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Car Forum / Toyota / Toyota Trucks / August 2006

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03 4Runner battery

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santas little helper - 15 Aug 2006 15:25 GMT
I have an 03 4Runner with the original battery in it located in
Florida. The car has about 33,000 miles on it and is kept in a garage
most of the time. Should I expect that the battery is about to die, or
will they go longer than three years?

Thanks in advance, Sue
Mike Harris - 15 Aug 2006 16:13 GMT
>I have an 03 4Runner with the original battery in it located in
> Florida. The car has about 33,000 miles on it and is kept in a garage
> most of the time. Should I expect that the battery is about to die, or
> will they go longer than three years?
>
> Thanks in advance, Sue

Depends... sometimes they last longer, sometimes not so long.  Temperature
extremes tend to shorten battery life, as does deep discharge and/or leaving
it less than fully charged over extended periods.  They'll generally give
warning e.g. slower cranking speed when starting, although many other
problems can cause that symptom.

Are you having some sort of problem which you think might be attributable to
a dying battery, or are you just asking?
--
Mike Harris
Austin, TX
santas little helper - 15 Aug 2006 16:29 GMT
We are planning a one week driving trip and want to avoid any
problems. We have had no problems yet at all.

Sue

>I have an 03 4Runner with the original battery in it located in
>Florida. The car has about 33,000 miles on it and is kept in a garage
>most of the time. Should I expect that the battery is about to die, or
>will they go longer than three years?
>
>Thanks in advance, Sue
harlen - 15 Aug 2006 17:43 GMT
> We are planning a one week driving trip and want to avoid any
> problems. We have had no problems yet at all.
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>>
>>Thanks in advance, Sue

My batteries go 'bad' in the winter months since the battery capacity goes
down with temperature.  Florida is hot/warm.  If you are worried, have it
checked.  Some places check the battery free in hopes you'll buy a battery
from them.
Mike Harris - 15 Aug 2006 18:59 GMT
If it's been starting right up with no problems and a visual inspection
shows it to be in good shape, eg no corrosion on the terminals, I wouldn't
worry about it.  A week long driving trip won't put undue strain on the
battery.
--
Mike Harris
Austin, TX

> We are planning a one week driving trip and want to avoid any
> problems. We have had no problems yet at all.
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>>
>>Thanks in advance, Sue
Jeff Strickland - 15 Aug 2006 19:13 GMT
Take the trip and forget about the battery.

A week on the road and a week at home is the same thing from your car's
perspective. If you have no reason to think you need a battery now, you
won't need one in a week.

> We are planning a one week driving trip and want to avoid any
> problems. We have had no problems yet at all.
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>>
>>Thanks in advance, Sue
Duane - 22 Aug 2006 02:46 GMT
I have a 2001 4Runner, 125,000+ miles and original battery.  I have not
experienced any problems yet.
> We are planning a one week driving trip and want to avoid any
> problems. We have had no problems yet at all.
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>>
>>Thanks in advance, Sue
Bruce L. Bergman - 22 Aug 2006 05:30 GMT
>> We are planning a one week driving trip and want to avoid any
>> problems. We have had no problems yet at all.
>
>I have a 2001 4Runner, 125,000+ miles and original battery.  I have not
>experienced any problems yet.

 An '03 battery /should/ be okay for another year or two.  The trick
is to always listen to how your car starts, every time.  It's like a
musical note - it will start creeping down as a warning, and give you
between a day and a week warning.  If you are alert to those subtle
hints your car is giving, you can normally catch a dying battery
before it's a goner and you are stuck.

 When the battery starts failing, it usually cranks a little slower,
then a little slower yet, then it almost doesn't start this time...

 For insurance, you can carry one of those "Jump Pack" portable
batteries that also has an air compressor and a 12V accessory jack.

 And by all means let them use the jump pack if someone else is
having a problem and asks you for a jump start.

 If their car has big electrical problems, or they hook normal jumper
cables up backwards (or they connect/remove the clips in the wrong
order) to your battery, they can damage YOUR car's alternator, battery
or electrical system just by being a Good Samaritan and giving someone
else a jump start.

     --<< Bruce >>--
Jeff Strickland - 15 Aug 2006 19:11 GMT
Your '03 is soon to be 4 years old -- '07s are about to hit the market --  
and I'd guess the battery is about to give up. It is reasonable that the
factory would use a 36- or 48-month battery, and you are clearly getting
close to at least one of those benchmarks.

I have a friend with a Highlander (the Lexus version), and his clock began
blinking when the battery ran low. He would start the car and set the clock,
then the next day he would have to set the clock again. Sometimes he would
have to set the clock later in the same day, but the car never gave him any
trouble starting.

It turns out that the car uses the clock as an alert that the battery is
getting low/weak. I'm not sure how it could do this, but I suggested he go
to the battery store where they confirmed the battery was getting on in
years.

If you think about it, it makes sense that the automaker would use a
low-importance system, like the clock, to tell you that the electrics were
getting ready to give up. You don't really want the battery to drain to the
point that the main computer is affected, and blinking the clock is annoying
enough that you will look into the problem of why the clock blinks.

>I have an 03 4Runner with the original battery in it located in
> Florida. The car has about 33,000 miles on it and is kept in a garage
> most of the time. Should I expect that the battery is about to die, or
> will they go longer than three years?
>
> Thanks in advance, Sue
 
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