Battery problems with 2014 Tundra 1794

Hello, I am a newbie here. I've been reading this forum for a while and there's impressive knowledge here.

I'm not sure if any of you may have some insights but I've been having a ton of problems with my battery running down on my 1794. I put in a brand new battery and took it to that dealership a few times and they even installed a booster on the battery but the battery died this morning after a cool night. I drove it the day before.

The dealership said all the diagnostic tests are coming back fine. Admittedly, I drive the vehicle roughly every second day and for about 30 minutes total as that's the time it takes for me to drive to and from work. I have a remote starter (new) that seems to run down very quickly and needs charging despite being new. The wife says to trade it in. I would like to fix the problem as the vehicle only has about 45K kms. Frustrating to say the least and I'm worried about this problem becoming a recurring nightmare during the winter.

Any ideas much appreciated.

 

My bet is on your brand new aftermarket remote start. Many aftermarket start installations are done improperly causing battery drain and operating problems. Read the search below for applicable threads. First step would be to confirm the abnormal parasitic draw, and then the source.

https://www.tundras.com/search/3502357/?q=aftermarket+remote+starter&t=post&o=date

Welcome from the Texas Hill Country.

 

Welcome from CO. What John said above sounds like a great place to start.

 

Ditto that. I had a Compustar alarm/remote start on my old 2002 Tundra and it killed the battery in 2 days. Had it removed and never had the problem again.

Also, welcome from So Cal.

 

Welcome from IL

 

Welcome aboard from SoCal.

 

Did the dealer test the battery? Sometimes new batteries are bad. Other than that, like said above remote starts can drain your battery. If installed correctly, it shouldn’t drain it so much that your battery would be dead if you are driving 30 every other day.

Search online for how to find parasitic battery drain and test it out.

 

Welcome from Ontario Canada.

 

Hello, an update. Went to another dealership. They did a complete test of everything as well as a parasitic battery drain test. Just like the previous dealership, they said everything comes back normal. Nothing is draining the battery. Spark plugs, alternator, battery is fine.

Just like the previous dealership, they said the problem is a lack of use of the vehicle. In fairness, that's a valid point. It is a 5 yr old truck with 45,000 kms on it. However, my pattern of use has been the same for 5 years and the truck started fine for 4.5 years even if it wasn't used for days and even in cold weather. Something's changed and I don't know what. Or maybe it is an age thing where the components are just not going to work as well as the vehicle gets older.

I note there have been discussions on installing a second battery as a solution and I'm looking at that option.

Any thoughts or ideas?

 

1. Put a new battery in it.
2. If you still have problems, remove the remote start charge the battery and see if the issue goes away.

If you’re driving the vehicle 3 days a week for well over an hour you shouldn’t have a problem getting the truck to start due to lack of use. People leave their vehicle at the airport for a month and they start when they get back... sounds like a bad battery or a battery being killed by constant draw; regardless of what the dealer says.

 

Not pertaining to the subject matter, but is Weird, TX near the State Capitol... or closer to Terlingua? LOL

 

Ditch the remote start charge your battery @2 amps overnight then drive it and report back Old fashion load test after charging should sort out a bad battery

 

"Keep Austin Weird" is no longer a goal that needs to be pursued...It has been fully accomplished.

 

The dealer techs are not actually measuring the parasitic draw...I think I saw where normal parasitic draw is like 500 miliamps? Running a good battery down in a couple of idle days is not right. For comparison, I may not drive my 2017 for a couple of weeks. My OEM battery died a sudden death after a couple years, but until then, it performed well.

OK, it's time to take your problem out behind the barn and put a bullet in its' head. You don't need a dual battery setup. Who wants that kind of expense and trouble for this minor problem?

Time to buy a new, quality AGM battery (Northstar 27F highly recommended) and a smart charger (CTEK 7002 highly recommended). The CTEK charger has an "AGM" setting to optimize AGM batteries. When you aren't driving the truck, keep it on the smart charger. Your truck will crank like new every time you try it.

The CTEK charger also has an adapter cord you can connect to your battery terminals, which allows a simple plug-in every time you park the truck (just don't forget to unplug before you drive off). If you mount the charger on the wall, you may also need an extension cord.

NORTHSTAR Pure Lead Automotive Group 27F Battery NSB-AGM27F

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00M4H48MS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

$154 CTEK Multi US 7002, 12V Battery Charger for Cars, SUVs and Trucks, All Weather Smart Charger, Battery Tender Charger, Battery Desulfator, Battery Maintainer, Power Supply Mode and Reconditioning Mode

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FRLO9Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

$18 CTEK (56-304) Comfort Connect Extension Cable, 8.2 Feet

https://www.amazon.com/CTEK-56-304-...ords=ctek&qid=1603537623&s=automotive&sr=1-11

 

It’s totally the remote start. Pull it off and I’m bet even money it goes away.

 

Noco makes some too that are a little cheaper. I got the Gen 1 mini but haven’t installed it yet. My Odyssey batteries don’t do very good in cold weather. They also have a remote plug that I was going to install in the grill.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=noco+battery+charger&sprefix=noco+battery+cha&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_16

$35 NOCO GCP1E 15A AC Port Plug, 125V Power Inlet Socket, Charger Plug, and Waterproof Electrical Outlet Receptacle with 6-Foot Integrated Outdoor Extension Cord

https://www.amazon.com/NOCO-GCP1E-6...ywords=noco+remote+plug&qid=1603541119&sr=8-7

If I have it plugged in but forget and start the truck, does it hurt anything? I assume the charger has some sort of protection or something.

 

My thought is that it will make no difference for a short period of time, i.e. don't leave it operating like that any longer than it takes to realize your mistake.

I know the CTEK has internal protection against getting the battery connections reversed, but I haven't seen anything on how it responds when it's left connected to a running vehicle. I suspect they probably have built-in protection to prevent damage, since that is going to happen in service, and the vehicle charging system charges at a much higher rate than the CTEK.

Leading the adapter cord out through the grille was also my preference. but the CTEK adapter was too short to reach. I soldered a length of extension cord to the fused adapter and shrink wrapped the splice. I left about 18" extension out of the grille.

 

I solved my problem this morning. I bought an Interstate 27F and core'd the junk toyota battery. Truck started right up... just lost most of my presets.

 

Disconnect the battery when you aren't driving it and see if the problem persists.
I only drive 30 minutes (15 and 15) a day 5 days a week and that isn't the problem.

Have whoever installed your remote start either check the install or remove it..

And if you go to a dealership and say to them, 'maybe I don't drive it enough', then yes they are going to say you don't drive it enough.

 

Don’t trade it in because of this, that makes no financial sense at all. Read the above advice. I don’t drive mine for severs weeks sometimes and it fires right up.

 

From experience, I can tell you I went through the same bs... I would kill batteries every 3 weeks, and it usually involved jumping every other day, and I drove it daily... dump the battery first, or just take it and complain about it dying and request a new one... if you do it often enough they'll give in and actually test your electrical system.. if that doesn't work, then continue going until you sorta coerce them to get you an Optima battery at a discount.. batteries are trash, and they'll rather give in to that than a Lemon law suit on a brand new truck..

 

Another update. I took it to another auto repair shop (non-dealer). They said the alternator was gone and replaced it. Bingo, the truck has been starting without any issues. I even left it sitting there for a few days and it started right up. I'm now wondering if the dealerships were either completely incompetent or were up to no good. I specifically asked them everytime to check the alternator, battery, etc and they said they did but the problem kept happening. No wonder they seemed more interested in buying my truck than fixing it.

 

Congratulations, and, Sorry. I regret when we fail to diagnose an OP's problem correctly, but we blew this one.

Diagnosing battery/alternator/charging system problems have been historically difficult for the semi-knowledgeable without proper instruments. There always seemed to be the questions of the root cause: (1) bad battery?, (2) bad generator?, or (3) bad voltage regulator?

In the old days, shade-tree mechanics would replace one component only for it to be one of the others. In reality, it was almost always the battery because they are consumable, and generally less reliable (especially on a Toyota). Next, it would be the generator, because they are wearing parts and would eventually give out. Finally, back in the stone age days of electro-mechanical voltage regulators, the contact points in the regulator would weld together causing the battery to boil over and fail, leading to more confusion. If you were really slow, you might ruin two batteries before you figured it out. It was all part of the education when batteries were cheap in the post-hand-crank days.

In those old days, generator failure was usually total or none, and it still likely to be that way. It was unlikely back then where the generator was putting out just a tiny bit, but not enough. When the generator failed, it was complete failure, and you got as far as your battery would take you. On modern charging systems, voltage control is included in the alternator.

There is no excuse today for factory-trained technicians with plug-in instrumentation that will completely diagnose the charging system.

If there's a silver lining, it's that you got to keep your new remote start system. You did keep it didn't you?

 

Thanks for this update ~ much appreciated. We can all learn something here.