IanNY

I have a 2016 ES300h and about 101,000 miles on it. Just 4 days ago (1/8/22), I had my first experience of not being able to start the car. On that occasion, I had driven more than 1 hour on the thruway. Parked the car for about an hour. When I tried to leave. The "Ready" light would not come on. All other lights and indicators came on as usual. The map was working too. After a minute or two of trying, I was able to restart and drove off. Thinking that the 12 V battery was the culprit. I researched a little and discovered that there is no good alternative to the OE version.

Subsequent day was a Sunday. The same thing happened again, but I was able to restart after a few attempts. On Monday, I had mechanic test the battery and he suggested that I replace it. So I was going to get the battery from the dealer (almost $400). Then I encounter another occasion that the "Ready" light wouldn't come on. On that occasion, I was fortunate that a kind person helped jump the car. Thinking that would start it up. No luck. It was again a good 15 minutes or so of retrying with the jumper cable connected and the jumper car's engine revved up. Finally the Ready light came on.

This morning (1/12/22) I replaced the battery at the dealers, and immediately after that, I couldn't start the car again. They took it in and could not find any fault codes or anything suspicious. So that tells me that the battery doesn't seem to be the reason.

Ultimately they suggested that I remove the Allstate insurance Drivewise device that is plugged in to the OBDII socket and see if the problem recurs. 4 hours at the dealer, they were kind enough to not charge me the diagnostic fee, still no concrete solutions.

It appears to me that replacing the 12V battery does not resolve the issue. Anybody has any other ideas? Thank you so much.

Avylex

I to have a 2016 ES300H. I don't know if this could be a similar issue, but the key less proximity battery can give you similar problems when the button battery is low in the key. I also found that the cell phone in my wife's purse was drawing down the battery. Just a thought.

IanNY

Thanks, Avylex. That's a good point and I was certainly hoping that was the case (much easier to resolve), but the possibility was eliminated because there was no notification on the dashboard and dealer technician also ruled it out.

703

How did they rule it out ? Did they load test the button battery? Low battery in the key is consistent with intermittent issues trying to open doors, getting to IG mode or Ready mode.

sanakhanum

key less vicinity battery can give you comparative issues when the button battery is low in the key. atleast this was the situation with dig for same issue.

Kodi nox

gigurl86

I am having the same problem with my 2013 es 300h. I had a replacement remanufactured hybrid battery installed a couple of weeks ago and now I'm having a problem starting the car when I hit the POWER button. It takes 5 or six tries before the READY light appears and it starts. It is not all the time, but enough to cause concern. Yesterday I change the key fob battery and the problem is still persisting. It will not start without the READY indicator. The question is how do I get it READY? It detects the key, I press the brake and hit POWER and sometimes it will start when READY appears, and sometimes it will not. Not sure what to do at this point besides take it back to the installer. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the installer did not close the hood entirely after he was done. The hybrid battery replacement is in the rear of the car. I wonder if something was missed when the hood was left partially open.