Parasitic Draw Draining Battery
Pole Position
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 2,873
Likes: 0
From: South Florida
If your car is equipped with a telephone that can be the gremlin..I had the same problem with 2 of my sc's .This is also a probles whith many mercedes benz cars. If thats not the problem check for bad relays.
Batteries :-\
I went through THREE Optima Redtops in the span of its warranty (each with a defective section in time)...coulda added to the kill count, but I lost the receipt and was in a hurry. So I just got the $10 core for it and installed a plain lexus battery with something like 800cca.
Never again will I get the Redtop.
I went through THREE Optima Redtops in the span of its warranty (each with a defective section in time)...coulda added to the kill count, but I lost the receipt and was in a hurry. So I just got the $10 core for it and installed a plain lexus battery with something like 800cca.
Never again will I get the Redtop.
I am having the same issue, I just bought one of those 20 dollar battery cutoffs from summit, the kind that go on the positive or negative lead with the green **** and you just give it a twist and it disconects that lead. only thing i can do to help myself out from killin batteries like I am
anyone tried to unhook the ecu and check the voltage then? I'm doing that next, i'm tired of unhooking my battery everytime i go to work or home 
i searched this site, and it helped one of the guys on here.
i searched this site, and it helped one of the guys on here.
wonder if this is another one of those 1995 1jz problems 
I figured it was Optima, but if I eat this new one quickly, i'll assume I have a very small drain somewhere. Probably at the radio since it likes to cut out on bumps (never looking to see if power goes or if cd skips)
I figured it was Optima, but if I eat this new one quickly, i'll assume I have a very small drain somewhere. Probably at the radio since it likes to cut out on bumps (never looking to see if power goes or if cd skips)
wonder if this is another one of those 1995 1jz problems
I figured it was Optima, but if I eat this new one quickly, i'll assume I have a very small drain somewhere. Probably at the radio since it likes to cut out on bumps (never looking to see if power goes or if cd skips)
I figured it was Optima, but if I eat this new one quickly, i'll assume I have a very small drain somewhere. Probably at the radio since it likes to cut out on bumps (never looking to see if power goes or if cd skips)
whats the deal with 95 and 1jz's?
Batteries :-\
I went through THREE Optima Redtops in the span of its warranty (each with a defective section in time)...coulda added to the kill count, but I lost the receipt and was in a hurry. So I just got the $10 core for it and installed a plain lexus battery with something like 800cca.
Never again will I get the Redtop.
I went through THREE Optima Redtops in the span of its warranty (each with a defective section in time)...coulda added to the kill count, but I lost the receipt and was in a hurry. So I just got the $10 core for it and installed a plain lexus battery with something like 800cca.
Never again will I get the Redtop.
I'm SOOOOOO with you!!! FK those AHOLES!! Sorry I can curse I've been on the forums FIVE years, this is my first!
I too bought an optima after the Leswab battery went dead in my car (had to been over 4 years old)...so then...ugh...
I spent about a year dealing with the Redtop. I only drove the vehicle a few times a year, parasitic drain or not, I was pretty pissed to find that those batteries are garbage. No, not garbage, how about: complete overrated trash.
So I have two theories: 1) Those batteries just are not purchased enough so you end up with a pretty old battery @ Point of Sale. Unless you baby it, you're screwed. 2) They just suck unless you DD the car.
These cars are old. For most; they're hopefully 2nd vehicles?
So after a year of frustration, embarrassment (great when your car won't start on a f'n date!!!), and anger, I went to Les Schwab and purchased a new battery.
ZERO problems!! I can let the car sit for three months, everything connected.... hmmm I think I wanna drive my Lex... BAM! Starts up just fine!
Optima =
Sorry, easily the worst product I've purchased in my 31 years of living....
ClubLexus Stories
Celebrating Lexus & Toyota from Around the Globe
8 Tips for Improving Your Hybrid or Plug-in Hybrid's Efficiency!
Michael S. Palmer
10 Best Lexus Models No One Remembers
Joe Kucinski
TRD Off-Road Premium: Best 2026 4Runner, Except This One Thing
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Lexus & Toyotas to Drive Before You Die!
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 Lexus/Toyotas With The LEAST 5-Year Depreciation
Joe Kucinski
Lexus LC500 Convertible Auction: A Preview of Rising Values?
Brett Foote
GX 550 vs TX 550: Best 3-Row Luxury Lexus Family Hauler
Michael S. Palmer
9 Best Lexus Models You Can Buy for Half Price (And 1 You Shouldn't!)
Joe Kucinski
2026 Lexus NX Buyer's Guide: Models, Features, Prices & More!
Brett Foote
Maybe you guys got a bad batch of optima red tops or something, because optima reds have been the best batteries I've ever owned. I put one in my '96 dodge in '99 and won my local usaci outlaw SPL competitions every year for about 3 years (on the stock alternator too, 154db)... and in 2005 that battery finally died. I bought a new one the same year and had it in my truck until I stopped driving it, then I pulled it and put it in my '74 dart for a few years until January '09 when I got my lexus and threw it in that. It still has plenty of juice and my car fires right up instantly every morning with no signs of drain. I expect it to last at the very least another year, which would make it 5 yrs old. 2 daily driven red tops in a decade isn't bad! Of course.. I always upgrade the ground and power wires under the hood of every car I own and test for parasitic drain to eliminate any long term drain.
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 35
Likes: 1
From: VA
[QUOTE=defrag010;4879112]Mine turned out to be the radio fuse. With the car off, the radio fuse was pulling like .2 amps
Yup, mine is on the trickle charger once a week and its a new Toyota batt. I guess the amps & dual electric air air pumps don't help. Alternator checks out.Its dead after a week of sitting. Too lazy to track the source. But since this thread popped up I got some troubleshooting ideas off some of the comments.
Umm... someone mentioned just disconnecting the batt every time? BAD Idea. Do it only if you don't care that your car will run like crap from constantly resetting the ECU.
Umm... someone mentioned just disconnecting the batt every time? BAD Idea. Do it only if you don't care that your car will run like crap from constantly resetting the ECU.
Yup, mine is on the trickle charger once a week and its a new Toyota batt. I guess the amps & dual electric air air pumps don't help. Alternator checks out.Its dead after a week of sitting. Too lazy to track the source. But since this thread popped up I got some troubleshooting ideas off some of the comments.
Umm... someone mentioned just disconnecting the batt every time? BAD Idea. Do it only if you don't care that your car will run like crap from constantly resetting the ECU.
Umm... someone mentioned just disconnecting the batt every time? BAD Idea. Do it only if you don't care that your car will run like crap from constantly resetting the ECU.
Well you need to just put you multimeter so it can test current draw. Test at each fuse and when you find some usually more then 50ma or so track down everything on that circuit. Its just time consuming, you can get a thing called a fuse buddy and it will allow you to test each circuit without pulling the fuse. Mine is real weird and intermediate, my whole system can go down to only drawing 30ma at night and be dead some times 2 days after and some times not. Its some thing turning on draining then turning off so you have to catch it when it does it. Pain in the butt, could be a ecu, relay, who knows.
Driver School Candidate
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 7
Likes: 0
From: North Carolina
Yup, mine is on the trickle charger once a week and its a new Toyota batt. I guess the amps & dual electric air air pumps don't help. Alternator checks out.Its dead after a week of sitting. Too lazy to track the source. But since this thread popped up I got some troubleshooting ideas off some of the comments.
Umm... someone mentioned just disconnecting the batt every time? BAD Idea. Do it only if you don't care that your car will run like crap from constantly resetting the ECU.
Umm... someone mentioned just disconnecting the batt every time? BAD Idea. Do it only if you don't care that your car will run like crap from constantly resetting the ECU.