Changing Battery at home worried about Immobiliser

[Lord Ripper]

Hello All,

My Battery is dead and needs replacing so I bought an identical replacement delivered next morning by Tayna. I understand that it is good practice to connect another donor Battery to keep the electronics alive while you switch out the dead one. I don't have a second good Battery to do this. Can it be done with just the one new Battery connected to the dead one? I am concerned that the immobiliser will not let me start the car after I change them out. However some cars are OK with this it seems as they are older with less electronics to mess up. My question is for those experienced with the IS200. Has anyone swapped their Battery without a 'tender' Battery and had any issues ? Will a 2001 IS200 SE Auto be OK to start after swapping out the Battery with a loss of power to the electronics, and if so how do I go about getting it going again? Obviously trying to save some money by not having the garage do it. Your feedback would be greatly appreciated as I'm immobile at the moment.

Thanks in advance 🙂

Stu.

[Herbie]

8 hours ago, Lord Ripper said:

My battery is dead

In that case you're overthinking it as anything bad will already have happened.

Just do it. You may find that the windows need resetting or that the radio has lost its presets but you won't have any problems with the immobiliser.

[Lord Ripper]

Hello Herbie thanks a lot for the reply.

Not worried about radio presets, and that I also read that as it has an intelligent box, sorta learning your driving style, and that driving experience may seem different as it resets that too However I've not heard about resetting windows. Would you mind elaborating ? Will I find info on that in the owner's manual?

So you're sure about the security system? A lot of videos on the subject say it'll mess with the electronics but most involve newer cars. I worry because I'd imagine that getting that sorted would be very expensive and I don't wanna have to give the insurance co. any reason to write it off. It was my late Father's and there's a lot of memories and sentimental attachment there.

She's in bloody good nick at only 71500 miles, just the book value is so low now.

[Herbie]

Sorry Stuart, I can't say with certainty because I don't have an IS200. On the RX the windows may fail to operate properly so the procedure is to go round each door and press the down switch until the window is fully down then hold for 10 seconds, then do the same for window up, after which they should all work correctly from the main switch panel in the drivers door.

I've never heard of any car, young or old, Lexus or Vauxhall or whatever, having trouble with the immobiliser. Radios yes, windows yes, sunroof yes, but never immobiliser so if it was me I'd just change the Battery. If you're still worried, I know you said that you haven't got a second Battery but have you got a Battery charger? Or a second car with jump leads?

[Britprius]

To reset the windows all that is required is that you open each one in turn to about half way. Then close them holding you finger on the close button for 5 seconds "not critical". There is a similar process for the sun roof if you have one.

The alarm system will not be upset by changing the Battery, but the engine ECU will re learn your driving style "no intervention required by you other than driving the car"..

John.

[Lord Ripper]

I don't have a second car, I do have jump leads, and I do have a charger that a friend gave me a few years ago. Have only used it once to try charging a Battery that ended up being dead. I'm not sure it's a good one though. It's a Maypole MP7418 8 Amp. Says suitable for petrol cars and vans over 1800cc or diesel. Thing is it need to be plugged in and I could never get it to reach the car from the flat.

Thanks for the seconding John it does have an electric SR  🙂

[Britprius]

The charger you have is to high an output, and is not an intelligent charger. You need a charger with an output of 1 amp or less or an intelligent charger.

John.

[Lord Ripper]

I thought so, thanks John. I guess I'll go ahead and change the Battery. I was looking at jump starters too recently. The NOCCO Genius Boost looks really good the GB70 would be more than enough. But yes a low output trickle charger would be a good thing to have. Would you be able to recommend one?

[true blue]

Hi I have changed the Battery on my IS 200 sport cross when I had it ;just make sure the ignition and everything electrical is turned off ,change the Battery, connect the Red terminal + first then negative make sure they are fully on and tight.The ECU will take care of itself but the tick over may be a bit erratic to start with .The immobiliser /alarm will not be affected

Dave

[Lord Ripper]

Thanks Dave, and Herbie and Britprius for the help! I feel much better about it now. Will post an update when complete.

[Lord Ripper]

Thanks again guys, worked like a charm, seems nothing needed resetting either!