# Highlander Hybrid Battery **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Created:** [May 23, 2008, 6:54pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/highlander-hybrid-battery/14365 "2008-05-23T18:54:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jbreinign](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e0b2c6/32.png) [@jbreinign](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jbreinign)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 6:54pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/highlander-hybrid-battery/14365/1 "2008-05-23T18:54:05Z")
I was told by a dealer service manager to disconnect the battery cable if the car was going to be unused for two weeks to avoid the battery draining. I am concerned they just didn’t want to check for a drain. ---
**Author:** ![SteveF](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/stevef/32/2_2.png) [@SteveF](https://community.cartalk.com/u/SteveF)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 7:09pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/highlander-hybrid-battery/14365/2 "2008-05-23T19:09:41Z")
Why should they check for a drain? You haven’t mentioned any problems. Two weeks is not long enough to drain a healthy battery in a healthy car. Still, not everyone’s car will pass such a test. Therefore it may be a sound idea to disconnect the battery before your trip. If you are indeed having known problems with a discharged battery, provide the details. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://community.cartalk.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 7:49pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/highlander-hybrid-battery/14365/3 "2008-05-23T19:49:48Z")
To clarify, the dealer is probably talking about the conventional 12-volt battery, not the hybrid battery pack. Modern cars, especially one with as much fancy stuff as your Highlander, have a lot of electronic devices that draw a little bit of current even when the ignition is off. It’s nowhere near enough to drain the battery during typical use, but if you’re letting the car sit for a while it will eventually drain the battery and leaving the battery discharged for a long period of time can damage it. This is true of any car, hybrid or not. That said, I think it’s a little overkill for two weeks. If it was two months I’d say definitely do it, but over two weeks, it probably won’t even drain, let alone damage the battery. ---
**Author:** ![circuitsmith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/circuitsmith/32/40376_2.png) [@circuitsmith](https://community.cartalk.com/u/circuitsmith)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 8:27pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/highlander-hybrid-battery/14365/4 "2008-05-23T20:27:17Z")
If the Highlander is like the Prius then yes, you should disconnect the auxiliary battery if not used in 2 weeks or more. The Prius aux battery is a small sealed lead acid battery. It’s smaller than a regular car battery because it normally does not have to start the engine. See page 8 of this link: [http://www.autoshop101.com/forms/Hybrid03.pdf](http://www.autoshop101.com/forms/Hybrid03.pdf)