2001 Toyota Avalon Battery Going Dead In 2 Days..

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Jul 23, 2008
Messages
9,808
Location
New Jersey
I have a friend who lives in Ohio that has a 2001 Toyota Avalon fully loaded 99,000 miles that the battery keeps going dead if it sits a couple of days. He bought a brand new battery and same thing happens. This car was always serviced at a toyota dealer and it was there a number of times and they can't figure it out either.. He said the only after market thing he has in the car is sirius xm radio that was installed at the dealer years ago... Anyone have any ideas what could be wrong i don't have the car here in nj so i can't check it out until he drives here.
Toyota in ohio says it may be all the wiring under the car and they can try replacing it but no guarantee. I told him to run away from that dealer.. Maybe someone else on here had the same problem??? I asked a couple of techs at toyota i deal with and am friendly with and they have no clue either. Any ideas?
 
Any competent tech should be able to find the drain without replacing a bunch of wiring with no guarantee... He is right to run from that one.
 
Sounds like something is draining the battery. Maybe a trunk light is stuck on or something like that. Disconnect that xm radio and see if that fixes things.
 
Probably the XM, but really just need to find someone willing to spend a couple hours on it and pull fuses to see what is drawing down the battery,
 
That's probably a service adviser that has no clue what they're talking about. You just get an ammeter and see what the current draw is on the battery. Then you start pulling fuses until the draw goes away and then you know what circuit is causing the problem. Then check for a short or a defective part. Way different that just replacing all the wiring.
 
Lift a battery cable from the terminal (engine OFF) and stick a DVM on high amps range in SERIES with it to the cable. Measure the current draw with everything OFF. If it's more than 50 milliamps or so yank fuses one at a time until the draw drops. Let us know what's on the that fuse, something on it is drawing current when it is not supposed to. If the car has been in a fender bender there may be a pinched wire hidden from view, or a sheet metal screw right through the insulation. It could also be a leaky alternator diode. The output leads on the alternator (the thick one, not the plug, runs right to the battery plus, and should show no current flow when th eengine is off. You can pull IT and check for current from the terminal on the alternator to the lead.
 
Last edited:
These are handy when finding drains:
612hHKYPuzL._SL1500_.jpg


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001TCXOTW/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
Originally Posted By: crazyoildude
I have a friend who lives in Ohio that has a 2001 Toyota Avalon fully loaded 99,000 miles that the battery keeps going dead if it sits a couple of days. He bought a brand new battery and same thing happens. This car was always serviced at a toyota dealer and it was there a number of times and they can't figure it out either.. He said the only after market thing he has in the car is sirius xm radio that was installed at the dealer years ago... Anyone have any ideas what could be wrong i don't have the car here in nj so i can't check it out until he drives here.
Toyota in ohio says it may be all the wiring under the car and they can try replacing it but no guarantee. I told him to run away from that dealer.. Maybe someone else on here had the same problem??? I asked a couple of techs at toyota i deal with and am friendly with and they have no clue either. Any ideas?


I had a v6 accord, bought new from dealer, around 44k miles, the battery would go dead randomly.
I figured out that the rad fan would run the battery down after the car was parked.
stealership swapped the most expensive part, the timer module.
but that did not solve the problem.
took it back again and they found that a $8 relay had gone bad and would not turn off once turned on.

pull fuses for xm, and other possible accessories to pin point the problem.
you can use a binary algorithm to find the offending item.
 
I agree with others' posts: an ammeter and pulling fuses and relays should locate or at least narrow down the problem. on one occasion I found the alternator to be the cause.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
This shouldnt be hard. First thought/guess is a bad diode in the alternator...


+1

This is what can cause a very rapid battery drain like the OP has. Something like an always on trunk light should not discharge a good battery that quickly.

Any dealer that can't do this simple test should be avoided.

But of course, still wise to check each circuit as described.
 
Last edited:
HF actually has a cute fuse-pronged ammeter they sell for $15. Fits the micro ATC, and, by association, mini.
 
Finding a battery drain is auto mech 101, fixing it might turn out to be bit involved but once you know the circuit usually not too bad.
Just connect a DVOM set to 10 or 20A (most are only 10) between the negative post and terminal, wait a min for the system to go to sleep then look at the current draw.

If its over 50 mA close the door latches with a screwdriver or tape the interior light switch down or just pull the interior light fuse if it has one then pull each fuse one at a time till the meter drops.
If nothing then pull the relays one at a time and + alternator wire.
 
Your friend is not mechanically inclined. I am not sure how you are going to help him across few states. The only advice that you can give him is that the dealer is a moron and he should take the car far away from that place.

All other suggestions are helpful if you get your hands on the car. Otherwise, steer him to reputed local mechanic.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top