ls 400 lost miles etc

[harrylime]

I had the rare opportunity to take my 99 400 out today. I disconnectthe Battery when not in use, to avoid the inevitable Battery drain,. It was fully charged last week. The firt time I tried to start it, I got the starter chattering, so I tightened the Battery terminals again, then the engine turned over slowly but did start eventually. During the drive I noticed that my odometer has changed from 66000 plus to 6600 plus, as if the first 6 is missing. I only do around 1500 - 2000 miles a year and I'm concerned that if I decide to sell, any discrepancy with the odometer would worry a potential buyer. It would me.

My radio and sat nav display would also not work. They work when parked with the ignition on, but disappear when I start up.I stopped and restarted a couple of times, asthis has cleared it before, but no go. My first thought was the Battery, so I checked when I got home and it show 12.39 volts. The Battery will be 3 years old in January, bought from Lexus.

I have my doubts about the Battery terminals, which were replaced at an auto electricians a while back. They are very hard to tighten up, and the square headed bolts do not hold in the recess, but turn, necessitating the use of two spanners. Not a problem in itself, but  casts doubt on their qiuailty.

 

Does anyone have any ideas please?

[steve2006]

Wow a 1999 Lexus LS400 with only 6600 miles, are you thinking of selling it? 

If I were leaving the car for long periods of time without use I would invest in a Smart Charger which you basically can leave plugged in all the time to maintain full charge in the Battery without damaging it. Some also allow connection with the car electrics still connected avoiding the resets normally required if the Battery is disconnected.

At 3 years old and little use the Battery could be passed it's use by date also.

 

[ambermarine]

Hugh 

I agree with Steve on the Smart charger ,several reasons;

The smart charger will maintain the Battery at its optimum charge without the aggressive charge and recharge of the old type of charger which sulphates the plates reducing the Battery capacity.

Avoidance of disruption to the circuits and electronics in the car.

Wear and tear on the Battery terminals.

The caddy type smart charger is the one I have used on my Lexus and it works great ,these are the ones used for charging the Battery on a motorised golf cart.

Whichever one you choose make sure it as an output of at least 2 amps otherwise it will burn out in a short time.

Finally get the terminals renewed for the Battery you are using so they tighten snug on the post. 

[sorcerer]

I'd hazard a guess that the Battery terminals are still not tight enough. The Battery is only used for cranking the engine - after it fires up, the alternator runs all the electrical equipment and the Battery basically becomes redundant. If there's enough power from the alternator to run all the electrics and still have some surplus (which of course, there usually is), then that's when the Battery gets charged up. If the connections aren't tight enough, the alternator output may be causing all sorts of voltage spikes and transient noise that could account for the weird behaviour.

If you have a specialist Battery shop in your area they'll happily test the Battery for you by way of either a heavy-discharge tester or some computerised gizmo rather than just a standard multimeter. Also check the warranty on the Battery, just in case it is faulty - the one on our old car (think it was a Varta) had a four-year warranty.

[harrylime]

The point about the Battery terminals is a good one. I replaced these a few months ago, from a specialist auto electrical place, but the bolts are rubbish, they appear to be soft metal. The thread on one has stripped and been replaced and I'm doing the other one tomorrow. The Battery has been fully charged today and we'll see how I go. The loss of 60000 miles from my odometer is a mystery, I have no idea whether that will be restored when it's sorted

[Colin M]

I hope a fully recharged Battery sorts the problem.

If it does not, it might be worth checking the engine earth strap connection. If that is not making a good contact, the starter motor may not turn the engine over as fast as it should.

I agree with Steve and Phil that it would be wise to invest in a smart charger. They are very good for vehicles which are only used occasionally.