brickwall

98 Lexus ES300

The problem used to be very intermittent, once every few months, but has happened twice today so far.

I can unlock the car using the keyless entry remote. When trying to start it there is just a click sound. The remote stops working. No lights on. If I shut the door the remote starts working again, seatbelt light on dash is on again, and I'm able to try starting it again, but it just makes the click sound.

When I use jumper cables the car starts up right away without any problems. It runs perfectly fine. I got to work. Go to start it on my break and it is just making the click sound again. I'm confident that it would start with a jump no problem, but haven't had a chance to try it again yet.

I took the battery to Walmart a few months back as it is under warranty and had them test it. They said it was fine, but said they would recommend I bring it back to have them put it on the bench to test for a dead cell, or something. I haven't been able to do this yet.

Once I do get the car started again all of the radio settings have cleared, which leads me to believe a battery issue. I also noticed a check engine light on yesterday on the way home from work, but I didn't have an option to get it checked. That is the first time I noticed an engine code prior to the issue. Could a bad battery cause an engine code, or is there a separate battery warning indicator? Once I got it jumped this morning there were no codes to check.

Is this most likely a bad battery, or something else?

Thanks in advance.