Corolla Battery Question
homepc
Johnson Controls. Just a couple of weeks ago, the green eye disappeared. I
use a Battery Tender Plus to maintain the battery and the charge is OK. I
got the Toyota dealer to check the battery while I got my winter tires
changed over a few days ago. They checked the water level and said it was
within specs, and the battery power was more than adequate. They also
mentioned that the green eye indicator does disappear for no reason on a few
of their batteries.
Has anyone had a similar problem and found a work around? I only drive
during my weekends, and I rely on that green indicator to tell me if that
battery is good or not. I was considering buying some kind of hardware
battery tester but after looking on Google, I can only find really cheap
ones or really expensive ones. Is there something I can plug into the
cigarette lighter or the Battery Tender Plus pig tail to accurately measure
the battery charge and strength under load without breaking the bank?
dr_jeff
Did you explain this to your dealer? It seems that if the battery is not
operating as it is supposed to (including the green indicator) it should
be replaced under warranty.
homepc
"dr_jeff" <u...@msu.edu> wrote in message
news:A6adnbJCNoOf25TW...@giganews.com...
The car is just past the three year warranty last September. I wrote to
Johnson Controls and they replied:
Your electrolyte level in that particular cell where the charge eye is
located, may be a bit low. You can top off that cell to the bottom of the
splash barrel with city tap water or distilled water. Bottom of the splash
barrel means that the electrolyte level will be about an inch below the top
of the cover. Do not over fill and make sure to wear safety glasses. Once
you top it off and the electrolyte equalizes, the green charge eye should
appear again. This may take a few days+ of driving to mix the acid. If
this does not work, then you can use a voltmeter to check your battery.
After you turn off the engine let the battery rest for a 3-5 hours and then
check the voltage. A fully charged battery will have a voltage > than
12.65 volts.,
The car dealer checked the water level and it was within specs. I'm not so
sure about using a voltmeter, doesn't the battery need to be tested under a
load?
Fatter Than Ever Moe
Here ya go,
http://search.harborfreight.com/cpisearch/web/search.do?catPath=All%2BProducts%252F%252F%252F%252FUserSearch%253Dbattery%2Btester¤tPage=3&lastPage=3&isNext=false&isPrevious=false&category=&attributeValue=&attributeName=&requestedPage=1&resultsPerPage=10&resultsPerPageBottom=0
Whew that's a long one,
and
http://www.amazon.com/Equus-3721-Battery-Charging-Monitor/dp/B000EVWDU0/ref=pd_sim_dbs_auto_1
and
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/12-Volt-12v-Battery-Alternator-Tester-Stores-Tool_W0QQitemZ380178300876QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotors_Automotive_Tools?hash=item5884647fcc
10 bucks shipping?
Jeff Strickland
"homepc" <wieb...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:hebg6j$c4u$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
Since you have an '07 and the current model is the '10, and the factory is
likely to use a 36-month battery, my suggestion is that you should be
prepared to buy a new battery.
But the battery is not a go-no go kind of product, so you will have plenty
of warning that it's on its last leg. The symptom you want to watch for is a
loss of cranking power. The trouble is that you use a battery tender, which
is in essence a continual charger so you might not see the weakness
developing. And you are closing in on the cold season so the tender is
needed now more than ever so leaving it off for a week to see if the battery
holds a charge on its own can give a false result.
But, park the car this afternoon when you are finished using it, and do not
connect the tender. Then see how well it starts on Thu or Fri, and if it si
weak then you will know.
I'm not sure about the eye, but I seem to recall that it goes from green to
black to red, but I'm not entirely clear on that. If black and not green,
then the electrolyte is weakening. The ball is essentially weighted, and
when the electrolyte is good, the ball floats with the green side up, as the
electrolyte weakens, the ball rolls over.
If your goal is to not worry, buy a new battery now. Time is not on your
side because they are pretty good at making a battery last n-number of
months. If yours is 36 months, then 36 months is happening now. I once had a
36-month battery in a motorhome, the battery died in the 37th or 38th month.
With shelf life ans shipping and such, I'd guess a 36-month battery to give
you 40-ish months of service if you got it fresh off of the assembly line.
Since you bought the car new, then odds favor you getting it sooner off of
the line than I got mine from Costco. The idea holds true, but your window
might be a tad wider than mine was.
Jeff Strickland
Yes, it needs to be tested under load.
It's also not a warranty item, and even if it was, after 36 months its got
to be well within the pro-rate -- meaning you got 99% of its life, you get
1% off on the replacement. I'd not pursue the warranty issue for very long.
Ray O
the indicator is no longer green and not that the eye is physically missing
from the battery.
If the eye is clear and bright, the electrolyte level is low. If the eye is
dark or yellow, the electrolyte level is satisfactory but the state of
charge is low (low specific gravity).
If you decide to add water to the battery, distilled water is better than
tap water. Follow Johnson Control's directions carefully.
The indicator in your battery does not indicate the battery's ability to
hold a charge or its capacity for cranking. The green eye tells you that
the battery is charged, which you can also check with an inexpensive volt
meter.
A battery should be load tested to determine its condition, but if you are
only looking to duplicate the information that the eye gives, a volt meter
is all you need.
--
Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)
Hachiroku ハチロク
>
> If the eye is clear and bright, the electrolyte level is low. If the eye
> is dark or yellow, the electrolyte level is satisfactory but the state of
> charge is low (low specific gravity).
What if it has a black eye? ;p
Ray O
"Hachiroku ????" <Tru...@e86.GTS> wrote in message
news:pan.2009.11.23....@e86.GTS...
larry moe 'n curly
homepc wrote:
>
> The car dealer checked the water level and it was within specs. I'm not so
> sure about using a voltmeter, doesn't the battery need to be tested under a
> load?
Why didn't the dealer also measure the specific gravity of each cell
when they were checking the water level? Because that's what the
green eye measures.