Car Battery Question

steve terplak · Jan 11, 2016

I have a toyota SUV with a 2 year old battery.
We don't drive it everyday. My wife and I carpool to work and drive our car most days, so the SUV gets drive 3x per week.
This morning, I started it with the wireless car starter (started fine). The engine shuts down after 15 minutes, and we took a little too long getting out of the house (2 year olds aren't cooperative sometimes). When I got out, the engine was shut down but the heat was still going full blast (had been going 5 minutes since engine shutdown). This killed the battery enough to the point where it had to be jumped to re-start.

Is my battery going bad, or is it just a case of running the heat and defrost full blast for 5 minutes without the engine running will kill any battery.

Thoughts?
Thanks

glennster · Jan 11, 2016

only way to be sure is load test the battery. rural king has the toaster type battery load testers on sale right now for about 20 dollars or so.

ericlb · Jan 11, 2016

sounds like a weak battery a blower motor doesnt pull much amperage, id stop by a garage or autozone and have them load test the battery, that way you will know if its the battery or the car has other issues, original equipment batteries are not the best, there what the car maker gets the best deal on a railroad car load of, 2 years is a bit soon but if its extreemly cold out that will also tend to take a weak battery out too , first thing is to find out if its the battery, or the car,

Janicholson · Jan 11, 2016

I will add that if it is not operated for 20 minutes or so each time, it might not be charging the battery enough to keep it charge fully. 5 minutes running the heater should not take down the battery so much that it would fail to start warm. Does it start easily? Jim

Dick2 · Jan 11, 2016

Clean the battery cable connections, especially the ground connection, on both ends of the cable.

steve terplak · Jan 11, 2016

Starts easily for the most part when cold,
Re-starts fine when warm, just running blower and heat without engine kills battery.

I am going to load test it at work later.

Blackhole49 · Jan 11, 2016

On my Chevys, when the engine quits, so does all the electrical unless the the key is in it and on.. Why is this not happening on yours?

Janicholson · Jan 11, 2016

The heat should come from coolant, not electricity, so the blower motor (maxes out at about 12 amps or so) should not kill it. Jim

DoubleR · Jan 11, 2016

Sounds like the same problem I had with my 3 year old Kubota. I would turn the tractor off and leave the key on with the radio playing and maybe a blower motor running. After about 5-10 minutes there wouldn't be enough battery left to start it again. It started doing that after about 2 years. I replaced the battery and the problem went away. I have or had at one time or another 5 Kubota tractors. I never had a stock battery last over 3 years. Toyota probably uses the same type of Japanese batteries.

steve terplak · Jan 11, 2016

Crummy aftermarket automatic starter...

ss55 · Jan 11, 2016

That does sound like a weak battery. I would check a few things before replacing the battery. If you have a battery charger, fully charge it overnight and watch how long it holds a charge. If the problem comes back again, I would check the battery and the charging system. Watch your volt meter.

Some things to check:
How old is the battery? If the battery is five years old I would have it load tested. If the sides bulged out from freezing I would replace it.

Is the alternator charging the battery on 30 minute trips?

There could also be a low amperage drain through:
a bad diode in the alternator;
a light that stays on: doors, glove box, trunk, etc.;
dirt build up inside the starter;
etc.

Google your SUV model to find common problems and fixes.

El Toro · Jan 11, 2016

Use a hydrometer and check the specific gravity in each cell. Hal

wijim · Jan 11, 2016

Got one once as a gift had it installed, and not long after had it uninstalled. I would never have one on a vehicle again! Jim

jeffcat · Jan 11, 2016

Just a side note. Do a power load on your battery. Harbo freight used to have a 50 amp load meter and I bought two of them. Work great and are a very handy tool. The one they have now is 100 amp and a little too big for tractors but you can still use it. I just like the lower load model. Can also check your charging system under load. Makes everything grunt a little.
Now I have several garden tractors under tarps and found this last week. The clip must have had a little moisture on it and a little 1.5 amp maintain/ charger had this happen. Eletrolisis eat its way through the metal. No acid anywhere and these clips were spotless last fall.

Geo-TH,In · Jan 11, 2016

Auto parts stores will check battery for free. As for me I have a battery conductivity tester. Saves me trips to town. I let the dealer change oils most of the time and they will test battery as part of oil change, saves me from getting left in the cold.

Batteries are light light bulbs, you never know when they will die. Rarely I've had a 6 month battery go bad. So age really isn't the issue hear, it's the health of battery which you can easily measure if you had a battery conductivity tester. But that's no real guarantee either, like a bulb you never know when the battery's number is up.

old · Jan 11, 2016

Thing like that is why I will NEVER own a remote start set up. To many things can go wrong when you start a cold engine so you need to be able to see what the gauges etc do when you start it so maybe you will not need to replace more then just a simple battery

Stephen Newell · Jan 11, 2016

How far do you go that three times a week? If you don't go far it may not be enough to maintain the battery. Also if it's very cold where you are it takes more amps. You might need to get a trickle charger to maintain it.

dhermesc · Jan 11, 2016

Not to mention when you start it in house you don't hear the cat that's caught in the engine - my SIL found that one out the hard (and nasty) way.

jimg.allentown · Jan 11, 2016

Modern cars are loaded with what I call battery killers. Lights that go on when you turn the key on - and before the engine starts, lights that seem to have a mind of their own and go on and off at will, accessories that stay live after the key is turned off, and the list goes on. Add to that the batteries and battery technology are pretty much the same as they were 40 years ago. Pile on a lot of short trip driving that does not keep the battery fully charged, and you have a formula for a dead or low battery.
For the cars that are loaded up with all of these electronic gizmos, there is a need for a bigger and deep cycle battery. From what I see, it is a wonder that we get any battery life at all!!

old · Jan 11, 2016

Ya but I am old school truck driver and you always do a walk around before you start out for the day that way you know oil tires etc etc etc are ready to go

gab · Jan 11, 2016

Sounds kind of like a weak battery but I can't think of any aftermarket car accessory that I would want...since people started installing after mkt. radios in about 1970 to every thing since its been nothing but trouble...you ought to hear people scream when they come in with a sunroof problem after a couple years and the company is now out of business and there's no parts to be found and its the rainy season.

teddy52food · Jan 11, 2016

So why is the heater going full blast on a cold engine to begin with. Here in Mn. we learn to shut everything off to get all we can to the starter to get them going on a cold morning. They have to run a while to warm up before the heater can work. This helps charge the battery too. Turn on the fan when you start driving.

Leroy · Jan 12, 2016

He said the battery is 2 years old.

Car Battery Question

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