New battery, cold weather, then major electical issues....

[Toni Rauch]

My IS300 (2002) has got very ill.....

After Battery problems, I put on a new Battery and everything's been fine. (The odd yellow engine warning light which healed itself...).

Needed a Battery boost to start the car yesterday (after it had been left for 3 days due to heavy snow). Started fine, but various warning lights were continuously blinking on the dashboard (open doors, broken rear bulb, cruise control, etc.)  Car drove well though.

Tried starting it later and (new) Battery was almost flat. Opened the bonnet to connect charger to Battery and there was a 'humming' sound coming from somewhere. The keys were in my pocket...!

This morning, car completely 'dead'.   Obviously some relay or other has flattened the Battery.

Any idea what to do now (besides scrap the car) really appreciated....!

Thanks....

[BachelorDays]

Disconnect the Battery and charge it. 

Once fully charged you can then start the other diagnosis. Connect the Battery and see if the car starts fine again. That'll get rid of a few ifs and buts.

The problem is very likely that you have a drain on the Battery (something staying on when it shouldn't be). You might even have an alternator issue but not that likely. The humming might even be a shorted starter motor/solonoid.

If you can get the car to start after the Battery recharge do remember to disconnect the negative when parking up or you'll have it flat again.

Let's hope it starts. We can then figure out next steps.

[Texas]

+1 on starting afresh with a good/fully charged Battery and after having it disconnected for a while this will achieve a soft reset and hopefully any wayward electrons will have disapated!

paul m.

[Herbie]

There are plenty of Youtube videos on fault-finding and searching for parasitic drains but you do need the tools and test gear. If you haven't already got one, a multimeter is an absolute must and you can get cheap ones for under a tenner, very decent ones for under £30. You could even go for something like a combined multimeter and clamp ammeter such as this one from Amazon

Here's the link to a whole bunch of Youtube videos

[Herbie]

Any news on this problem?

[Toni Rauch]

Hi Herbie

Thanks for the chase-up.

I've been away for a few days so haven't tackled the problem yet, but I plan to see if I can even start the car with the 'booster' today. If I can, I'll go on a run for an hour to (hopefully) charge the Battery up and see what lights (if any) remain flashing on the dashboard, and see if I can still hear the humming sound coming from under the bonnet when I turn the car off.

I'll report back after that.....