Is there a problem because I have had replaced 3 batteries within 5 years? The guy at the Toyota dealer took a look at my car and said nothing wrong with the alternator. And he said it’s OK with battery!
What is the symptom that occurs that makes you replace the battery?
Has anyone checked for a parasitic draw? Also, diodes are common to gobad on those alternators. Make sure he’s using a good machine that checks voltage, amperage, and diode pattern. Ive replaced many with no battery light on. Usually, if the diode I’d bad, you’ll hear a droning noise. Anything under 100 milliamperes Is not anissue. Today’s cars have lots of ecus that need powered up. The old rule if thumb was 50-60 ma tops. On a newer Sienna, I’ve seen 160 ma as normal.
Milliamperes as a parasitic draw. Also, check for trunk lights, map lights being left on. Also, how often us the car driven and in what climate? Heat crushes batteries and if you don’t drive it enough, your battery will die. You may want to consider a trickle charger Or a solar charger that sits on the dash. That’s what Toyota uses on their training vehicles.
Actually it might be okay. It depends on when the batteries went bad. The 1st one could have been sitting on the car for 3 months on the lot prior to sale and would go bad quickly. Then 2-3 years for the 2nd and 3rd depending on usage style and climate might not be that odd. If you have a parasitic draw, the battery will drain relatively fast. Did they really check the alternator?
The first time it happened was a year ago; the car wouldn’t start when I left the Office Depot at 7pm. The AAA insurance guy helped restart it. Then I went to the Auto zone and the guy at the store used a device to measure alternator current and he showed me something wrong with it. After that I went to the Toyota dealer and the advisor guy showed me nothing wrong with the alternator all number measured were good. A month ago, the temperature suddently became too hot; in addition, I turned the engine on and off a couple time while waiting in line b/c I didn’t want my car ran idle engine; it wouldn’t restart and had to buy a new battery.
It would be nice to know if the shop checked for excessive AC ripple voltage which can be due to bad diodes in the alternator. You can still have good DC voltage when that happens and things would seem to be ok. A savy tech knows to check for that possible issue. Make sure that the AC voltage is less than 0.1 volt AC while the engine is running around 1,500 RPM.
When you say the first time, the car wouldn’t start, do you mean it would crank “rrrr rrrrr” but not catch and run? Or do you mean it wouldn’t even crank?
When you say the temperature became too hot, do you mean the air temperature where you live was hot that day, or do you mean the engine coolant temperature was too hot ? Do you mean engine overheated while you were waiting in line at a fast food restaurant? If so, that shouldn’t happen, and it could be a problem with the electric radiator cooling fan control. Does the radiator fan spin like a banshee in this situation?
If when you say it won’t start, you mean it won’t crank, that could be the battery, but it could be some other things. Bad connections, a bad engine ground, or even more likely is a problem with the ignition switch, starter motor selenoid, or neutral saftey switch.
160 milliamp draw is FAR from acceptable
I’ve worked on many different brands over the years, and NO factory service manual ever said that 160 milliamps is acceptable
Far too high in every manufacturer’s book
I have had the same battery in my 09 Camry since it was new. My 99 kept it’s first battery for 5 years. Short trips and turning it off and on will drain it. Also, make sure the post connections are clean. I put the red and green felt washers under my posts to keep the battery from corroding the cable connectors.