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Battery completely dead after 4 days. WTF? Anybody else?
Used the car the last time 4 days ago, and fully charged the battery after using it. Now it's completely dead. I've noticed twice some kind of pump (probably EVAP stuff) stays on for a loooong time recently. This happens hours after shutting engine off. Anyway, hooked it up, but one more thing (besides fuel pump) that can't be trusted on this car for a trip. Geez. By the way, a CTEK or BT+ charger won't charge a dead battery, FYI. That's why I like the Optimate6 better.
It's too bad. I hope the RC's are not plagued with the '14 IS's battery drain issue which on my IS happened a few times before I got the battery replaced and issue resolved. For others, battery was replaced and issue still present while there's now an ECU fix.
battery was replaced and issue still present while there's now an ECU fix.
Thanks man. WIll read that thread later. Do you remember what it was? I bet the same EVAP pump issue. Can't be any other thing as everything else shuts off after 10 minutes. I often leave doors and trunk open, and the only thing left on is the dash red LED indicating something open. But you can have it on for weeks without an issue (like the blinking alarm one). Have left car for a week unattended and it shows orange on the charger, but never red. Now there wasn't an iota of juice left. Thanks again for your help.
It wasn't the battery. As I mentioned, I charge it every week. And yes, all lights were off, and are off now (battery has juice already, as alarm LED is flashing now). But also mentioned it doesn't matter, as everything turns off after 10 minutes. And I can attest to that, since I've done it many times. And in another yes, my car has sat for a week and started perfectly. And many times more for 4 days, like now. This is the first time the car doesn't start, but more disturbingly, with the battery completely dead.
As a curious footnote, service manager of the only dealer in town has never heard of neither the fuel pump issue on RC-Fs, nor on excessive battery drainage on IS or RC cars. Just as expected. He also said the EVAP pump shouldn't cycle more than a few minutes max, so at least I know my car has a problem, since I timed it at 17 minutes and it was still going. He's going to look into what triggers that valve to stop, and that's probably the issue with my car. But of course, they'd have to duplicate before doing crap. So it'd have to happen again on a consistent basis. We'll see. Glad for you folks I'm the only one, but not for me, due to the above (no TSBs). Oh well. Have a great weekend folks.
I have had a battery issue with my RC, with the battery being so dead the clock stopped. Sometimes this would happen within 2 or 3 days of driving it.
The battery was replaced at about the 5 month mark, but the problems continued. The service dept. looked at everything and had the car for a week once while the boys from Lexus came in to advise.
Most symptoms still pointed to a bad battery, even though it was new off the shelf, so they replaced it again anyway, and the problems went away immediately - both batteries were bad. They say that an original battery can go bad from all the shipping and moving, so that is not too unusual. A bad one off the shelf from the service dept is pretty unusual, which was my bad luck, and that slowed us down quite a bit.
I might add that the service department, the managers and ever the general manager of the dealership were extremely helpful and never gave up on finding out what was going on.
For months during this time, I would check the voltage frequently, and it would drop sometimes half a volt or so per day (if not driven) down to about 11, and then it would fall to 2 or 3 overnight. Once I got a good battery in there, the voltage has remained at about 12.60 regardless of conditions, temperature or driving patterns. (There are other, more useful tests of battery health, but if the battery is not holding a constant voltage, something is wrong.)
One other note: the first question was always "do you leave the key in the car?" Doing that with these new keys will drain the battery because the car and the key talk to each other wirelessly. Keep the key 15 to 20 feet away, at least. To be safe and to test, you can put the key into "sleep mode," which turns it off (see owner's manual p. 148; this is mostly for an unused key). Wrapping it in aluminum foil will also stop the signals. Good luck - your problem sounds similar to mine, which was solved by replacing the battery (twice) - all under warranty, of course.
Finally, perhaps the fact that you charge it every week might be a contributing factor - I've never heard of that. If I wanted a car that I had to plug in all the time, I would have bought a Tesla.
Last edited by tfischer; 01-29-16 at 06:25 PM.
Reason: Deleted suggestion to boycott the Oscars, since none of us are invited anyway.
The parasitic battery drain seems to be plaguing the GS, IS, ES , and now RC. It's so intermittent though, only affecting a few cars. Lexus needs to figure out what's going on.
Good luck - your problem sounds similar to mine, which was solved by replacing the battery (twice) - all under warranty, of course.
Thanks man; it's always a possibility. Will keep an eye on it. And I charge it weekly because I'm hardly using the car now. And also because it has a lot of drain as well. Don't like getting greeted by a dead battery like I was today... but this time wasn't due to not charging it. Charging it weekly significantly lenghtens battery life, and I don't mind doing it. And I'll be dead before buying an electric car. Not my cup of tea.
Anyway, will use the car tomorrow and see how it cranks, and keep an eye on voltage as well. By the way, I'm even willing buying one out of pocket if dealer says it's 'good' and I keep having problems. But if that wouldn't fix them, I'd be done with Lexus. And I'm about to buy an RX over a BMW, but will hold on until I see what happens with this car. Will also read that link above to see what's behind the excessive battery drain on these cars. Thank you for all the help folks. Don't know if I can trust this damn thing on my trip to the middle of nowhere (Big Bend) next week. Geez.
Do you have anything plugged into your OBD-II port? This was a problem when the Challenger's first came out, we would leave our dataloggers plugged in and would drain the battery even though everything was turned off. A new Cal ID update fixed the issue.
OP, as some have posted above and from the 3IS thread too, battery replacement has helped with some owners including myself. I'd point your dealer to the 3IS thread, make the case for swapping out the battery and start with that. To point out, in my case with the IS, they put in a heavier duty battery and almost 1.5 years later since this new battery, zero issues.
Thank you folks. No, nothing connected on the OBD-II. And key always far away from the car. Haven't done anything different. Weird. By the way, battery came back solid, used the car today on several short runs, and started perfectly. And no, don't trust the battery anymore after sitting for weeks at dealer, and now getting depleted. Will call service mgr on Monday and see what he says. And if I have to take the car, might as well get the alignment checked, parking brake adjusted, and some programming features changed. I'm at 1,111 miles now, and wasn't planning on taking it for any services. But won't let them attempt to fix any of the rattles ever again (long story).
Oh, fired up car this morning, and all settings were there, even the clock. When I opened the door, zero lights; not even remotely faint. Hit the 'start' button, and nothing either. Does the car have a rechargeable battery for that stuff, of did my battery had juice left? But the lights would have been dim at least, no? That was weird too. But weird good. Getting flat was weird bad. And coincidentally, one of my other cars (3 yrs old) had exactly the same happened. Battery flat as a pancake. Never an issue with that car. Also charged it, and has been perfect since. But will also replace it when my daughter takes it in a few months (it just sits there). Maybe it threw a virus and the RC-F caught it. Ha ha. Will keep you posted.
01-29-16, 01:53 PM
Battery completely dead after 4 days. WTF? Anybody else?
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. He also said the EVAP pump shouldn't cycle more than a few minutes max, so at least I know my car has a problem, since I timed it at 17 minutes and it was still going. He's going to look into what triggers that valve to stop, and that's probably the issue with my car. But of course, they'd have to duplicate before doing crap. So it'd have to happen again on a consistent basis. We'll see. Glad for you folks I'm the only one, but not for me, due to the above (no TSBs). Oh well. Have a great weekend folks.
. And I'll be dead before buying an electric car
