Morning all.

Has anyone flattened the battery on there car?. What happened when you did? (apart from the obvious).
I came back from being away for a few weeks today and the car just flashed break warning issues on the dash and then I could here a relay (or something) in the dash going off but nothing else from the car.
I disconnected the battery, re-connected and nothing?. Hooked it up to a tender that is now showing battery as green but when I re-connected the battery, just a relay type clicking in the dash and nothing else.
I quess the next step is seeing if I can roll it out of the guarage and jump starting it. Any advice on how to get the electronic parking break off?.

Thanks in advance.

Matt.

Try using the battery tender without disconnecting the battery. That's what I do.

Manually releasing the electronic brake is complicated, you have to lift the car, remove a rear wheel, disconnect a connector, and using an allen wrench back off the brake pad. Best thing to do is get a jump box or extra long jumper cables to jump the battery. At that point you can release the electronic brake and/or hopefully the car will start. Do you still have Lexus roadside service? That might be the way to go too.

I have disconnected the battery and will stick it on a tender overnight. If not, I thing a set of extralong jump leads will be the next bet.

Actually I might use it as an excuse to buy a battery pack jumpstarter.

Thanks guys.

what do you guys use for a battery tender? Are they safe to leave on for an extended period of time (safe for the battery, safe not to catch fire if plugged in for weeks)?

Mine is now hooked up to a battery tender junior and I have a battery jump starter to cover this kind of thing again. The battery tender junior is about $30 and good to be left on long term.

i got caught out as I haven’t had a battery go dead after a few weeks before.

: This is what I use for my BMWs. Not sure if Lexus also uses AGM, but this one also charges regular wet/flooded cell car batteries. Most modern cars will kill their battery in 3-4 weeks if not driven. Sooner if the majority of your trips are less than 10 miles. BMWs are horrible because in order to increase their fuel economy, they cut off the alternator and only keep the battery charged at 80% which is bad for lead acid batteries. On the other hand, they keep the batteries in the trunk so they're not being baked in the engine bay. With a battery tender, my BMW batteries last 5-7 years+, I'm hoping my future IS500 will get the same.

this is exactly what I used all winter. I’ve only put 1000 miles on in the last few months. Mine didn’t run for 5-6 weeks straight. Zero issues and fired right up. Now that spring is here I’m ready to put some miles on!

^^ I do the same, mine was put away since late November and can't wait to get it out again. The only difference is I don't leave my battery connected the whole time. I usually plug it in for like 2 days (or until the light indicator on the CTEK turns green) and then remove the unit. Will plug it in again 1 month later and so on.

How come you don't have it plugged in all the time? Unlike Lithium batteries, Lead Acid enjoys being at 100% charge at all times. High quality battery maintainers like CTEK won't overcharge your battery. I've been using them for over 20 years since I got my first E46 that liked to drain its battery in 2 weeks.

I leave mine in all the time. Unless I’m driving at least once a week then I don’t plug in.

I think it's just my paranoid self thinking that despite not being to overcharge the battery that something could still happen - I guess I could set it and forget it next season and not worry about it. I'll add that to the list of topics I am working through with my therapist (lol)