volache Posted November 9, 2005 Share Posted November 9, 2005 After dueling with the dealer that I pruchased and brought my '03 Camry for service, I found and located the "case of the die-ing batteries" problem MYSELF. As I suspected there was a electrical draw. [Quick lesson to check for a battery draining power (aka "parasidic draw") when the car is off - by disconnecting the negative battery cable from the negative battery terminal, then hooking up a 12 volt bulb between the disconnected negative battery cable and the negative battery terminal with all switches and all electric turned off including the dome light, if there the test bulb is bright, then there is a constant draw from the battery (which there was). If there is only a very dim light, it is normal.] I removed fuses one at a time checking the light bulb each time to see if it dimmed. When I took out the final fuse (isn't always the last one) the test bulb went very dim which is good, almost no draw. That fuse was for the power seats. In checking the seats my son noticed that the power seat button was out of place and jammed in the "on" position! Apparently someone either jammed something between the door and seat or something caused it to break, but there is was - the switch "on" drawing down the battery, even when the key is out! The Bad News, the dealer on Sunrise Highway, in Amityville on Long Island NEVER checked the electrical system or this quick check as they wrote up in the service order and insisted that I buy a replacement battery from them. Friendly advice, do NOT buy from or bring your Toyota for service to a certain Toyota dealer on Sunrise Highway, in Amityville on Long Island, that is near the ATLANTIC ocean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leighcm Posted November 9, 2005 Share Posted November 9, 2005 After dueling with the dealer that I pruchased and brought my '03 Camry for service, I found and located the "case of the die-ing batteries" problem MYSELF. As I suspected there was a electrical draw. [Quick lesson to check for a battery draining power (aka "parasidic draw") when the car is off - by disconnecting the negative battery cable from the negative battery terminal, then hooking up a 12 volt bulb between the disconnected negative battery cable and the negative battery terminal with all switches and all electric turned off including the dome light, if there the test bulb is bright, then there is a constant draw from the battery (which there was). If there is only a very dim light, it is normal.] I removed fuses one at a time checking the light bulb each time to see if it dimmed. When I took out the final fuse (isn't always the last one) the test bulb went very dim which is good, almost no draw. That fuse was for the power seats. In checking the seats my son noticed that the power seat button was out of place and jammed in the "on" position! Apparently someone either jammed something between the door and seat or something caused it to break, but there is was - the switch "on" drawing down the battery, even when the key is out! The Bad News, the dealer on Sunrise Highway, in Amityville on Long Island NEVER checked the electrical system or this quick check as they wrote up in the service order and insisted that I buy a replacement battery from them. Friendly advice, do NOT buy from or bring your Toyota for service to a certain Toyota dealer on Sunrise Highway, in Amityville on Long Island, that is near the ATLANTIC ocean ← Ouch...thanks for the warning. Any chance it could be a simple mistake, or is this standard operating procedure for them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevelaw Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 Ye who hail from Suffolk County has done some good troubleshooting. Welcome to the board. How many times did you take it to the dealership? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pythonjosh Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 Wow I like that method of problem solving! Never heard of it before, but I'm definitely gonna remember that one. Most dealerships suck, and it's good for us to know which ones to look out for, even if most ppl here aren't in the area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fidgits Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 Thanks for the advice! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TooLate Posted December 6, 2005 Share Posted December 6, 2005 Sounds like good information but in the meantime with the daily high temps in the low 20's, are there any caveats (sp) to putting a battery "maintainer/trickle charger" on to keep the batt up until the Dx can be performed? Hurry...she's agoin fast! Before it's... TooLate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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