Flat Battery After Parking For A Week

[wacko]

Hi

Returning from holiday I did not expect to find that the Battery was flat after only a week of being parked at the airport.

A quick boost from a RAC man and it started first turn.

According to the RAC the alternator is working fine and the Battery has been fine since then. No lights were left on and the only thing active would have been the alarm and the smart key system.

The car was driven over 100 miles the day prior to being left at the airport so the Battery would have had a good charge in it.

Anybody any ideas or similar experiences.

Mark

[Steviewevie]

Sounds like a Battery that is not holding its charge properly. I have had that before on some previous cars (non-Lexus). If the Battery is several years old, then it may well need replacing.

[wacko]

Sounds like a battery that is not holding its charge properly. I have had that before on some previous cars (non-Lexus). If the battery is several years old, then it may well need replacing.

Normaly I would aggree and put a new Battery in, but the Battery is only 3 years old and i had left the car parked for over a week in august with no problems.

If it is the Battery i have no problem in replacing it.

I'm going away with work for a week at the end of the month and my concern is that it is something else and even with a new Battery i could still come back to a flat Battery, Although i now have a set of jump leads in the boot.

Having been quoted £75 to £125 for a new Battery its an expensive thing to replace to find out later that you still have a problem.

[Steviewevie]

You haven't changed any electrics in your car recently have you, e.g. fitted a new sound system which could have a fault and be draining the Battery ?

[dave1]

I left my car whilst on holiday a couple of weeks ago. 20 miles to APH B'ham at night. Returned after holiday and drove home, again at night with no problems. Lights,heating,radio all on. This week I called at a shop and wife was in car with ignition off but radio on for around 20 mins. Came back to car and the engine refused to turn. RAC jumpstarted car and charging was fine. Battery is near new but apparently he has been called to both GS430 and LS430 reasonably often for flat batteries. It seems that the Battery in the series 2 GS is smaller than the series 1 and because of all the electrics fitted they take longer to replace the charge taken on starting the car. He suggested that as my journies are usually short distances at the moment, it might be beneficial to charge the Battery every couple of months to ensure that it has a full charge occasionally. With all the extra gizmos in the LS430 it would seem probable that they also take a hammering on the Battery.

[wacko]

You haven't changed any electrics in your car recently have you, e.g. fitted a new sound system which could have a fault and be draining the battery ?

No Nothing, the car is completly stock

[Matrixabc]

You haven't changed any electrics in your car recently have you, e.g. fitted a new sound system which could have a fault and be draining the battery ?

No Nothing, the car is completly stock

We use a lot of battery's on the equipment we supply "UPS's" , and three years would be the typical life, as the warranty is for three years that is when we change them. £75.00 for piece of mind is cheap, Ive just spent £400 on tires, £400.00 on one air strut, and just smashed my wing mirror (Lexus list price £470.00)

[Haylands]

Hi

My 2p worth

A well documented problem with Mercedes is that if they are left at airports then the car starts "talking" to all the microwave/radio wave transmitters they have.

This puts the car in standby mode for a while, also turns on your interior and puddle lights and so runs down the Battery. Haven’t a clue what the answer is and I don't think Merc came up with one.... Never studied it myself but this could be the problem.

When I fitted the LPG to mine it was sat on a ramp all day and I had the key in my pocket, it "talked" to it all day and by evening the Battery was well down and I had to jump start it, so it doesn't take long... When I fitted a new Battery earlier in the year I looked at fitting a bigger capacity one, as the one fitted isn't that big, but there is no space to fit a bigger one, the Battery tray is the same size as the Battery and you could not make it bigger. My original Battery had one of those little green lights and it had gone out so a new Battery was needed. I got one from Andrew Page, a Bosch Silver with a four year warranty. GOLD members can get a good discount with them and an account number. Can't remember the exact price but it was less than £70.

If this is the problem and it’s because it switches the lights on then you could swap the lights for LED's. These will run for ages without flattening the Battery.

I have some fitted in my boot because repeatedly telling the wife and kids to not slam it and let the car close it has resulted in them shutting it so gently that it just sits there and doesn't close.... thus leaving the light on and flattening the Battery overnight.....

We always use the valet parking facilities at airports now, It's usually a little bit more expensive but it's excellent, turn up much later, pull up at short term parking, someone there to meet you with a trolley, unloads your cases and has also checked which check in desk to go to, and then on return, the joy of walking out of the airport to a warm car, have someone put your cases in the boot and leave the airport long before a bus has come to pick you up and throw you about all over the place for 10 mins, then hump suitcases out of a bus, stagger way across a car park, load the cases yourself, then find a flat Battery....... etc etc

To me it’s well worth the little extra.

Pete

[steve-bedford]

As mentioned previously, batteries typically only have a 3 year lifespan and so with winter approaching it's not a bad idea to replace it as a preventive maintenance procedure anyway.

As winter approaches you will see lots of garages beginning to offer free winter checks so why not take it to one, say nothing about the Battery and just see what they come back with. Garages do this as they want you to give them the repair work. They will generally find something wrong so that they get the payback but you are under no obligation to go ahead.

[chrisfs]

I have had a flat Battery experience twice this year. Once sitting in a queue for car ferry, 45 minutes with aircon and stereo on but engine not running. Wouldn't even turn over. Second time I seem to have inadvertently left the boot open, only just ajar but I guess the inner light was on and that was enough to flatten it by the next morning.

So both my fault and I can see how it happened, but both times I was quite surprised that was enough to flatten the Battery.

[wacko]

Bit the bullet today and fitted a new heavy duty Battery.

I'm off to france on monday for 2 weeks with my fingers crossed.

Although I have taken the precaution of borowing a friends booster pack just in case.

i have also seen a post on USA site regarding the Smart key system draining the Battery.

Just to be on the safe side I will turn this off as well as the making sure that the lights and wiper stalks are in the off not auto position.

I will update you when i get back.

Thanks for the replies.

Mark

[Haylands]

Bit the bullet today and fitted a new heavy duty battery.

I'm off to france on monday for 2 weeks with my fingers crossed.

Although I have taken the precaution of borowing a friends booster pack just in case.

i have also seen a post on USA site regarding the Smart key system draining the battery.

Just to be on the safe side I will turn this off as well as the making sure that the lights and wiper stalks are in the off not auto position.

I will update you when i get back.

Thanks for the replies.

Mark

Mark

I know how you must feel being let down by the Battery, but I don't think you have to go to those lengths, after fitting my new Battery earlier in the year I have had no issues at all. Modern batteries are far better at holding a charge than those of old, they will keep producing around 12volts and a good amperage right up to the point of failure. With modern, high torque starter motors and very efficient ignition systems it takes far less to start a car than it used to. In the old days the Battery would give loads of warnings of impending doom and you had time to get used to it, time to adjust to the fact that you would have to buy one soon. Nowadays you get a few days notice at best. Our modern batteries work fine until the end and we haven't, yet, got used to it.

So leave all the gadgets on that made you buy the car in the first place and enjoy your time in France

Pete

[Mike_B]

I returned to my GS430 at Heathrow after a week working in Scotland to find the car completely stone dead. I couldn't understand it either, but the chap in the car park rescue truck gave me a jump start and it turned out I'd left an inside reading light on. You can't really see them from outside, especially when you park up at dawn and you need the light to gather all your stuff for the week, but when you step outside it's bright enough you can't see it on inside the car - easy to forget it especially if you can see the bus for your terminal coming round the corner!!

It did kill the Battery though - it never held a charge properly again so I got a genuine Toyota replacement (roughly £70) and it's been perfectly alright ever since. 3 year warranty on mine as well, so peace of mind for a while.