Hsv

19 degrees. The 3.5 year old battery started the car with the remote and it started and ran for the ten minutes. Decided for another ten and it started and then died. Nothing.
Could not open the doors. You could hear the solenoid clicking but none of 4 doors would open. Tried using the manual key and same result. CLicking but no entry. Was on the
phone with Lexus to get a flatbead and tried one more thing. Tried to use remote to open hatch. Same result but suddenly the driver door would open. Popped hood and used my
jump start battery pack. Nothing. Bunch of lights and flashing on instrument panel but nothing. Went to COstco and grabbed new battery. Five minutes to switch them and everything
works. Took about 30 seconds for first start - sounded like it was waiting for fuel. Did not lose radio presents or seats. All in all - best result I could imagine when working on car in below
freezing weather.

15RX98422

What scares me about our cars, is that things seem to go to hell in a handbasket when the battery goes South,

SonOfABisc

Or you could just do this:

https://www.cartalk.com/cars-content...warm-an-engine

Hsv

Yeah it was interesting to sit in car with every light flashing and the clock hands spinning until they hit 12:00. Looking for the alien ship that was beaming me up. The inability to open the door with the mechanical key is interesting .

ravenuer

I've never used the mechanical key, but I thought the point of it is to not depend on electronics to open the door. No?

GS4_Fiend

iTrader: (22)

I tested my battery today and the temperature was in the 30’s.

Looks like the alternator cannot fully charge the battery even after a long drive.

jcg0324

According to my manual, the mechanical key will unlock the driver's door even with a dead battery. If the battery does have some juice left it will unlock the other doors when turned to the right a second time. Apparently, the driver door lock is mechanical and should work no matter what. Maybe someone here has done this with a dead battery.

Hsv

Obviously I tried it with a dead battery and it failed. I may try something here. I didn't do this because the entire job was to get the new battery in quickly. I plan to go back and add the felt washers on the terminals that help prevent corrosion. If I can remember I will try the mechnical key with battery disconnected. Again I could hear the locks clicking - just the door would not move. And I really pulled on the handle in case it was frozen. None of which explains why the same dead battery let me open the door after hitting the rear hatch release. and adding that I tried it with both mechanical keys - just in case

coolbrazz

In winter months I use a battery tender. It trickle charges your battery and maintains the battery's 12volts. Been using them for years. My last battery lasted 8yrs.
They are small enough to mount under the hood. Just run an extension cord to power. When I replace my battery last month it started to crank the car slower than normal, plus it was19 degrees that day. Figured I got my money worth out of it.

bamalam

8 years - very impressive life. Is that for a standard flooded battery, not AGM?

bamalam

Are you thinking it's time to replace the battery or you have an alternator/charging system problem?

jcg0324

It is normal for battery voltage to be lower with a lower electrolyte temperature. This is especially noticeable for a connected "in circuit" car battery.

coolbrazz

AGM was the one that lasted 8yrs on my car. The OEM battery on my 2020 RX is the original and still cranks like new. It also sits without driving for weeks, because my wife works from home. It is in an non-heated garage.

GS4_Fiend

iTrader: (22)

The battery is becoming weak that is all.

I am currently charging the battery with an external charger.

Hsv

Well I figured out why the mechanical key did not work. I had turned the key and pulled on handle since I was holding the handle to access the keyslot. Turns out that is not the procedure.
From the manual

Remove the key, return the handle,
and then pull the handle again.

You have to let go of the handle and then pull again.