Wrong battery??Help a novice please!

Hello. I have a 2005 Tundra. Long story short.....took my battery to Auto Zone when my truck would not start. Unfortunately, they gave the wrong battery back, a 27F.?.?
And Unfortunately we attempted to connect it (It was dark), which was met with a blaring horn as soon as the circuit was complete. ...Today, we attempted to connect the original, now charged, battery. No blaring horn or crazy lights on the dash, but it would not turn over. I am auto-dumb but I did read something àbout possible fuses being involved.....??? Thank you !

 

The horns on reconnect sound like something an aftermarket alarm would cause.

Aftermarket alarms often have starter kill on them.

My guess is something shorted out on the alarm, but that's just a guess given I'm not there.

 

I'm not sure what to tell you about the horn going off and all that, but a 27F battery is the correct battery for your truck. They come from the factory with either a 24F or a 27F

 

I'm pretty sure people can run a 27F as the maximum size battery but I'm not sure that it ever came on the 1st gens. @empty_lord may know.

We really need to know if the terminals were reversed and that's what caused this issue. 27F is just a physically bigger battery but I think the terminals are the same orientation but I won't swear to it.

 

I'm pretty sure that in cold-weather states they sometimes use the larger 27F in for the greater CCA where in warmers states it wouldn't be any advantage. I could definitely be wrong though. The battery tray definitely fits a group 27 though because I put one in my truck when I drove a 1st gen.

 

So you need a way to measure DC Voltage and obviously a flashlight in case you try this in the dark again.

Either the old battery is really still dead despite it being on a charger or you connected the new battery reverse and melted a fuse or fusible link there to protect the trucks wiring from this kind of thing.
Did you connect the new battery on daytime correctly and hear the blaring horn again?
That is a Voltage indicator too.

 

This is a good point. Do it in the daytime and verify that positive is on positive and negative is on negative. That's 27F battery will work just fine just bigger. Just make sure the terminals are in the right orientation although they should be.
Truck could have an aftermarket alarm that is just throwing a fit as your hooking the battery up. If you hook the bigger battery up just try and get in and start the truck immediately and let it run.

 

This is my thought also. I mean, I realize the factory security system *will* honk the horn if you hit the panic button, but I've got OEM security system and I've unhooked/re-hooked my battery a couple dozen times and replaced the battery once. Never once did it do that. So I consider it a significant symptom.

However, working for a tint and audio shop in my younger years, I've had dozens of cars we did installs on sound the aftermarket alarm the moment you reattached the battery. The second I heard that I couldn't help but go back there for a minute...

 

I was waiting for you to chime in.
My buddy in high school had a late 90's grand prix that would crank over for like 4 seconds after you hooked up the battery due to aftermarket alarm.

 

Same here worked in car audio long before there were computers in anything!
She said there was noise from the new battery but nothing from the old one freshly charged.
Not hard to imagine old one is dead.
She never mentioned whether the new one cranked the truck or honked when hooking up a second time so......

 

27F was stock on the cold weather package trucks I believe

 

That is correct. It was one of the options on my truck new.

 

Cool. Wasn't sure if it was an upgrade people did or part of that package. Mine got swapped out for a 24 at some point then. Planning to go back to 27 when this battery gives up

 

Welcome to the forum @Tawondra05

My 2005, the horn with OEM alarm would go off every time I reattached the battery.
I did it several times and learned to have the key fob in my pocket when I connected the battery.

My 2014, with after-market remote start/alarm doesn't do that.

Check your battery posts and clamps for corrosion.
Even the thinnest unseeable layer of corrosion will prevent a start.

I had that issue with my 2005.
Bought a new battery in 2011.
The truck wouldn't start a day later, ended up being a thin layer of corrosion inside the clamps that was almost impossible to see.
Autozone guy that installed it didn't even bother cleaning the clamps with the new battery..

It was as simple as that in my case...
Hopefully in yours as well..

$5 Schumacher Electric Battery Terminal Cleaning Brush, Removes Buildup from Top and Side Terminals, BAF-BI, for Automotive, Marine, and Power Sport Batteries

Amazon.com: Schumacher BAF-B1 Battery Terminal Cleaning Brush : Automotive

 

Well, it sounds like the battery was probably not the problem.

Most of the time, a post like this is from bad battery terminals or cables. If thats not it, it could be a bad battery, or bad starter, in order of decreasing probability.

The horn blaring is weird. I have no idea what that is about.

 

1) The alarm horn is no issue. Just click the unlock button on the key fob to stop it. There’s probably a cheat code if fob doesn’t work.


2) Why did you put the original battery back in? It’s probably shot.

In day light, try to put the new 27F back in, connect red wire to the positive + side, black wire to the negative - side. Click key fob to stop horn. Try to start truck. Report back.

If you’re uncomfortable with any of this tow it to a shop.

 

Any updates?

 

Yes. Unfortunately, I cannot say if the wrong battery that I was given from Auto Zone (27F) was reversed or not. My daughter was the one who transported it and attempted to hooked it up. (She's pretty car savvy) I can tell you that the terminals were larger and the attempt to hook it up was met with a blaring horn (a continuous blare, not a intermittent honk) as well as flashing lights on the dash. When we received my old battery back, we were told the battery was still good and now fully charged. When we hooked it up, there was no horn blaring and no crazy dash lights. The truck sounded like it was trying to start but would not turn over so just in case we tried jumping it again with no luck. I was wondering if a fuse blew perhaps when we attempted to hook up the 27F.

 

When you say it was trying to start do you mean it was "clicking"?

 

Thank you all for your help...To Tundra Ted...I put the old battery back in because I was told that it just needed a charge,that it was still good. Unfortunately, I would of towed days ago but I live in a very secluded area, down 8 miles of unimproved and nonmaintained roads... We just had a winter storm come through. So just seeing if I could get it started with a little help.

 

It was not clicking it was actually trying to turn over.

 

Check fuses under the hood. One or more is probably kaput.

 

Well, Auto Zone said that my original battery was dead but just needed a good charge.( My son is a new driver. I believe he may have left the lights on.) Yes, the blaring horn was weird and it was quite different than when I hooked up my original newly charged battery. That's why I felt the 27F blew a fuse or something.

 

Thank you I will.

 

The 27F is still a 12V battery. Never heard of a larger capacity battery blowing a fuse by being bigger.

 

You may want to double check that. The headlights are supposed to go out when you turn the truck off.

 

Yes, Thank you. I did have some corrosion and cleaned it. The horn blowing is no longer an issue with the original battery reinstalled. Now, the engine will not turn over. So I was thinking the attempt at hooking up the 27F blew something.

 

I kinda think the new battery was hooked up improperly. Albeit accidentally.

 

The 'F' designates the post-placement, positive and negative.
Tundras are set up for 'F' batteries.
Positive/hot on the left, negative/ground on the right looking from the front of the vehicle.




Looking at this, the 27F has less CCAs than the top 24F.
I don't think the 27F did damage to your truck, unless the battery was bad.
https://www.interstatebatteries.com/product-search-results/2005-toyota-tundra-v847l

27F is a standard Tundra battery size.
They went from 27F to 24F, Interstate AGM is 34R.

What size is the original battery?
If you have a 2005 Tundra, with the original battery, it is time to buy another one.
I wouldn't care how it tested at a parts store.
This is a pic of a 2005.




I don't remember on my 2005, but my 2014 the OEM positive cable is so short it would be physically impossible to hook an F battery up the wrong way.

So it won't turn over even if you try to jump the battery?
But you have lights, radio, etc?
Did you check all the fuses?