Highlander Hybrid, Running Down 12V Battery Options

[chang26k]

I have the same problem with the car not starting and the headlights on and the remote won't unlock or lock the car. But the headlights were shinning bright and this happen in 2006. I thought it was no bigie because everything worked in about 15 mins.

However, it just happened again today and now I am concern. The same thing happen, the headlights were on and the remote won’t operate the door lock or unlock. Since I experience the problem before, I play around with all the door, lights, radio, AC and anything else that could be using the battery and shut it off. Still noting happened. After thirty minutes of this, I left the car alone and relaxed for 30 mins. Then the car started right up and I was on my way home.

I wasn’t too worried about this until I read these posts because I thought that someone would know how to fix this problem. But now I’m worried because I just called the 800 number and the lady I spoke with said “this is the first problem like this” and “it’s a hybrid, they have a mind of its own and it very well could lock you out”. But the answer is that she has no answer just like the rest of us. But my problem is that I don’t have a dead battery like you guys but experiencing the same thing.

Thanks for reading.
Chang

[condor2007]

I share your pain. My 2007 HH won't start sometimes and the mechanics at the dealerships don't know how to fix it. It is in the shop right now and I will be anxious to hear what they say it is wrong. I suspect that Toyota has a hard to solve problem for the mechanics because it is a design flaw with the battery, starting and engine immobilizer system. Some young engineer back in Japan put in a low cost but unreliable system.

[condor2007]

Lisa,

Was the problem with your HH ever resolved? I have a 2007 HH and yesterday for the third time in 7 months it did not start. It was towed to the dealer again. The car was used the day before and we are in Cal.

[Chris267]

Hi:

I have similiar problem with out 2008 hybrid Highlander - been jumped 6 times in about 15 months. Last weekend it died during a trip after my daughter went into the car to "rest" for 45 minutes while on a ferry! could not get it to start by jump this time.

The dealership mechanic feels that the drain on the battery is due to the key being sensed and some electrical being turned on solely by your having the key within the vehicle (my wife and daughter of ten leave the key in the car (why, I don't know?!) Obviously, we have had many other cars - but we've never had a similiar problem (we are not always forgetting to turn off lights, etc.

We'll have to see how this progresses.

Chris

[ToyCarOwner]

I became a member of the society last weekend thanks to my 2008 THH's 12V battery going out on me. I was parked without the engines running and but the fan on. This might have been the proverbial "last straw", but I guess the first indication was that the mileage had started going down and could not get it above 24 MPG (our average was 27+ over 15K miles) after the previous refuel.

Anyways, as I was trying to start the car after the running the fan for about 30 minutes, I noticed the display flashing warning messages about he SRS airbag system and the brake system malfunctioning. Soon the display behind the steering started blinking and the indicator light on the power button refused to go green. I called AAA and the guy measured the battery power level to be around 8V and 330CCA (should have been around 650 CCA). His diagnosis was that one of the cells was completely dead and probably leaking. According to him even after jump starting it, I cannot expect the battery to recharge and would probably end up calling AAA again. In the end I ended up buying a battery from him for $115. One thing he did mention was that he has been replacing a lot of batteries of new Toyota cars. Which is why I googled and came up on this forum.

I am planning on taking the battery to a local dealer and file a complaint.

Jay

[dougster01]

Greetings Members of the Dead Battery Society,

I started this thread in March 2008. I am happy to announce that our 2006 Hybrid Highlander hasn't had the "mysterious" dead battery problem in well over 14 months. We've had the HH for almost 4 years now. Bottom line: the "Dead Battery Society" problem on our 06 HH simply went away. I am anxious to hear if others had this problem, and it eventually disappeared.

- You all may want to read the post by FredG from January?? It is probably on page 3.

Note: Here is the data on our "dead battery" situation on our 06 HH:

1. Our 06 HH started having the problem prior to 12,000 miles (at 17 to 18 months of operation.
2. Toyota installed the 4th new 12volt battery on the car at 23K miles.
3. The problem became more frequent after 18,000 miles (after 24 months of operation).
4. Problem disappeared at 33 months of operation, at approximately 30K miles.
5. 06 HH is almost 48 months old, have 39K miles on it. I think we might have had to jump start the HH once within the last 15 months.

Doug