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Flat battery!

84K views 81 replies 38 participants last post by  Kenyonni 
#1 ·
I have a 4 month old Dynamic hybrid. 2k miles on clock. Went to local supermarket today, left the wife in car with radio and air con working on ignition setting. After 25 minutes I returned, she said everything has gone off. I tried to start the car, no chance everything dead. Rang Toyota breakdown, great service, an AA fitter arrived in 30 minutes, asked what was wrong. He jumped the 12v battery, said it was as good as dead. And I started the car ok. Right questions why does the car allow you to run until battery flat? I used to have a BMW that used to cut out if you tried that. The fitter said to run the car on petrol at least a hour?? Is that possible? It always starts on electric. Even though it is a hybrid the whole car relies on the 12 v battery strange. Anyone else had this issue? (I drove the car on motorway for over an hour seems fine now).
 
#2 ·
had a similar issue myself ,left the radio on for 4 hours and battery went flat, left it for 20 mins and it recharged enough to start , went for a long drive to charge and been fine since ,theses cars do have very small batteries to start the engine but 25 mins i would say the battery is duff and take it back to the dealer to be tested ;)
 
#5 ·
I had a drained battery too. I thought I depressed the brake paddle far enough. But I didn't. While setting up my destination and waiting for my wife. Within 10 minutes the dashboard lights flickered and the battery was dead. Toyota assistance arrived within 20 minutes to jump start the car.

I'm surprised to see it might be a bug.

For those whose car shutdown needly. Which type do you have and when did you got it.

Mine is a Hybrid from January 2017.
 
#8 ·
Mine too switches everything off after about 5 mins (IIRC)

Sounds like your a bit of a pioneer Phil and ended up with a dud battery :(
 
#9 ·
I too have had a flat bettery on a couple of occasions over the last couple of weeks.

First time - after I had left the boot open for about an hour and a half. At the time I blamed the bulb in the boot but then I thought there's no way that single bulb could drain the battery, especially as the day before I had done a 100 mile trip. After a jump start from a kind gent who had a set of jump leads it was fine for the 100 mile trip home. I got home and put it on charge with a battery charger as I was shocked to find it still wasn't full.

Second time happened this morning - I had been doing a number of short trips at the weekend but nothing outside of my normal routine. A quick fast charge and I got it started again.

Mines in for a service this month so will raise this.

Mine is a June 2017.
 
#10 ·
I am going away for about six weeks shortly, my Hybrid will be in a locked garage while I am away. My previous car Vauxhall gtc I always left it unlocked in the garage so as the alarm system did not flatten the battery.and had no problem when I came to start it on my return...What should I do with this Hybrid if the battery goes flat so quick ? Any suggedtions guys.?
 
#12 ·
I left it parked 3 weeks during the winter no issues.
Is not a problem if it is closed and all off, it will go to "sleep mode "
The car relies for 12 V even if the big battery is full because all the circuits for lights, dash, radio, ECU, sparkplugs.. etc.. is designed for 12 V in the auto industry.
But the 12V is not used to crank the engine so it is very small compared to the 12v from a 2l diesel for example. It will easily drain from radio and such.
 
#14 ·
I just came across this thread........ Very interesting. I've not had a flat battery but Ive now learned that putting the car in 'accessories' mode when parked up and listening to music or going through the menu etc cuts everything off before it becomes a flat battery........... Please correct me if I'm wrong!.....
 
#18 ·
I have heard of modern cars with normal capacity 12v batteries being out of charge after being left for a number of weeks unused, probably due to some of the systems never actually shutting down completely, such as alarms and the sensors for keyless entry etc.

On my old MGs I use a battery conditioner/charger which keeps the battery in ideal condition and doesn't overcharge, just gives what is needed to keep the battery topped up. I just leave it connected all year and forget it until I need the car, which is always easy to start.

They are not expensive and are a good investment if you tend to leave your car for a few weeks unused, at times.
You need a garage with power, of course.
 
#20 ·
I go away quite often. Having suffered a flat battery the first time I left the car for a while I was rescued by the AA who gave me a booster charge to rectify the problem. Last time I went away, I disconnected the black battery terminal, wrapped it in a bubble wrap envelope to isolate it, then wedged it so that no part of it was in contact with any other engine part, It does mean that the security system no longer functions, but after two months I reconnected the black terminal and started the car as normal,

I have recently had the misfortune of leaving the car with the parking lights on during the afternoon and not noticing until the evening. Today, two days after the event, I have just tried to start the car but the battery is not had little charge left in it, There were a lot of flashing headlights and interior consul lights, but alas, no sign of the engine starting.

I have connected a battery charger in situ, in an effort to rectify the problem and will leave it charging overnight in the hope of success in the morning. Wish me luck. I am beginning to feel that this low powered battery situation is very suspect in this type of vehicle, which should turn itself off prior to running out of enough charge to restart the engine. Any thoughts?
 
#22 ·
I left my hazard lights on for around 3 hours the other day and came back to a completely flat battery. Car wouldn't start so I called roadside assistance and waited 3 hours for them to come and jump start it. After which, a lot of the electronics weren't working perfectly.

A few months later, I left it on my driveway for a couple of weeks and the battery was flat again! Thankfully roadside assistance came a bit quicker this time. I've never known a car battery to be so pathetic. This is definitely not what I expect from a virtually new car from such a reliable manufacturer. I can only assume that the immobiliser and other electronics drain the battery at such a high rate that it needs very frequent driving.

Surely they could design it so that the battery is isolated when it becomes critically low. I would rather have to open my door with the manual key than have a car that won't start when I need it. Very disappointed.
 
#23 ·
andrew@arogoff.com said:
I left my hazard lights on for around 3 hours the other day and came back to a completely flat battery. Car wouldn't start so I called roadside assistance and waited 3 hours for them to come and jump start it. After which, a lot of the electronics weren't working perfectly.

A few months later, I left it on my driveway for a couple of weeks and the battery was flat again! Thankfully roadside assistance came a bit quicker this time. I've never known a car battery to be so pathetic. This is definitely not what I expect from a virtually new car from such a reliable manufacturer. I can only assume that the immobiliser and other electronics drain the battery at such a high rate that it needs very frequent driving.

Surely they could design it so that the battery is isolated when it becomes critically low. I would rather have to open my door with the manual key than have a car that won't start when I need it. Very disappointed.
Had same issue when not using car for couple of days when we had -2 weather. Happened twice. Battery totally flat. Had to use key to unlock door. I have booster pack in garage. So used that to start car. Told dealer. They fitted new battery as after testing car for power drain etc. They couldn't see why battery went flat. They told me they had issues with the gt86 battery in cold weather and they had to replace them with better battery. Maybe same issue with c-hrs.
 
#24 ·
It's just happened to me again! I drove it around until the battery was charged last time. This time, I left it in my driveway for 18 days and the battery was flat again. Can't believe this car can't survive 18 days without being driven. Completely ridiculous. Going to replace the battery and see if that makes a difference.
 
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