Flat Battery

[Ala Larj]

Hi All,

I wonder if anyone can help? My 220d was left standing for three weeks and when I tried to start it the Battery was completely flat. I have a couple of queries regarding this:

1. Is it normal for a Battery to go flat so quickly? I cannot remember this happening with any previous cars.

2. I have noticed a couple of anomalies since restarting it. a) the fuel average seems to have reset itself and is now showing exactly the same as the tank average. Also, the speed light on the speedo which I had set to 80 has changed to come on at 75!

Is it normal for these to have happened? I've not noticed any other oddities yet but is there anything else I should be aware of or look out for?

Thanks for any help,

Alan

[ColinBarber]

Hi Alan

I would expect a Battery that was fully charged to last 3 or 4 weeks and have enough capacity left to start the vehicle. Toyota normally recommend that it is disconnected if leaving the vehicle alone for more than 30 days so I therefore expect it to last under that time.

There are a couple of things though, was your Battery fully charged or had you done a number of short journeys beforehand? Has your alarm been triggered whilst you were away? Has your Battery ever been completely discharged before (this will reduce its capacity and life)

A Battery of 5 years or over has probably lost some of its capacity so may not last as long. It seems that the batteries being fitted to Toyota/Lexus vehicles in the last 10 years probably aren't expected to last much longer than that timeframe - seems many people in the US are changing batteries every 3 or 4 years.

I suspect your fuel average being reset is just a result of the flat Battery.

[normski2]

Just a case of a dead Battery I would suspect. Mine went all of a sudden last year. That was a 2007 model.

The dead Battery will doubtless lead to settings going to default, ie the mileage mpg and speed warning.

Your windows may also need re syncing...are any of the little led's blinking on each individual switch? Hard to see i know...cup a hand over it or wait till it's dark.

If you haven't...for what it costs I'd get a new one now before the first cold spells arrive in winter. £80 ish for a decent Varta one should do the biz.

See here

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/tutorials/article/199-how-to-change-the-battery-on-an-is250/

and

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/tutorials/article/200-initializing-windows-after-battery-change/

[Ala Larj]

Thanks both. Will be going away for a couple of weeks in October so will see how it goes then but suspect a new Battery is in order. Haven't checked the windows yet. Don't really understand what that's all about. Seems strange to me.

[ChumpusRex]

I found it quite difficult to get one the correct size for my IS250. The Battery in mine is a totally different size to the batteries that come up if I look up Lexus IS 250 in a parts catalogue.

Mine came with a Panasonic MF80D26-L Battery. This is a Japanese size battery; the only way I found to get one compatible was to either specify a D26-L Japanese Battery (very difficult and very expensive to find), or measure the Battery and look up the size/shape in catalogues. A Varta 068 Battery was a correct fit for my car.

You will need to "reboot" the windows if the Battery has run down. For safety, the driver's remote and auto-up/down function are disabled, until you have manually lowered and raised the windows all the way, so that the system has checked that all the motors and sensors are working correctly.

[Shepherd]

if you are worried you can use a solar Battery charger. This should keep your Battery topped up. Should be about £15 - £20 off eBay like http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/330954992338

for it to work you may have to rewire your cigarette lighter or connect directly to Battery and have this hanging of the bonnet.