NickMayer

So 5/6 year old car, sat in car listening to podcast on (like a dumb ***) for about 40min with all systems on without engine running and you guessed it, battery was dead. Couple people I talked to said 45(ish) minutes shouldn't been enough to kill battery. Lexus is saying their battery test is super stressful, so greasing me up to tell me to replace battery no matter what, lol.

My question is, should I err on side of caution and replace battery or just let it ride?

It has been fine since getting a jump. But with lockdown, It's lucky to be started once a week, so that may have contributed as well.

Going in Monday for oil change and rotation anyway.

Thoughts?

thisguy_06

Get the battery tested and see how that goes since it's going in for service anyways.

swat1727

iTrader: (2)

5 years are the normal time frame. I would change it now to avoid getting stranded in the future. Go to Costco!

NickMayer

My thoughts too, but he made it a point to say the test was "very hard" on old batteries. In other words, it will fail 100% lol, they will make sure of it, haha.
Lexus quoted 117, can I really save money going to Costco (Sams for me)

AJLex19

I'd say its about time to get the battery replaced - but really up to you based on the stress test the dealer performs, if you drive enough to feel the need to do it now (#COVIDSucks) and if you carry around a jump starter (i have this one and its absolutely recommended: )

I replaced my OEM battery which lasted 5yrs with an aftermarket 700CCA battery that was slightly better than the original (believe OEM battery is 580CCA). But the dealership offered a pretty competitive price on the battery+labor which I turned down only because I wanted something a bit stronger for when temps drop below freezing here in the northeast.

NickMayer

So that has a battery backup? Fully charged is it good for just one jump?

jkeller

That's odd, GS has a battery saver feature. It turns off power to lights, headlights, radio after 15-20 minutes. I've done the same thing, sit in my car engine off ACC on listening to the radio while I'm cleaning the inside. The power shuts off, I've had the car do it a couple of times. Now I just leave the engine running while I vacuum .

Final4GS

I had this happen a couple of weeks ago tinkering with Techstream and leaving the car on the ON position for quite some time.

The car will notify you of "high draw or consumption" and also will start to turn certain things off such as the Navigation screen while telling you that the brakes might not function properly and to pull over to a safe place, and a bunch of other warning lights will illuminate. But by the time this happens, your battery (or in my case) won't have enough CCA to start the engine as it was depleted too far. Of course once on a battery charger/tender and getting back to a 50-75% capacity, it started right back up.

I still have the original Lexus battery which is about 5 years old now but checking with a multimeter on voltage when charged also the voltage when cranking, it's still in okay shape holding a charge and cranking but to error on the safe side as it's already 5 years old, when I get a chance, I'll get a new battery (maybe an AGM battery) and start using my battery tender if I have the car sitting for a prolong period of time.

Might be worthwhile to get a battery tender which is only like $15-20 since your car sits for a prolong period of time as the one I have does 6v and 12v to switch between my motorcycle battery and car battery.

AJLex19

Fully charged, that JNC unit is good for a a bunch of jumps! I've used it to jump my car, throw it back in the trunk, and jump my car the next two-three times (this was about 2-3 yrs ago when my battery started going bad and my car would sit during the week while i took mass transit). It also has a meter on the outside to show the charge level.

Other posters mentioned the automatic shutoff built-in to the GS which works well actually - not sure why you didn't get that auto shut-off while listening for 45min to a podcast with the engine off and your start position in "ACC or On"?

NickMayer

I didn't know it did that at all. I have it pushed twice, don't remember which is which, but everything was on and I was bluetoothh to listen to podcast.
Sounds WAY better than just buying 20 dollar cables. Hells yea.

ACC or On, which is one push and which is 2? lol. I pushed twice to get seat controls and such...

I did see a electrical systems may be limited warning (mines a '15) in gauge cluster, and ignored it like a schmuck, lol.

jkeller

I just tested mine. Opened up the trunk and walked away. No other lights on, engine off key off just the trunk light on. Went back about 30 minutes later and trunk light is off.

AJLex19

Ahh - that's what it is ... I think the auto power off only works in ACCessory mode. If you pushed twice to "ON" , it won't do its thing. No biggie because the battery wasn't meant to work that long without possibly draining...your battery is probably still good, but definitely doesn't hurt to get it checked out at your upcoming oil change.

peasodos

iTrader: (1)

Just change the battery and you don't have to worry about it for 4-5 years. Don't waste your money on jumper packs, that's for people trying to squeeze an extra year out of their failing battery. I've had my car sit around for a month(when I was out of the country) with a good battery and did not have an issue starting up.

BMGS

iTrader: (1)

I always keep a small handheld jumper pack in my car regardless of the age of the battery. Sometimes they fail early or you may run across someone who needs a jump.

I would always prefer to use the jumper pack than hook up my car to cables to help someone with a jump start. I also use it for a spare usb power source if the power goes out.