DaveInMesa

I've read a lot of the battery drain threads, and they are similar to my situation, but not necessarily the same, for two reasons.

One reason is that this problem with my 2002 RX300 only started (or became noticeable?) when my battery died. It was a AAA battery and still under warranty, so it was a pain but not expensive. Up until that time, I had owned the car for about a year and not had any problems with battery drainage, other than the battery that came with it dying. Being in AZ, that's a common problem, so I didn't worry about it.

But, the replacement AAA battery died after a couple of months. They came out, ran their tests, and everything was fine, so they jumpstarted it and the car was fine. For another month. Then it died, again. It has now died five times, and every time the charging system and battery test fine. I even took it to the AAA repair facility and had it tested on the bigger machine, and it passed all those tests, too. And I can drive it for hours with no problem, assuming it starts, so the alternator is probably fine.

The other reason this may be different is because I didn't see anyone mention the other electrical issue I've been having, all along. My car doesn't have navigation, but it does have an LCD display that shows the radio, climate control, and mileage info. That panel has had an intermittent problem since I bought the car, where the display dims at random times, then comes back up to full brightness. It can just be a "blink" or it can take a few seconds to come back, but it hasn't been getting worse. It's always been that way... just random. A few times, the display went completely off.

None of these blinking or dimming episodes correspond directly to battery deaths, but I'm thinking they may be another indication of the same underlying problem. I don't know anything about fixing electrical problems, but that can't be a coincidence.

So, where do I start? (And thanks, in advance, for any help.)

ChaoSki

Sounds to me like you might have an alternator issue.

I would do the following:
Go to Autozone and ask them to run Battery and Alternator test.

Then I would start following the battery negative/- terminal cable and see where it mounts/check ground for corrosion etc.

I would not get a new battery from Autozone though.......just call AAA and ask them to give you new one. Better yet, get one at Costco....I've had great luck with their batteries. They just changed to Interstate (but Kirkland batteries were solid/Jackson Controls).

But it sounds like your alternator is on it's way out.....keep us posted

cotis

The display dimming and coming back could be related to the light sensor mounted in the dash in front of you under the windshield. Do you keep your headlights on the "Auto" setting? If you do, it uses this light sensor to detect when to turn the lights on and off, and to dim the interior dash lights. the LCD display has a day and night backlight setting. If they are wildly different and the sensor is triggering then you will see this as a problem during the day. Just a thought...

matts6887

Im with chaoski on this one. Sounds to me like it could possibly be the alternator on its way out as well. But the only real way to find out is to go to autozone or pep boys where they have the tools to test it.

DaveInMesa

I thought that being able to drive a long time without the car dying meant that the alternator is okay, but I'll get it tested. Thanks.

DaveInMesa

I can't remember if I ever knew that (and forgot), or not. Either way, thanks for reminding me

DaveInMesa

Ok. Howdy, neighbor.

matts6887

howdy back Dave. Im up here in north phoenix by the way.

artbuc

Good luck if you are depending on AZ or PB to diagnose an alternator/charging circuit issue, lol. You can get a pretty good assessment with a simple VOM. A good battery should show close to 13vdc. Start the car and voltage should jump about 1.5vdc indicating a good charging current from alternator.

matts6887

Well art; its just "thinking" on my part; and if its so simple then they should in fact have the tools to check. Especially if they will do it for no charge. There arent a lot of places out there these days that wont charge to do even testing. It was just my .02 is all.