caha14

Much to my surprise, after leaving the trunk lid open for two days, the LS is dead. Completely dead. I measured 3.8 V off the battery, and nothing will come on.

Upon connecting my Husky charger and using "Jump Start" mode, the starter just clicked. When I tried to just slow-charge the battery, the charger shuts down after a couple of minutes and displays code F01, which essentially means internal short. Go figure...

I left the trunk open to let it dry out. It was pouring on Wednesday, and I had it open for 5+ minutes while food (for yesterday) was loaded. It's not like it was soaked or anything, but I still thought it would be a good idea to leave it open inside the garage. Little did I know what would follow.

I take responsibility for this, of course. However, something doesn't seem right... The moment I parked, I turned off every light. I know the LS, like other Lexus models, will cut power to lights (at least to some) after some time. Not knowing whether the trunk lights were covered by this feature, I thought I should disconnect the fuse. Well, when I came back 15 minutes later to do just that, the trunk lights were off, so I thought I was home free... Apparently not.

I could try to recharge the battery again (not sure if it's truly shorted) or more likely will be shopping tomorrow... OEM battery is $150 (without installation - moot point since the car is dead and unjumpable). Any recommendations? I have seen a few on here, but no clear trends!

Lextrician

well lets just say if that is the oem battery it might be time to get a new one anyways. this was just a sign of things to come. If you can charge back to full charge then you should be good but if this is the oem battery that came with the car it is about 5 to 6 years old.

Lavrishevo

iTrader: (1)

If the battery is a few years old just replace it. I highly recommend the Optima line. Red or yellow top. Look them up. Sealed, no maintenance, no corrosion, and much more forgiving to getting drained. They don't need to be trickle charged. Great batteries.

http://www.optimabatteries.com/us/en/products/

caha14

Forgot to say it's 2.5 years old; the original was replaced under 4/50 warranty when I got the car back in 2011. Is it possible that the battery isn't junk even though I'm getting the 'internal short' error? In essence, can this error be triggered by the fact that the battery is drained?

caha14

Thank you! Optima is at the top of my mental list based on what I've read here. Any issues with size (since LS battery has a smallish profile)?

Lavrishevo

iTrader: (1)

No issue with size. I would purchase at your local store over amazon. Changed the link. Yellow top is ideal for sedans. Sometimes shipping can be really rough on an individual battery. They sell them at you local auto parts store as well.

jgbackes

iTrader: (2)

Before you plunk down the cash for a new battery. Have you attempted to charge it without the terminals connected to the car?

I would yank the battery terminals off and try again. If that fails, call AAA on the phone, they will come out and do a full diagnostic of the battery and charging system and replace on the spot if needed.

Just my 2¢

jeff

jmcraney

It seems to me the most likely explanation for what you are experiencing is that the IGNITION was left on. It is not possible to charge the battery in-place when the ignition is on because the parasitic-load of the car's systems overload the charger and causes it, the charger, to shut off. And, when the ignition is left on it deeply discharges the battery. So, what you need to do is turn off the ignition but you can't turn the ignition off without some power. If you let the charger cool-off and then turn it on, connected to the car's in-place battery, you will probably have a short window-of-opportunity to turn the ignition off before the charger shuts off. Turn the charger on, jump in the car, with the key in your pocket, and without your foot on the brake, turn the ignition off by pressing the START button. OFF is when no lights are showing in the dash. Be sure that the headlight switch on the control stem is set to Off. The charger should stay on now and because the battery is deeply discharged it will take about 24 hours to fully charge. If you have some compelling reason to use your car it should operate OK after the battery has been charged 3 or 4 hours. It is nearly impossible to jump-start these cars when the battery has been discharged because the ignition was left on so if you find yourself in that situation you need to turn the ignition off before you try to start the car. Disconnecting the battery from the car and charging it will get you out of this situation too, but the ignition will still be on when you connect the fully charged battery and that will produce a significant arc, about 60 amps load, and some risk of explosion. After the battery is fully charged, you may need to disconnect it for about an hour and then reconnect to reset the car's electronic systems. Be sure that the ignition is off before you disconnect the battery. And, the TPMS needs to be benchmarked any time the battery is fully discharged or disconnected.

There may be some useful information for what you are experiencing in this discussion thread: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...ery-issue.html

caha14

Funny you say that; I woke up thinking exactly the same thing! I was too tired last night when this unfolded... It's charging away at the moment! I set it to 10A, given that it was so dead. I could go to 20, though. The one thing I didn't do is check and add distiller water to the battery. Last time I did this was well over 20 years ago...

caha14

Thank you, Jeff, as always for your very thoughtful and detailed responses. Regarding what happened yesterday, with the charger, etc., you are spot on. The ignition was on (given the attempts to jump - which, BTW, I've had luck with before with the LS, just not when it is so discharged), and I did manage to turn it off with the charger "helping".

The cause of the discharge is what's most unclear. I am very familiar with the thread you shared and the issue others have encountered, and can honestly say that everything was off when I parked: I set the lights to off and shut off everything before I opened the trunk. The ignition was definitely off. The trunk light went out in 15 or so minutes, and I thought all was good. In retrospect, I wonder if opening the trunk while still sitting on the driver's seat (as opposed to after exiting and closing the door) and never closing it precluded some other system from shutting off.

jmcraney

I think the "gotcha" is probably the courtesy lights on the doors. They will probably stay on in the conditions you described - will not go off until the all the doors are closed and the trunk is closed. Since the trunk was still open that may have prevented that. I understand you are certain that all the lights were off but the courtesy lights are shaded by the seats when the doors are closed and it can be difficult to tell that they are on. It should be easy to duplicate what you did to see if the courtesy lights were the cause.

caha14

I am actually going to test this... To be clear, I am actually not certain the interior lights were off. I am only certain that I turned the headlight switch and ignition to off. Upon seeing the trunk light turn off, I thought the battery saver/auto shutoff feature had kicked in, so I didn't even look in the car.

It's my fault, but it's also a bit annoying nonetheless... In essence, if there is a battery saver feature, this seems like a prime example of when it should go to work.

Separate question... Would you bump the charge rate to 20A?

jmcraney

You should adjust the charge rate to 5A and adjust your patience accordingly.

jmcraney

Keep in mind that the interior lights will go off in 20 minutes but the courtesy lights on the doors will not go off.

This is a good time for a Will Rogers quote: "Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment."

caha14

Love the quote; so true! Every car I've owned with this feature doesn't cut power to the courtesy lights, so I hear you there. I just can't comprehend why they would remain on with the doors closed, but I'll find out!

I've been charging at 10A for the last couple of hours, only because the next lower setting is 2A. Any concerns? Also, would you be concerned with water/acid level? Like I said earlier, I haven't touched that on any battery since high school.

EDIT: Charger is running at 5.3A at the moment... It adjusted downward from the 10.2 that it started at.