Battery performance

Anonymous · February 1, 2004, 18:17

Hi from a new member.
I recently (september) bought a silver roadster as a retirement present to myself and good lady. It's almost 3 years old, (april), and we love it. It's our 3rd toyota. We traded our 3.5 year Yaris in against it. I also had a 10 year old Celica which I sold privately after I retired last April. BUT the MR2 battery is giving cause for concern. I have had to call out the RAC twice due to it being flat, once after it had sat for 4 days, and the last time ,(today) after sitting for 5 days. The car is the SMT model and I am wondering if the extra electronics are causing the problem. The dealer has checked it and can find nothing wrong, and today a very nice RAC man put his meter on and declared it healthy. It does look much smaller physically than the battery in my Celica and I wonder if Toyota have gone for a unit that is on the small side. My Celica used to sit outside in Aberdeen while I was offshore for 2 weeks at a time and started no problem when I got back.
Can any body advise if they have had similar problems

Anonymous · February 1, 2004, 19:50

The 2's bat normally works fine i leave mine somtimes weeks without starting and it starts first time

But i rember from one of the meets when installing an apexi that the SMT has a pump for the gear box and that this was pumping when the engine was off ! but i think it was normall but should only do it when cooling down obvoisly as the engine isnt on !

But i may have this wrong s:? :? s:?

best thing is to get Mr T to have a better look and see if any Electrical divise like the alarm is drawing more current than it normally dose!, this will cause a flat battery

mph · February 1, 2004, 19:53

Never had any battery-related problems. I don't the consider the battery to be small - a piccy of your engine bay + battery would quickly clear that up.

The only thing that tends to eat the battery is if you're cleaning your cars for hours on end and constantly close and open the driver's door. Opening the driver's doors triggers the SMT hydraulic pump (which is electric) so it's ready for when you try and start up.

Anonymous · February 1, 2004, 22:15

Cheers for the replies. I'll be on to Mr. T tomorrow. This definitely can't be right. s:(

s:( The cars has had a run to the very North of Scotland from Glasgow which should have topped the battery right up.
I'll keep you posted.
I loved my Celica, but this wee beauty is soooo different, a cracker. s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Tem · February 2, 2004, 06:32

I had my battery on the car for over 2 months once and it was fine after it. I have two guesses, either something is draining the battery or it has never been fully charged in the first place.

Check the drain. Turn off the car, remove the positive terminal and put an ampere meter between the battery and the cable (do NOT start the car with this).

Check the charge when the car isn't running. Measure the battery voltage, should be more than 12V. Then put some load on it, like the driving lights and the voltage should stay above 12V if everything is in top condition.

If you only use the car for short runs, it might not have enough time to ever really fully charge the battery...

(you don't have any huge stereo installs or anything..?)

Anonymous · February 2, 2004, 06:56

Quote from: "Tem"(do NOT start the car with this).

s:lol: :lol: s:lol: Oh boy, I can picture what would happen if you tried. Yeah. Don't try that one at home.

Peter Wright · February 2, 2004, 08:21

Quote from: "Gordy"had sat for 4 days, and the last time ,(today) after sitting for 5 days.

I had a similar problem when I first got mine, I would leave it in the garage for a week or so and when I tried to start it the battery was flat, this went on for 3 months untill I asked the garage to sort it out
The problem was that I would leave the key in the ignition this apparently puts the car in standby mode using a small amount of power
as soon as I got out of this habit problem solved

This was also covered here m http://www.mr2roc.org/viewtopic.php?t=1274&highlight= m

Anonymous · February 2, 2004, 13:15

Phoned dealer this morning, RESULT!
s:D

s:D The car is in awaiting a new battery. Apparently they get it quicker if car is 'VOR', (vehicle off road), new battery should arrive tomorrow.
So, a fresh start? Fingers crossed. BTW, this is a very nice site, good to get such a lot of helpfull and quick replies.
Many thanks.

heathstimpson · February 2, 2004, 20:10

Quote from: "phil4"
Quote from: "Tem"(do NOT start the car with this).

s:lol: :lol: s:lol: Oh boy, I can picture what would happen if you tried. Yeah. Don't try that one at home.

Exactly what I was thinking s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Anonymous · February 3, 2004, 17:35

The new battey is fitted so stand by for updates. I'm just back from collecting it after a whiz up the Campsie Hills. This wee beauty is as much fun as my motorbike, and thats saying something.

Anonymous · August 18, 2004, 20:27

Quote from: "Gordy"Cheers for the replies. I'll be on to Mr. T tomorrow. This definitely can't be right. s:( s:( The cars has had a run to the very North of Scotland from Glasgow which should have topped the battery right up.
I'll keep you posted.
I loved my Celica, but this wee beauty is soooo different, a cracker. s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

s:wink: :wink: s:wink: Hi Gordy, I am having the same problems with my battery (I've had 5 in the last 18mths) mine is an SMT I call her Black Beauty. I 've had the regional tech from Toyota out and he says that it's not being used enough, but like you I've had other Toyotas and never had this problem with them. I have just got a flat battery again this morning after a Celica battery was put on 3 mths ago. It is certainly something that needs looking at very seriously by Mr. T s:!: :!: s:!: Please let me know how you are getting on now

Anonymous · August 18, 2004, 21:21

Quote from: "blackp100"I 've had the regional tech from Toyota out and he says that it's not being used enough

How little do you use your 2 then s:?: :?: s:?: I have to wonder as mine hardly moves during winter & i have had no problems. The only time my battery went flat was when the interior light was left on for a week. It recharged & i have had no problem again since. Another toyota excuse s:?: :?: s:?: s:roll: :roll: s:roll:

Anonymous · August 19, 2004, 00:16

Right, the new battery has been in 6 months now with no problems, so I would suggest the previous one was goosed. I had to leave the beloved 2 for a month while I toured France on the bike so I contacted the garage re disconnecting the battery. This time it was the service manager I spoke to and he strongly recomended disconnection saying that 2 batteries were notorious for going flat after a few days standing idle! He said it was the type of alarm fitted that caused it. It is used mainly in convertibles and is a radar(?) microwave type which must use more current. By the way the 2 will be going on the same type of tour next month, Pyrenees ahoy!

Tem · August 19, 2004, 07:10

Quote from: "Gordy"He said it was the type of alarm fitted that caused it. It is used mainly in convertibles and is a radar(?) microwave type which must use more current.

Bullpoop s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

I have a Cobra with a dual microwave radar (first one gives a warning if you get too close, 2nd triggers full alarm) and other extras. Tried to kill my battery for an excuse to get a new smaller one during one winter, but it was just fine after a bit over 3 months. Even started the car just fine after that. And I still don't have the small battery s:cry: :cry: s:cry:

Anonymous · August 21, 2004, 09:00

The SMT models may be more prone to battery problems. My hydraulic pump cuts in when I unlock the doors, so in the winter an already cold, low battery is going to get a fair old load on it before it tries to start the engine. Maybe Mr T should have looked into setting it up to wait until the engine was running before the pump kicked in. The theory in the garage was that many of the 2's are second or fun cars and therefore don't get used as much as normal. Mine only had 9,500 miles on it when I got it last September, (2.5 years old!)

SteveJ · August 21, 2004, 10:37

Quote from: "Gordy"Maybe Mr T should have looked into setting it up to wait until the engine was running before the pump kicked in.

Not possible as the SMT ECU has to verify that the clutch is fully depressed and neutral selected before it will allow the engine to turn over for safety reasons.

filcee · August 21, 2004, 21:06

Also the manual advise leaving the SMT 'in gear' (1st or reverse) when parking. Therefore the first job would be to disengage the gearts/select neutral - which will require the gearbox to be 'up and running' before the engine is turned over - see SteveJ's comments above.

Anonymous · August 22, 2004, 14:05

DOH s:oops: :oops: s:oops: