daughter has 2000 Toyota Avalon, purchased it used June from local mechanic. He said car was perfect car for college student - battery has been dying, gone through 2 batteries in 2 week period, contacted AAA 10+ times to jump car now 1.5 months after the last new battery has been installed the car has died again. The electric door locks won’t unlock, the car won’t start so AAA came again jumped her and we brought it to a Toyota dealer this round. The dealer looked at the car and said that the battery the other mechanic installed wasn’t up to Toyota standards and that she needs a stronger battery. So they have replaced it. I think this is crazy… they said the alternator was fine and there was no short but I truly believe there is something hidden somewhere. PLEASE give us some direction as my daughters focus needs to be on studying not on her car. She goes to school full time, has a full time social life, does community work and holds a job. The least I can do for her is help her over this car hump. I think I should get rid of this awful omen and get her a ford explorer… the men in our lives (mechanics, fathers, husbands, boyfriends, uncles) all say that the Toyota Avalon is the BEST CAR to get her. I so disagree.
Thank you so much for your guidance.
There are numerous threads here for batteries dying, and you would be well served doing a search for them.
Batteries have a CCA (cold cranking amp) rating. If the CCA rating of the battery you did have wasn’t up to par, then the dealer was right, and it needed the “stronger” battery. Other than that, the statements were … well, crap.
If it’s dying that quickly, you have something not shutting down when the car’s turned off. You can start by watching the voltage on the battery as you pop fuses, to determine which circuit it is. Once the faulty circuit is located, then you have to troubleshoot to figure out which device is causing the problem.
You’re sure something silly like the trunk light, glove box light, dome light, etc, isn’t staying on, yes?
Yes there are a lot of things that can do this. You need to do a parasitic draw test on the vehicle…using a voltmeter…and then pulling fuses to see when the load decreases to ID the circuit of the offending Amp Vampire.
You can look the procedure up on the internet…its not hard to do…just detailed…
You can also do a quick and dirty test and pull the HOT wire off the alternator…and see if the batt stops dying on you. Alternators are a common source of amp draw. But certainly not the only one… You REALLY need to do the test of all of your circuits… You need a voltmeter…a fuse puller…and patience… I feel that anyone could actually do the test if they just tried. Give it a shot…something is draining your battery…its not Black Magic finding it… Go for it…
Blackbird