batteries, I have 2 spares that I keep charged on a Battery Tender. I tried both in my Nissan whose battery was dead, and neither could start the car. I googled and others had the same experience. They said the light simply turns green when the unit sees the voltage as sufficient, but it still won't start the car and you need to get a real charger. So I did and that one which has a microprocessor started at 16A (25A is the max) and went down from there to FLO...live and learn.

riredale

Two thoughts:

(1) I could be wrong but I don't think the computer raises the engine idle simply because the battery voltage isn't high enough.

(2) Costco currently has a sweet little Lithium-ion jump starter in the stores for about $50. Great price, and the box is about the size of a fat smartphone. With one of these you will never have to worry about when to replace an older battery, since a sure start is just a few minutes away regardless. Great peace of mind--and it's an emergency flashlight and cellphone charger, too. On sale until November 22, but they probably will run out before then.

https://www.costco.com/Lithium-Jump-...100383979.html

mmarshall

Did the headlights or dash-lights dim when idling at night? That's more a sign of an alternator starting to crap out than the battery. That could also account for the idle-speed jump at times.......the alternator has to spin faster to produce adequate current than it does when it is working properly.

Johnhav430

I had heard someone say that CR tested (haha I'm not a fan but often we cannot even go out and buy what they test) these portable jump start devices, and all of them work at ordinary temps, but none of them work at 0F. Then, if left in a car in the summer, the interior can exceed what the mfg's of the jump start devices say is within range. I'd rather have AAA Plus flatbed my vehicle home where I can determine what to do next....my .02

2013FSport

iTrader: (2)

International or not it did raise RPM... And to make a point it is unintended acceleration. So, made that way? I doubt it. Did it have my attention, absolutely....

All lighting seemed normal.