I have an 06 with 140,000miles. A couple months back when it got really cold the car was failing to start, it would take some charging with a charger and eventually would start and run fine. It was the original Lexus battery, so I went and replaced it with an Interatate 27F. Been working well.

I don’t drive the car frequently, but I drove it fine a couple of days ago. Today I went to top up the Power Steering fluid and went to start the car to move the steering wheel, but it wouldn’t start. The battery was super depleted the radio wouldn’t come on. Connected the charger and charged it up and car started and I drove it for 8-9miles without issue.

It’s really cold so I didn’t inspect things too much but I did notice corrosion only on the positive terminal of the battery. When I replaced the battery there was corrosion mostly on the negative terminal but I cleaned it all, so this is new corrosion.

I did some reading and understand that corrosion on the positive terminal is a sign of overcharging, meaning that the voltage regulator or alternator could be going out. I think this is good news because it saves me time troubleshoot what is causing the no start, but if the battery is overcharged why did I have a problem starting the car today?

 

I think you'll need to take it by a mechanic. It's possible that you have a power drain (something is using power after you shut it off) and running the battery down. The other possibility is overcharging, where the alternator is boiling the electrolyte in the battery. Check the levels in the cells if your battery permits. Wear eye protection when you do, and wear a shirt you don't care about, in case there's some splashing.

Chip H.

 

I put a multimeter to the battery and it showed 11.99V, should be 12.4.

with the engine on I get a consistent 14.15-14.17V which means that the alternator seems to be functioning well. This seems to be a parasitic draw issue despite corrosion only showing on the positive terminal which is an indicator of overcharging.

Now I have to trouble shoot this in a cold garage

 

Did some more trouble shooting. When the vehicle is off there is a 0.11A draw. Not sure if this is high or not. I pulled the first fuse which was the OBD fuse under the hood and the drop went to 0.02A. Could this be the culprit of parasitic draw?

 

How did you test for parasitic draw? I think I have a similar issue on another vehicle...

Does your truck have any aftermarket equipment installed that could be causing the draw?

 

I ran the multimeter in series with the battery by disconnecting the negative terminal and connecting the negative lead to the terminal and positive lead to the cable. You have to give it like 60secs for the draw to normalize, this how I got my reading of 110milliamps.

my truck is stock with no additional USB or Bluetooth connectors.

when I pull the OBD fuse it goes down to 20milliamps.

although I realize I should have checked the draw after about an hour of the car sitting, I did it right after running it for a bit to test my alternator. I’m going to check the draw again in a little bit to get a more accurate reading

 

Be aware the body computer stays on for something like 10 minutes (not sure) after you lock the doors.

Chip H.

 

I’ve read a lot of forums where people say keeping the lights on auto and not locking the doors will create a draw, so I drove the car, had the battery charged and left it for the night with it locked and the auto light setting off.

I’ll check the battery voltage tomorrow morning.

but I was thinking that even with a 110milliamp draw with a group 27 battery it would take like 17 days for the battery to be half drained, I drove the truck and let it sit for 3-4.

Alternator looks good, before going through a lot of parasitic draw troubleshooting I think I’ll got interstate and get a new battery, mine is only 3 months old so still under plenty of warranty. Maybe it’s a dud battery

 

What were the battery cell levels like? Any of them dry?

Chip H.

 

Ya, to get an accurate reading, you'd have to wait for the computer systems to go to sleep. Sprint Booster install instructions say to wait 10 min for this to take place:

https://www.sprintbooster.com/presen.../INSTALLATION/

 

I don't mean to hijack this thread but my issue is similar. We have owned our 04 GX for 6 years now. The first 3 years we lived on Vancouver island where the winters don't get very cold. The last 3 years we are living in southern Ontario where it can get a lot colder like it has been lately.
Normally when the GX starts you turn the key and it starts, maybe 1 second? Now when it sits outside all day at work and gets cold it takes about 3 seconds to start maybe 4 seconds, that doesn't sound like a lot but it is I think. It has a fairly new AGM battery, so I really don't think that is it. It cranks over fast, it just doesn't start right away when it is cold. This is the first winter it has done this. Parked in the garage it starts no problem.
It has about 124,000 miles on it. I am pretty sure the plugs have been changed once already, and there is no fuel filter to change that I know of.
Anyone have an idea as to what would cause a longer start time when it is cold?

 

The cold weather in November/December here in Ottawa had my battery fail as well. But it was the original Lexus battery from 2006, so I thought it was time to replace anyways.

I guess I’m in a similar boat as you. #1 culprit for problems starting in the cold is the battery. But mine is like 3 months old with only 2K km on it at best. I also have a Honda Odyssey with the original battery from 2015 that starts up no problem in the -20C we’ve been having lately.

other culprits for cold starting issues could be the ignition switch or starter solenoid going out. You could also have a parasitic draw somewhere, which is what I’m suspecting I have.

it could also just be a bad battery, which is still a possibility for me as well I guess. Last night I went for a long drive, and my alternator charges normally, when I got home and tested the battery it was only at 12.3V, and it should be at 12.6V.

 

I’ll keep posting on this as my journey may help others.

I called interstate battery, where I bought my new battery 3 months ago. They basically said that anything below 12.6v is discharged. The fact my car is able to start with 12.3V or even 11.9v suggests to them that the battery is strong. I would have to take it to them for a few days so they can do all of their tests.

they also told me that if you don’t drive the vehicle often, which is true for me, you need to get a trickle charger or battery tender. This is where it gets confusing, because I have another vehicle with a 5 year old battery used also infrequently and parked outside which starts no problem all the time. I also mentioned that the car was drawing 110milliamps when off and he said that is a very small draw, which would take 2 weeks or so to discharge the battery

so if the parasitic draw is not the culprit, and the alternator works and charges the battery, I’m going to look at testing the starter solenoid and ignition switch. Perhaps that’s where the problem is...

 

My truck has a thing where in the winter when it's cold, sitting in my driveway which has a slight rake to it so the front sits higher by an 1" or so, using the command start it will crank and not fire until it stops cranking, waits a couple seconds, and then cranks again and fires immediately. I have a theory that my 2004, 270K km old gas cap has dried out, and allows a loss of vacuum in the fuel system, allowing fuel to leak back to the tank, and requiring cranking to build back up. I ordered a new OEM gas cap for it the other day (as the spring mechanism in it failed, still no CEL's though), but it's like 3 weeks away, so I won't know if that made a difference for a while yet.

I have not tested it starting by key under the same conditions...I realize as I type this...because I would have to not try the command start first and make a point of going outside and starting it with the key on purpose. I'm going to try that I guess, to see if it's a command start specific issue, I have a feeling it would fire right up, it's never done the crank but not fire thing when starting by key before, only with the command start

Your issue isn't battery related, as it cranks over strong and fast, just isn't firing. Maybe my untested gas cap theory could apply to you as well? Ignition switch and starter solenoid would prevent it from cranking, I think you can rule those out as well.

 

You have the opposite problem, where you're having trouble getting the engine to crank over, but it would otherwise start quickly if you could. Start leaving the hood popped at night until you get this licked, so you can open the hood and throw a multimeter on the battery without waking the vehicle's systems. I'm doing the same on my wife's GX460 that I believe I've tracked it to the obsolete command start drone system that was previously installed in it.

Start tracking evening and morning battery voltages, so you can track if it's dropping and by how much without the canbus system whirring. Then try the same with the battery disconnected from the vehicle, and then you know if it's a battery or a vehicle problem.