Hi Jaquimo. I am quite interested in your posts, becausa I own a RX of the same age, still with the original battery working fine so far. The battery is a Panasonic, the part number printed on the upper side is S55D23, the body is made of black plastic. Well I am wondering weather or not your battery is of the same type: apparently there is a slightly different part number (S55D23L) which, although sealed, has white sides with reference notches for the electrolyte level.

 

S55D23 battery

iginoc, attached is a picture of the 12V battery in my RX450h. The whole casing is made of black plastic and on top you can see the whitish line where I broke the seal off.

 

my wife's Camry Hybrid is 9 years old and we are still on the original 12volt.


since the 12 volt isn't used for cranking the motor there isn't a whole lot of strain put on it, it's life span should be double or more a ICE motor battery.

 

Jaquimo,
Thank you for sharing. Actually it's the same battery of my RX.
BTW, I've just come back fraom a 10-days trip abroad, I had left my smart charger plugged in with the programs "AGM" plus "RECOND" set up.
The last green light was on, then I guess that the charger completed its job and the battery has been properly desulphated.

 

iginoc, that charger should do a great job of reconditioning the battery. However I would confirm that the water levels in the battery cells are high enough to cover the plates in the cells else the problem might occur again in future. I think the water loss in my vehicle's battery was due to the high average temperatures where I live as well as heat waves that struck us recently.
See the link below for a wealth of information from the Battery University:
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/a...surface_charge

 

Please read this: Take care when servicing AGM batteries

AGM is sponge like battery, you shoud add few drops of water to make the cell damp again.

 

Don't exceed 5 amps during charging, per Toyota.

http://alflash.com.ua/avtovideo/rx45...0Batteries.pdf

 

Dont want to hijack the tread, but Im having a hard time finding the 12volt battery from anywhere but the dealership in the GTA, and they want close to 600 with install and taxes for the battery. Most websites and stores here dont list a battery for the 2010 rx450h and even my mechanic said to get the battery from the dealer in this case.

Can you wise folks confim that any group 35 AGM battery will work in the RX and not void the warranty? (I have extended coverage). Read somewhere that a regular battery in the vehicle can cause hydrogen gas in the cabin.

 

The battery is OE group size S55D23L, OE CCA Rating 360
Battery is vented to outside of vehicle.
Battery has sensor vehicle computer system. Must be reset by service specialist.
AGM Valve Regulated Lead Acid (VRLA) is required.

If anyone finds a better replacement version, please post.

 

Your suggestion conflicts with the advice in your link ("...Third, never try to add water to any AGM battery. Not only will this maneuver not rejuvenate an AGM battery, it will ruin the unit by exposing its innards to unwanted outside oxygen...").

 

True, but you have two options: open it up and try to fix it or go and buy a new one.
You can't fail as it is already broken.

My point was, don't fix things before you understand how it works.
This thread was suggesting others to go fill and ruin their battery.

 

I'm also in need of a new battery. Spoke to the parts rep at the dealership and was told that it's harmful to purchase a car battery anywhere else. The battery that's being sold at the dealership is "self ventilating" and costs around $280.

Since the battery is inside the car, it needs to self ventilate in order to remove/reduce emissions.

This makes sense. But do I really need to buy the battery at the dealer? Is there any way that I can get away with spending less by purchasing one at any other place?

 

Did anyone find a replacement option?

 

If you can live with a 10 Ah capacity reduction, you may consider an Optima D51R 8073-167 Yellow Top, which is a little smaller and less powerful, but should fit easily in the RX battery compartment and does have the same vent tube connection of the OEM one.

Optima products have a very good reputation, should I need to the replace the OEM battery, the D51R 8073-167 would be my first choice.

 

Thanks for the response. I ended up purchasing a sealed Energizer battery from a local box store over the weekend. Forget the model #. From what I understand, the sealed batteries are very common on BMWs.

The vent tube did not fit, so I purchased a smaller one, taped it up, and used it as an adapter. So far so good. If I will experience any issues, I will definitely look into the Optima.