Zammer

(2011 LS460 27K miles) Because of lockdown and physical problems, I drive it every 7 days, when I do 20>30 freeway miles @ 70mph . The last two times, the battery was dead after a week, when I tried to start it. . AAA jumped it, said it was weak. It is only two months old. Dealer checked charging system, alternator, said they were OK. Lights, radio, dome lights are off when the car isn't being used, only sign of life is the blinking red "alarm" lights on the doors. There is no place to plug in a charger. Suggestions as to cause and correction are welcome.

dlbuckls10

First I would try another battery. I have purchased a bad new battery.

swfla

iTrader: (1)

Buy a hydrometer for $15 and test the specific gravity of each cell. If one cell is significantly lower than the others, that's a bad battery. Or get it load tested at parts store for free. Have you gone to the place you got this battery from 2 months ago? It should be replaced at no charge.
Any custom items added to car like powered sub woofer or dash cam that may be draining the battery? As stated above, sometimes a new battery is defective. It's happened to me.
It's also possible that a 25 minute drive isn't long enough to completely charge the battery. Too bad you don't have an outlet for a battery charger. How about parking it at a friend's place or similar where it can charge overnight or at least 8 hours.

R Z

If it's not the battery, check the door jam switch. A broken one will leave lights on indefinitely and can run a battery down pretty quick.

rick3242

Are you driving it enough to fully charge the battery? I had an issue with my mothers car that she was not driving it enough to fully charge. She was using the AC at full and only driving it down the street to walmart and letting it sit for a week or two at a time. Every month or two it would die. This was on a rav4 and it does not use nearly the amount of juice that a LS460 does. ????

R Z

I don't drive my car very often, as I've worked from home for 24 years. During this pandemic, I get out even less. My car sits for a week sometimes two without starting. I may run up to Costco or Lowes etc which is about a mile down the street. I've never had an issue with my battery. Now, on the other hand, my 08 LS did have a battery issue. But once I found out it was the door jam switch, the problem went away. I'm not saying the OP has the same issue, but I'm not convinced it's due to not driving long enough at a time. Just my 2 cents.

Zammer

Thank you for the ideas. I'd had the battery and charging system checked; both are fine. The mechanic thinks 30 high-speed nonstop miles a week is sufficient to sustain a charge, and that the alarm light and alarm are minor users, wouldn't drain the battery in a week. We checked to see that no lights remain on when the car is off. . There are no add-ons, it's a standard 460. Taking it to where a charger can be used is impractical under normal conditions, out of the question during lockdown and/or social distancing.

I still welcome suggestions, folks.

colfax

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Over and over I have dealt with the trickery of batteries that are "checked out" to be just fine, but they will NOT "hold a load"
what this means and I am no battery expert is that batteries can show as being fully charged but as soon as any
load is put on them they fail, so people get fooled

I would go to like Autozone and have them a "load test" on the battery

Spartan117

Try getting battery trickler: Worth a shot if you have tried everything else and problem still persist.

sdls

I had the exact same problem with my LS. Battery died after a week of sitting. Jumped it, drove a while, thought the battery would be OK, but then same thing happened. The solution was to buy this:
https://www.harborfreight.com/automo...ner-63350.html
My battery was one (1) year old, Group 27 Everstart Maxx from Walmart.
I basically plugged it in, let it go through its charging processes, then plugged it in anytime after I drove. The car has been fine since and I haven't needed to plug it in in a while, but I haven't been leaving the car unattended for a week anymore either.
Some cars drain batteries like nobody's business. Newer BMWs and Mercedes Benzes are extremely bad about this.

Spartan117

Is there an easy access to the +/- battery terminal or you have to remove left panel/cover to expose the battery for a jump start?

sdls

You have to remove the cowl panel that covers the battery. But I've worked it out where I just took out the clips and kept them out. Its super simple now to access it, just lift the hood and move the panel over a little bit to the right. I also left the 12v trickle charger battery-side connection on there so when I plug the car into the trickle charger, I don't even lift the hood. I reach right behind the wiper to the trickle charger's car-side wire and plug the charger itself right in. Takes three seconds.

swfla

iTrader: (1)

Zammer can't get to an outlet for any type of charging per post #7. I agree with post #8, the battery needs to be load tested regardless of the other test results.

sdls

Cal has plenty of sun. He can get a solar panel and wire it up to the battery.

swfla

iTrader: (1)

$45 plus installing it and running wires and plugging it in every time you park will get you 1 !/2 AMPS of charging. Based on looking at 10 offerings on Amazon. Not even worth the effort. Your heart is in the right place though.