ALL POSTS - 12-volt battery replacement

^^^ Yes I agree. Scheduled for the week after the lease runs out assuming I buy as planned.

Too late. Car did not start this morning. Battery at 5.6 volts does not really work. :roll:
Toyota towed it away for a warranty battery replacement.

Reset my clock to 24 months for next replacement.

Shoreline Blue EV said:

Does this one from BatteriesPlus sound good?

X2power group 35 (ascent battery supply llc)
SLI35AGMDP

AGM w/deep cycle
65ah

$264

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That seems a lot more expensive when compared to the competition (AGM / 60ah / Group 24F). It might even be the same Enersys battery as the Bosch, Exide, and Sears Platinum, just with another sticker on it.

Amazon has this available:

Exide Edge FP-AGM24F Flat Plate AGM Sealed Automotive Battery
by Exide

Was $225.00
Price: $163.75
You Save: $61.25 (27%)

There is a $20 rebate available through 31 August 2016.

"Exide Edge FP-AGM24F Flat Plate AGM Sealed Automotive Battery
Bosch S6508B S6 Flat Plate AGM Battery
The two above batteries are identical, except for superficial color and markings."

Yes, both batteries are made by Johnson Controls Inc (JCI) and are identical. Shop for the best buy.

Goes for most car batteries, too. If the specs of two brands are identical, then there's a 99% chance that they're made by the same company. JCI batteries come under more than 50 brand names. Some ARE custom made for a client, but if for example, you see the same specs for an Interstate, Everlast, Kirkland, Walmart, Sears, Autozone, Duralast,Advance Auto Parts, Autocraft, Western Auto and even a number of OEM batteries like Toyota, Ford and BMW they most likely came off the same factory line with only the labeling different.

AGE of battery does matter, so check the date of manufacture and get the newest one.

mickeymammoth said:

I got this error the other day, and it restarted after 5 tries. But I think I'll replace the starter battery. Can anyone (Tony) tell me the best method to do this so I don't inadvertently brick the car?

Ramona

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Replacing the 12V battery is quite simple. The hardest part is getting to the bolt under the front plastic piece.
See the 12V Battery replacement thread here. The AGM battery shown at that link is highly recommended and is available from a couple sources with different branding.

I replaced the battery today with the Exide Edge FP-AGM24F Flat Plate AGM Sealed Automotive Battery, and it's a little taller than the old one. I was not able to get the j bolt to extend through the hold-down bracket hole. Has anyone else experienced this? I'm planning to get a new j bolt; I might have to get the 12" one and cut it down. The j bolt I have is 9 3/8" in actual length; not sure if a standard 10" version includes the length of the bend, so that's why I think I might need a 12". Annoyed!

The Bosch version fits (I've installed a bunch of these) and the sister battery with Exide branding are identical except for color.

60ah / AGM / Group 24F

mickeymammoth said:

I replaced the battery today with the Exide Edge FP-AGM24F Flat Plate AGM Sealed Automotive Battery, and it's a little taller than the old one. I was not able to get the j bolt to extend through the hold-down bracket hole. Has anyone else experienced this? I'm planning to get a new j bolt; I might have to get the 12" one and cut it down. The j bolt I have is 9 3/8" in actual length; not sure if a standard 10" version includes the length of the bend, so that's why I think I might need a 12". Annoyed!

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You most likely don't have the J-Bolt re-installed in the correct position. The hook of the J could engage in different ways. Play around with it before the battery is in place to see what I'm talking about. I just checked a picture of my Bosch AGM installation, and it appears that I had more than 3/4" of extra thread left on mine. In fact, the front side which is at the bottom of the picture and is not adjustable, is a little loose. See below.

The Exide battery looks just like your picture, but there was no finessing the j bolt. The j bolt came free during the installation, so I have no way of knowing if we put it back right. But there only seemed to be one location to hook the j onto that I could see (hole in metal tab extending from the plate below the pan). It was a little hard getting the negative connector up and over the terminal, so the battery did seem a little taller in general. I don't discount that we did something wrong, but I hesitate to uninstall it now 'cause I'm afraid I'll mess something up.

Take a flashlight and look behind the battery. There is a flat tab with a vertical hole that you probably put the J-bolt through.
This is wrong.

The proper hole is horizontal about an inch to the right (passenger side) and slightly higher to the flat tab. The hole itself is hard to see because it is horizontal.
So go look again.

I initially made the same mistake.

Oh and BTW if you want warranty work done at Carson Toyota the morons will require replacement with an OEM battery.
Well they did on mine last summer. And then could not even diagnose the issue. $200 later and my vehicle is not fixed.

smkettner said:

Take a flashlight and look behind the battery. There is a flat tab with a vertical hole that you probably put the J-bolt through.
This is wrong.

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OMG, you are right! We looked and found the correct tab, and now the bolt fits fine. In our defense 1) this other tab is not easily visible 2) Some previous mechanic had used the wrong tab on the old battery, and since that battery was like 1/8" shorter, it JUST fit for them. The correct tab also makes the whole battery more secure. Thanks for the info everybody! Now let's hope I don't get the Check EV System error again...

Hi Guys,

Well, I have bad news. Lately I noticed a rotten smell inside the rav4 ev's cabin. It was like mllk or rotten eggs. Unfortunately I had spilled some milk inside the rav4 ev a few weeks ago and I thought this was the culprit... but I was wrong.

It turns out the lead acid battery was cooking? Or something, and the smell was getting in to the rav4 ev's cabin through the air vents... blowing through the air outlets inside the cabin when turned on. Today at night I tried to turn the rav4 ev on and the thing wouldn't budget, just struggle. I asked for a jump start and surely enough the rav4 ev started.

Then I noticed a small amount of acid spilled on top of the battery where the vents/openings are (TO check for its fluids I think) and I then understood what was that smell. It was the lead acid. Shortly after turning on the rav4 ev it started to sizzle or gurggle. I herd something inside boiling or sizzling or gurgling. My guess is that fluids in the lead acid got low and due to the over night camping I do in the rav it just compounded the problem.

I believe for the last 3 days or so? I had been exposed to the fumes getting into the cabin all the time thinking it was the milk I had spilled some time ago. I'm not sure what to thing. I noticed the hood had some gaskets that are supposed to seal the motor area from the air ducts but either these don't work ro toyota is just bad at design.

I need to take the rav4 ev in to the shop now and I wonder how much they will charge for another lead acid battery? Yet I feel like I should try and agm battery since if this happened once it might happen again and I don't want to sleep with lead acid fumes.

Then there is my health as a concern. Not sure what to think. I believe this had been going on for the past 3 nights. I looked up the symptoms and I don't believe I got any. Though I did feel a slight bit weak on my hip joints, but I had been doing a lot of athletic activity and I do have an old hip injury that flares up. Life has just sort of been a mess.

I need some advice ....

Symptoms from breathing in the poison may include:

Bluish skin, lips, and fingernails
Breathing difficulty
Body weakness
Chest pain (tightness)
Choking
Coughing
Coughing up blood
Dizziness
Low blood pressure
Rapid pulse
Shortness of breath

I have no health insurance. No blueish skin anywhere though I had felt some weakness but again lots of activity and life had been a mess so things were a bit out of order. I did catch a bit of a cold that I had been working through with greenish phlegm, but that was at least from what I recall earlier than the rotten smell came up.

No health insurance.

I hate the fact that this issue came up at the same time I had spilled some milk inside the rav4 ev. I just thought... 'It's that milk I spilled' and was gonna get to cleaning the area that I thought had it. This just makes me feel bummed out and frustrated. It's like, you are trying to get things straight and right then things just come up to you out of nowhere and beat you down.

I feel like if toyota does replace the lead acid with another lead acid I might end up with the same issue. Plus I do recall lead acid batteries do vent fumes anyway. Seeing that the fumes leak into the cabin even with a good lead acid there has got to be some fumes coming in already.

I never had any issues with my battery, but I noticed the state of charge was pretty low when I had Jdemo installed. At my next service visit I mentioned that I had to jump start the car. They checked the battery, found it was low, and replaced it for free. The replacement has a two year replacement guarantee. So I plan to take it in every two years for a check.

I'm still under 36k miles and I have the platinum extended warranty. Depending on your mileage this should be covered by the 3/36 bumper to bumper warranty.

Thanks I have the extended warranty too so if the lead acid battery change is covered by the warranty then it should cost me zero. I am thinking on taking the rav in and have them rel\place the lead acid then dropping by at pepboys and getting a Bosch Platinum Series AGM Battery Group, Size 24F though pepboys is telling me that the one for my car is a size 35 instead of 24

https://www.pepboys.com/product/details/838890/00836

https://www.pepboys.com/product/details/838876/00836

They tell me the 35 has more power than the 24 but looking at the specs that doesn't seem to be true. I wonder if the lied is there just so they can sell me the 35 because they searched my car and said the 35 is the only one listed for it .

I want to take the rav in first to the dealer and have them replace the lead acid so they can clear any trouble codes the car might have with the battery. Then I want to put in the agm. That way next time I take the car and they pull codes out it hopefully won't say there is some issues with the lead acid and see an agm then say... oh that's not the right battery, can't service you.

It seems that agm also does fume if over charged. instead of acid it gives you oxygen and hydrogen. so I guess it won't poison me just explode if the fumes end up trapped inside the cabin or inside the motor compartment. well if that happens then you guys know why the rav4 blew up

hopefully is has an air vent tube. I don't see an air vent tube on the lead acid from toyota that I have right now. it must have vented through the watering holes I guess? if it had an air vent on the lead acid I could possibly settle for the new one just MAKE SURE the sucker has an air vent hose and it leads to outside the rav4.

Toyota's engineers suck. I can't believe the fumes from the motor compartment get in through the air ducts of the fan system. SO DISAPPOINTED and can't possibly be safe.....

I have seen the rav4 converter take the battery voltage up to 14.7 volts (measured at the cigarette lighter)
I would say that is asking for troubles.
I also think that the "short" battery life of our originals batteries are due to overcharging.
I have a fairly recent pickup 6 years old, and it still has the original battery (35k miles). I has all kinds of "phone home" electronics that keeps drawing power 24/7
I did put a 1.5watt Solar charger on the dash to keep the battery a float.
But measuring the charging voltage, i've never seen it go beyond 14.2V

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per this quote at http://www.myrav4ev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1738&start=30 I am wondering if this will be an issue for the bosch battery? I camp out and leave the rav4 ev on at night so if the rav4 ev is going to be over charging the bosch battery it might just kill it. does anyone know if the voltage is lowered once the battery is fully charged? I hear 13.something volts is ideal for having the battery hooked up for long hours.

Don't listen to idiots. Anything in the 14 volt range is perfect any time the DC to DC converter is active.

I DO NOT RECOMMEND HAVING THE DEALER REPLACE YOUR BATTERY (unless it's free, under warranty). The only thing they will put in there is another crappy Toyota battery.

Get the Group 24F AGM Bosch. Period.

With all the spilled battery acid (that you are smelling) under the hood, remove the old battery, use some water to make everything wet, then put baking soda on any area you suspect of having this corrosive acid.

There may be some spray CAN battery cleaners, too, but you need to neutralize the acid.

When the baking sofa is done bubbling, rinse everything off.

Then install shiny new Bosch battery.

Done. Go back to camping.

Try not to deep cycle this new 12 volt... when you are camping with 12 volt items on, make sure the car is in READY (or plugged in and actively charging). That is the only way the 12 volt stays topped off, and conventional style car batteries NEED to be kept fully charged for long life.

Carson Toyota would perform no warranty diagnostics until they had replaced my two week old Bosch group 24 AGM.
Just over $200 later Carson says the vehicle is fixed. It was not.

The nice folks at Irvine Toyota actually looked at the vehicle and found the gateway computer was bad.

smkettner said:

Carson Toyota would perform no warranty diagnostics until they had replaced my two week old Bosch group 24 AGM.
Just over $200 later Carson says the vehicle is fixed. It was not.

The nice folks at Irvine Toyota actually looked at the vehicle and found the gateway computer was bad.

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Well, I'd take the battery back to Carson.

Hi Tony,

Thank you I will be sure to get he deep cycle agm I should have listened earlier and picked it up so I could have avoided the fume sleeping fiasco. That was terrible and poisonous. I can't believe the fumes were pulled by the fan unit from the motor compartment.

I think if the dealer will replace the battery for free under warranty I'd like to have them put in their new lead acid battery then I can go to pepboys and get the bosch then sell the new battery on the side for some cash.

Do you use the vent pipe? With what happened with this lead acid there is no way I would want hydrogen and oxygen in the motor compartment to build up much less in the passenger cabin like how it did now.

cashcow said:

Do you use the vent pipe? With what happened with this lead acid there is no way I would want hydrogen and oxygen in the motor compartment to build up much less in the passenger cabin like how it did now.

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I'm not sure what you mean by, "do I use a vent pipe".

Your fried battery is likely a situation where you let the cells get too low on acid, which caused it to get hot, which caused the exaggerated release of hydrogen and other gases.

Anyhoo, I think you'll be happy with the Bosch.