Factory Battery Expectations

It seems to be a well known fact that the factory batteries are complete garbage, but last night my battery died while watching a movie at the drive-in. I feel like it isn’t unreasonable to expect the battery to last for two hours on “accessory” (We watched “The Goonies”).

I’m debated on how big of a deal I want to make this with Toyota since I’ve only had the truck for eight months. I could easily buy a better battery, but I honestly feel like Toyota owes me a replacement - kinda wild no one else’s battery died, and I had to get jumped by a 2010 Tacoma.

What do you guys think?

 

idk, on an old truck without electronics running everything under the sun maybe, but i feel like these trucks just have too many things requiring electricity to run off the starting battery alone for any period of time. i doubt the dealership would replace the battery for free if you tell them that you killed it by leaving it on acc for 2 hours. if it just up and died one day, they probably would.

 

I opted to replace it with a AGM, add a voltage booster and forget about the crappy stock battery. The inconvenience and aggravation of being stranded outweighs the cost for me. Lots of people on here (including me) run Northstar / X2 Power and I've only seen one guy have an issue.

 

Wow- timely topic.

Plan to take the fam to a drive-in double feature next weekend and I just ordered the Audew jump starter IN CASE our viewing of Grease and Dirty Dancing does my factory battery in.

I have a 2018 with 40k miles and I’ve never had a battery issue, but I did upgrade my system to a 5 channel amp, and I’m worried it I’ll drain the battery.

I am an Optima Red Top believer, but given my setup, what is the best battery/accessory power?

This is not stuff I have studied in great detail. The Optima I have is a sealed 6v for my 60 year old VW that gets driven seldom and sits for long spells. I have had very good luck with it, but the truck has very different demands.

 

I’m running an x2 in mine. I still need to do the booster tho

 

Took six weeks to get my HKB Electronics MK2 Micro blade booster.
Kept the booster with the Interstate battery, it charges at 13.9 volts with the engine running.

Even after the booster (and buying a charger), my X2 would not keep a charge for over 2 months.
Maybe I got a lemon, but Batteries Plus wanted me to jump thru hoops for them to do anything about it.
They offered to replace the battery if it died again, and when it did, they wouldn't replace it.

I ditched the X2 Power, it was nothing but a pain in my ass..
Daily watching of the voltage to make sure the truck would start the next day, until it didn't.
In the end, Batteries Plus didn't care.
They blamed the truck, Toyota said the truck was fine..

I took that 6 month old $209 X2 24F and used it for a $20 core charge for an Interstate MTP-27F.
Should have kept the Interstate I had in the first place.

To the OP, Toyota owes you a battery if it tests bad, and they will test it.
Over the years I'd get 3 years out of any stock battery.
But I never tried running a radio for 2 hours without starting the engine.

 

I do have an upgraded sound system, running 2 12s and an extra amp - but it wasn’t like I was bumping the system - really disappointing.

 

Are you running aftermarket amp(s) or any other high draw items? I wonder if running 24 vs 27 was the issue or if it was just a lemon... sucks for sure. Disappointed to see Batteries Plus didn’t warranty it for you.

 

Weird. My tundra has been pretty much sitting since December outside of like 3 times I’ve driven it and it starts right up. I’ve got the same battery in my Tacoma and no issues.

my brother has an x2 24f and it died after a couple months. Called batteries plus and told them it was only outputting 5.6v after being on a charger overnight and they swapped it out no questions. Hasn’t had any issues since.

 

I'm running with a RedTop 35 but if I decide to upgrade my offroad lights and add a winch into the equation then I'll jump back up to the YellowTop D27R with a 140 minute reserve @ 25 amp load. The RedTops are an excellent starting battery but the YellowTops are a better deep cycle battery and ideal when running a lot of lights and/or winch. Never had any issues running the D27R on my 07 and I had a lot decent offroad lights and a winch. There is a new RedTop 34R for the Tundra now that has a larger reserve. 100 minutes @ 25 amp load. My 35 has a 90 minute reserve which is adequate for me now with my current setup with crap ass factory stereo.

 

I have an Alpine PDX V9 amp, Amp power steps, a 1 watt led for my alarm, aftermarket remote start/alarm, other stuff.
I've had all these items for over 4 years.

Never had any battery problems until I bought that AGM X2.
The AGMs are allegedly a better battery if I have all that stuff, that is why I bought it.

The Interstate I had before the X2 was a 24F, ran it for 2 years, no problems.
Should have kept it longer, but I got caught up in the hype of the AGM battery.

If you look up any battery size chart, most will say 24F for a 2014 5.7 Tundra.
When I bought the Interstate a month or so ago, they said it called for a 24F.
But my stock battery was a 27F, the battery tray fits a 27F, and they sold me a 27F.

Like I stated, maybe I got a lemon.
The first time it died and I took to BATT + they asked me if I had dropped the battery because one of the posts was a little off.
I asked 'how could I drop it if I never removed it, you guys installed and pulled it out?'.
That was when he told me he would replace it if failed again.
When it failed again, he wouldn't replace it without testing it.
Took 3 days last time to test and they gave me a loaner.
This time no loaner, I can't go without my truck for 3 days
Point was the manager said he would replace it if it failed again, and it did..
Fu(k 'em..

 

I guess his Batteries Plus manager is a better man than the one I dealt with.
He flat out lied to my face..

 

Was your brother using an AGM battery charger?

 

Definitely the definition of poor customer service!

 

Yes

 

Me too, bought the charger just for the X2 AGM.
I thought maybe my 15 minute each way work drives weren't enough to maintain the AGM.
Bought the booster too.

I guess I needed one around the house anyway.

$178 CTEK (56-353) MULTI US 7002 12-Volt Battery Charger,Black

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

 

Sometimes you get a bad battery. Things happen. What's crazy for instance is that Auto Zone's non AGM branded batteries made by Johnson Controls are pretty good but certain group sizes got a poor rating from Consumer Reports where other group sizes did quite well....

 

Toyota will replace the battery, but the sticking point is they want you to bring the truck in so they can confirm the battery is bad before they'll give you a new one. If you're still under Toyota Care, maybe you can get it towed in if the battery is truly done. Since you were successfully jump started, it sounds like the battery just ran down, so it might be worth letting them check out the charging system as well.

The Tundra original equipment batteries in recent years seem to last on average two years (see link below), and the usual mode of failure is lack of conductivity (dead cell). The bad news is if the battery dies due to dead cell, it is truly dead with no resurrection. I'm pretty sure a battery with a dead cell can't be jump started...not even by a direct lightning strike.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/original-battery-life-gen-3-tundra.48235/

 

I got 115k miles out of my battery. And 4 years

 

Don't quote me on this but I do believe the Toyota TrueStart battery that the dealer replaces with is better than the junk battery put in at San Antonio. I've never used the TrueStart but a coworker has one in his 07 now for several years with no problems....yet...

 

Yep. I’ve got 2 27f and have had zero issues. It sounds like there was a bad run of 24f from when we talked to the guy

 

FYI.....for example. A fully charged battery with a 50AH rating, amp hour, should handle a 25 amp load for 2 hours. 50 Amps for 1 hour. This important spec comes into play when watching a 2 hour drive in movie with aftermarket stereo cranked up loading down your battery at 25 amps. Higher load>>>dead battery.....

 

Drive ins used to have intermissions. Crank up and charge your battery during intermission with AC and stereo turned off. Can't hurt. Back in day We'd just back up our trucks, put the tailgate down, have cooler nearby. Not even use our radio. Plenty of sound from everyone else, but then again I'm very old school....ha!

 

The inconvenience and hassle of my past battery problems have led me to only buy Interstate if I have the choice. I have used Advanced Auto Parts, O'Reilly's, and AutoZone, but each time I ended up having the battery replaced before the warranty ran out - I repeat, inconvenience and hassle!

My Interstate batteries have all lasted beyond the warranty period, which is a prompt for me to have it checked frequently to try to catch it before it strands me. I've yet to be stranded by Interstate (knock on wood).

 

Yep, and you're in PA.
Batteries don't usually last that long in God's country...

 

Stick with what works best for you.

 

95 here right now....soon folks will be bitchin about how cold it is here...

 

Haha I didn’t think of that. It def gets pretty bad cold snaps up here. I’m not sure what’s worse. Heat or cold. I didn’t even think of heat actually

 

Drive-Ins are supposed to have tiny speakers at each car you whippersnappers so you dont run the battery down!

 

Ran stock in my 2013 till a few months ago , only bought new for maintenance , and went with OEM stock 27F , keep old one in back for other accesories.