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I thought I would make a post about what I experienced when my battery suddenly went bad. and would not be jumped by one of those small jumpstarter devices that are so convenient for keeping in the glove box. We have been through a cold snap (15 - 25 degrees for several days. My OEM battery is about 4-5 yeas old (2018 GX Premium). The car had been starting fine minutes before but I went to restart and I just got a rapidfire clicking sound. Nothing under the hood, engine not turning over. I seemed to have good power in the car though. I noticed the center instrument cluster was displaying "BSM Not Available" and the head unit was blank. I have never experienced a BAD battery, only a dead one and that is usually a situation where you can see other indications of no juice getting into the people compartment. So I was a little nervous like "Oh darn, I have an electrical system problem".
SO I got out my handy dandy clove box jumpstarter which I have used to help jumpstart OTHER cars and it is a little miracle. No clumsy cables, etc. SO I hooked it up and the little LEDs on idid NOT go to a "Ready to Jump" state. Uh Oh. You see this thing has some indicators on it that tell you when it is ready for you to try the ignition, and those indicators never got right for me.to try turning the engine over. It has some internal logic or something. But I tried anyway. No joy. Still with the high-speed clicking sound.
On a hunch I tried real jumper cables and it started right up.
So for any other folks like me who don't mess with electrical or batteries and rely on one of those little jumpstarter devices, just be aware that it may not save your bacon in every battery use-case.
I replaced the battery with an Interstate MTB-24F AGM. I doubt that the extra 70 bucks for the AGM will prove worthwhile for me because I pretty much only iuse the battery to start the truck and not any other accoutrements, but what the hell.
After you replaced the battery did you have to re-sync windows, moon roof, etc.?
After you replaced the battery did you have to re-sync windows, moon roof, etc.?
No I didn't have to do anything after connecting the new battery.. I believe in my year (2018) and earlier the ECU and maybe the transmission and/or other computers that control the engine and drivetrain do NOT retain the settings that they have learned. So after you reconnect, I believe the computers re-learn and reoptimize their settings based on driving style. I think I read that somewhere.
Anyone experiencing parasitic battery drain? My GX460 is brand new, 100 miles on odometer. Parked it for a week, came back, a few gauge lights flickered, then nothing. Had to get out the jumper cables. Nothing aftermarket, no lights left on. Is this a "normal" issue for the GX's? I do see there's a TSB on this matter. Does anyone know what the underlying issue/cause is? Thx!
Anyone experiencing parasitic battery drain? My GX460 is brand new, 100 miles on odometer. Parked it for a week, came back, a few gauge lights flickered, then nothing. Had to get out the jumper cables. Nothing aftermarket, no lights left on. Is this a "normal" issue for the GX's? I do see there's a TSB on this matter. Does anyone know what the underlying issue/cause is? Thx!
Bad battery. Everyone gets one from time to time. Get them to replace it or at least testing it.
Internal battery short ... internal parasitic drain in the form of heat ... not uncommon ... easy to test ... replacement under warranty. If the battery is warm(er) in a localized area (single 2v cell ... 6 total for 12-volts) then you have an internal battery short.
All Lexus battery's have 7 years limited warranty. Check what sticker is on it.
From Lexus support page:
• From 0 to 24 months, 100% coverage• From 25 months to 48 months, the proration is 50% of the MSRP• From 49 months to 84 months, the proration is 25% of the MSRP
Had to look that up because I was surprised to see 84 Month warranty written on the battery.. Date of sticker on my battery is 12/19 so that puts me at the 50% off MSRP. Just got off the phone with Lexus and the warranty is only honored through service, can't do the swap myself and I'd have to pay the labor for battery replacement.
Anybody got their battery replaced by Lexus recently and know what they're labor charge is for that? Trying to decide if I should go with the interstate AGM from Costco or the dealership.
---update--
Called another Lexus dealership, service said labor charge to replace the battery is $85 then got transferred to parts. Battery costs $166 before tax and core charge but was then told battery warranty doesn't transfer and would have to provide a receipt :/ I bought this gx just a month ago from that dealership As Is/No warranty.
I had to take my 2017 GX to the dealer that sold it to the original owner (it's a CPO from Westside Lexus - I had to take it to Sterling McCall for battery warranty which is very close to me). I think Sterling McCall (original dealer) had replaced the battery once for the original owner before I purchased it from Westside (CPO in 2019). For me, they swapped in a battery for $0 and a free car wash - but I think I was well within the 24 month 100% coverage from the first replacement battery - and the replacement was in their records so I didn't need the receipt. I was very close to just buying one from AutoZone or wherever - glad I went to Lexus first. So including the factory battery - I'm on battery #3 @ 108k/6yrs (haven't paid a dime for one) and expecting to replace that one soon.
Seems like 24 months is about what's expected from these for some reason. Mine is past that now - but still in the 25-48 month period...
Not sure if anybody noticed but neither Interstate nor EverStart prorates their batteries anymore. Walmart even went so far the they do not prorate batteries that were originally purchased under the prorating terms. But I am ready to be proven wrong.
My Lexus battery dated 11/19 died last night and rather than try to deal with the dealer and only get 25% prorated replacement fee, I picked up a 27F Interstate battery from Costco for $110. Easy peezy.
01-29-22, 09:51 AM
