Have 2010 Camry LE with less than 7000 miles. After leaving car at airport for five nights, was greeted with dead battery. Dealer replaced battery as courtesy(no cause found). Three months later, after not using car for a week, was greeted with dead battery. Dealer diagnosed bad cell in replacement battery. Two months later, left car in garage for 22 days without use; no problem upon return.
Last week, left car at airport for seven days, was greeted with dead battery.
Jump start always starts car and runs perfectly in between.
Dealer has had car for five days and is totally baffled. Cannot find any source of parasitic battery drainage and battery is good.
We're at our wits end and ready to throw in the towel as we have a car on which we cannot depend. Wife refuses to drive car. HELP Please

 

This problem may be very difficult to diagnose as typically parasitic battery drains are constant making the problem much easier to narrow down.

It could be a combination of events (unknown at this time) causing some relay controlling some item to start cycling on and off and the item now drawing power.

Any correlation between how the cars controls were set, alarm on or off, etc. preceding these events?

Since this is an ongoing problem suggest making sure the dealer is documenting it as such and that you expect them to keep working at the problem.

Might determine if there are any auto electrical specialist shops in the area and run this problem by them.

There are devices that can record voltage or amperage changes over time. The device could then display any patterns which may give a clue.

If myself would start carrying jumper cables and a spare battery. This of course does not solve the problem (this is Toyota's problem, suggest you make sure they understand this!). However until the issue is solved it will save a lot of time and aggravation when the problem happens again.

Given the past events the car should be OK to drive if not left for days at a time. And if a a dead battery problem overnight the problem should be much easier find as the drain may now be constant.

Toyota had an issue in some past Camry years with a bad remote door lock computer causing power drain when the car is off. Leaving the smart keys left in ign has caused battery drain issues.

 

min had same problem, i hate my car POS, but anyway i layed a piece of paper over the center dash vents and once in awhile it was not there when i returned, after 4 days battery was typically dead. turned out toyota reproduced the problem finally after like 10 visits the fan motor for the dash a/cheat system was internally grounding (i dont know how that was even possible) but it cause it to randomly come on when no one was in the car- they replaced the fan and i think the relay to but the fan was the problem, no more dead batteries.

on another note the second battery in the car now leaks alot of acid out of the top of it and is corroding everything around it. thanks toyota for your great quality replacement batteryies, i also have a levus es350 it does not have any leaks in the battery it has a sealed battery from lexus WAY better design. i went to the lexus dealer to get a replacement for my camry and they said they dont carry that type they have interstate now and they leak - thanks again toyota, i have now purchased a made in america GM acdelco battery - totally sealed and no leaks.

 

Hey, LILOBODO, out of curiosity, do you leave your headlights on the Auto setting? I have been having the same problem where my battery was draining overnight, and couldn't figure it out.

Well, my neighbor calls a couple weeks ago, and says my headlights are on. I go outside, and sure enough, my headlights are on, even though the switch is in the Auto position (and the car turned off and locked). I am sure the headlights were off when I shut off the car. I had to turn the switch to the Off position to get them to turn off.

I took the car to my local dealer, but of course they could not duplicate the problem. I took the car home, and wouldn't you know it, the next morning my battery was dead again. The headlight switch again was in the Auto position.

The next night, I left the headlights in the Off position, and the car started right up the next morning. The following night, I again left the switch in the Auto position, and guess what. The battery was dead again. My headlights are randomly turning on after the car has been sitting for a while, well after being locked up, in the middle of the night.

I called the dealer back, and they supposedly checked with Toyota national service advisor. My dealer said that they have never heard of this before. They said to take the car back to them and they will try to replicate my problem, but can't guarantee they will be successful.

Please check your car and let me know if that could be the cause of your dead batteries. If anyone else has had the same problem, I would appreciate hearing from you.

 

I have a 2007 Camry with a mysterious battery drain. Battery's drained every two days. Takes very little to jump start it (I've done it off of a trickle charger that was on for 10 minutes). Battery, alternator, starter all good ... the loads are checking correctly.

Any ideas? Could that be the fans coming on by themselves (heard of dome lights starting on their own too). Please give me ideas so I can take it to the dealer for them to check. I just know it's going to be something on the bizarre side.

 

Im having the same issue with my battery on my 2012 Toyota Camry. I cant let my car sit more than one week, even that is too much. I think after two or three days the battery is too weak to start over. I do have an alarm that I set but can the led light drain the battery? I love this car but the battery and electical systems suck... Just 3 days and it needs to be charged... I boost the battery from another car I use in the winter and presto, starts in a split second. Does starting a car and not moving it kill the battery since its not being driven to charge the battery?

 

LED light will not cause battery drain issues.

If battery drain problem can't be found and still under warranty have the dealer fix it as these problems can be difficult to fix. Too many dead battery drains to a point of requiring a jump will kill it.

As you are doing a lot of jumping make sure the +/- cables don't get mixed up, obvious but has happened and the result will blow a lot for fuses and may do other damage.

Recommend the good battery car have its engine off (contrary to recommendations) as less chance of damage due an electrical surge or reversed cable. The dead battery car should have its lights on to minimize electrical surges.

After starting the dead battery car, turn lights off. Engine needs to run for the alternator to charge the battery however alternators do not put out their full amps at engine idle but at approx 1500 rpm. To fully charge the battery best to drive it or let it idle above 1500 rpm for a good time. How long?

If you have a voltmeter a charged battery will have a voltage of around 12.8v. This after sitting for time engine off.

If never running the engine after a jump start it could the battery is never fully charging. If fully charging and running down when car sitting and no power drain the battery could be bad.

If you have an milliamp meter place it between the positive terminal and battery to check for drain when engine off.

 

I have an 07 4 cyl. camry and the blower fan is coming on when the car is off, even if the heater fan is off. When it happens during the night the battery is dead in the morning. dealer has checked it out and can't find the issue. Has anyone had this problem and is there a solution?

Thanks
Greg

 

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