My genuine Lexus battery died today.
 

It has been discharging alot lately, and when I went to start the car this morning, nothing.:mad: A month ago I had to fill it up with over a quart of water.:eek2: After that it had a hard time holding a charge period. I rarely drive the car due to the fact that I have a company vehicle, maybe this is what killed it.:uh: Anyway I got a new one from Napa for $51 + core. It only has 525 CCA compared to the old Lexus battery CCA 575.

How much does one of these Lexus batteries cost at the dealer?

My dad told me that a bad battery will actually make the alternator work "harder", thus giving me worse mpg's. Is that true?:uh:

I believe the battery's at the dealership are around $125 - $200. Than if you want them to install it have fun thats another $125 - $200 on top of that. I never heard of that before but i can ask my lexus mechanic. we slap all redtops in our cars.

just keep the battery you have. it wont make a big difference. your dad is right, or maybe my dad agrees with your dad and their both wrong =P

i have a 1996 es300. it had teh original battery in it until november of last year. thats a quality battery right there!!

Letting a battery just sit is the worst thing you can do to it. If you aren't driving your car for a while, you must place the battery on a trickle-charger to prevent it from discharging.

You can go better than the 'Lexus' Battery. Lexus surely doesn't have the best battery on the planet, I assure you. They are good, but not the top.

You get what you pay for-- but for a good, very long life, powerful battery rated at 75months. A little over 6 years, if it fails before then, you get it replaced -- you can't go wrong.

http://www.interstatebatteries.com/e...65&js=1&RefID=

675 CCA and 875 CA -- It will get the job done.

This is better than OEM spec.

There are plenty of others even better than this, and of course worse batteries.

After 5 years or so I don't give any battery a 'thumbs up' on definite reliability. If one lasts 5 yrs with no trouble I've gotten my money out of it, and will often change it before it goes bad.

On batteries go with high CCA, a high warranty rating, and name brand. Also take into account dimensions and post design.

Freshness is key as well,.. fresh batteries go a long way -- As was mentioned, if your shopping now, you wouldn't want a 6/07 rated battery.. but a 3/08 would be perfect, 2/08 would be good, and 1/08 is acceptable.

Filling up old batteries with 'tap' water is a waste of time. Good to get you going another week or so, but you should have bought another battery in the following days of having to fill it. Many places accept your old battery as a Core fee -- which can net you in a good battery for $50 or better.

I have a good shop here, that will do me right, With my core they will let me pick the battery of my choosing, for 25$ (my core covers the rest) -- These are brand new as well. So my friends often go to me for the batteries, considering that is a steal these days.

My grandfather just happens to be good buddies with the owner and that allows me a shoe in for the 'cost'.

Also, mentioned, the worst thing for a battery new or old is sitting for periods of time. If it is sitting, a trickle charge is ideal. Even if you trickle it 2 days a week or so, it will keep it alot healthier than otherwise.

The Crank pull off a battery that has sat for months does alot of damage to the chemical structure, which is breaking down as it sits without any electrical activity going through the chemicals.

Also, most batteries are 'maintenance free' meaning they are sealed and not designed for any water adding like the 'old days' where you did fill batteries on a regular basis.

Anything other than distilled water will ruin the battery, so if you used tap water that battery was toast from the get go ;)

I just noticed you rarely drive the car -- I either keep a slow trickle charge on such,.. just a little charge going to keep it healthy,.. Or I will start the car every 2 days or so and let it idle for a bit. The trickle is better for it.

If your wondering of a decent, inexpensive trickle charge -- Grab one of those 6volt/12volt battery charges.. With the smaller aligator clip design. It charges slow enough to do the job just right. Generally great to charge trolling motor batteries fairly quickly, but enough to slowly get a car battery up to speed. (Or in this case maintain one)


Depending on how 'rarely' you drive the vehicle, it might be worth utilizing a single battery.. and swapping them out. Depends -- If you end up driving it once every 2-3 months, then that would be a wise move. If you drive it once a week or two weeks.. then that is probably a bit of a hassle.

I replace my batteries every 3 years I just go to Kragen and get thier best battery and just pop in mh 91 lexus and it works just fine. Some time back NEOFATE advised not to use your alternator on a dead battery you can sometimes ruin the battery and if your battery is dead use a battery charger overnight it will prolong the life of your alternator. I have taken his advice and my alternator has over 200,000 miles and still going strong. The people at lexus told me that the lexus alternator can go as far a 250,000 miles and more who knows maybe it can.

The alternator is only limited by the electric motor wear and tear components inside. It has brushes like every other motor -- It has set of electrical windings we are all familiar with that you can see from the outside that spin freely..This is the rotor. The rotor is driven by the drivebelt. There are also stationary windings called, appropriately stators. Anyhow -- There is a set of brushes in alternators to keep electrical contact with the aforementioned rotor and pulley indirectly.

These brushes will eventually wear out,.. Which would cause the alternator to cease to function. (Think of them like very hard brake pads,.. on a rotor, they will eventually wear to nothing).

Now one could open the alternator up and replace the brushes, but it is generally more cost effective and smarter to buy a new one because of the 'hours' required to replace it. (Might as well have all new parts in there).

It is quite amazing the alternators on the LS 400's go as long as they do. 200,000 miles is amazing, 250k average is phenomal imo. I would expect an alternator to be rated at something like 100k maybe 120k at best. But not the case with Lexus.

Is the LS the most dependable car in the world because of this reason, dependable parts?:thumbup:

i believe so dependable parts. they don't break down as much compared to other companies. I still have my original alternator in and i hit 200k on the clock. 200k and my 95 LS400 still running like a champion. The only problem that i know of for the 95 - 97 LS400 is the starter :'[.

I have a new alternator in mine,.. has about 30k on it, OEM alt. So it will last another 220k at least rofl.

Umm,.. Only problem you know is the starter on your car? Hrmm, they known to go out in your series?

What about the typical Instrument cluster, and LCD(climate control) -- those type of issues?

I would get more CCA for a Lexus LS
 

I just put a Bosch with 800 CCA into my 06 Lexus GS300. I had to do some modifications to get it to fit with the OEM battery cover, but it worked out well. BTW: Your car battery will always discharge if you don't use your car. Check out my video, I covered your discharge problem, and what battery you should actually put into a Lexus LS. Did you even know that the OEM Panasonic battery costs $885? I'm serious check out the pic below the video.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...f026c55490.pngOEM Lexus LS Battery. This is the Panasonic 80D26R that actually came with your car. My battery lasted 11 years!

Installed interstate battery
 

Costco offers a 700 CCA (875 CA @ 32F) Interstate 24F group size (industry) battery.

Had looked at Interstate 1,000 CCA, but $160 +Chicago tax...

I like dealer product but lower CCA...and not Panasonic produced

I paid $83 before core charge and 42 month full replacement warranty.

Fresh production - 11/17, so went with it.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...808fccab83.jpgInstalled
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...2d87d376f9.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...4d4755e5ac.jpg