2011 4Runner Battery Issue

[supernovax3]

My mother has a 2011 4Runner that has been having a lot of battery problems lately. She's only put about 13,000 miles on it, but the battery drains very quickly. There have been a number of times where she has had to get jumpstarts, without having left the headlights on or any obviously-draining things. Do you think it's an electrical problem, a bad battery, or what?

 

[Stuart]

That actually seems to be a common issue with that model year. I would suggest taking it to the dealership, since it has such a long mileage and is relatively new car.

 

[toyotasrule]

For a 2011 take it to a dealership for sure. However, what do you mean the battery drains quickly? That is, when the engine's not running and you leave your lights and/or your radio on ... that type of thing? I know you said that it's not those things in your post, but otherwise that would be a "lack of recharging" issue (alternator) ... or a "not holding a charge" issue (battery).

 

[tbplus10]

Yea I have to agree take it to a dealership.
With new vehicles it's gotten almost impossible to leave something on when you park the vehicle and remove the keys, many of them have automatic lighting and power sensing technology that simply stops things like this from happening.
Your moms 4Runner either has a relay thats not properly turning off or a bad battery.
The battery can be confirmed with a charge and load test and a relay staying on could be confirmed by testing battery draw with the ignition off, unfortunately it wont tell you system is draining the power, for that they'll need to do further testing.

 

[Yoda2]

Take it to the dealership if for sure. Even if it's something as simple as a faulty battery, they'll replace it free of charge. If it's the alternator - they should be able to fix it within a day.

 

[Loves2Ride]

Supernovax3- Have you done anything to fix the battery yet on your Mother's 4Runner? Was it the alternator or just the battery causing the problem?

 

[supernovax3]

Thanks for all your advice guys! I told her to take it to the dealership. I believe it's a "not holding a charge" issue, but we'll see when she takes it down there. Hopefully it's something as simple as the battery being bad!

 

[Loves2Ride]

Thanks for all your advice guys! I told her to take it to the dealership. I believe it's a "not holding a charge" issue, but we'll see when she takes it down there. Hopefully it's something as simple as the battery being bad!

Did she take it to the dealership and was it a bad battery?

 

[supernovax3]

She did, and it was a faulty battery (at least according to them). They replaced it so hopefully there won't be any more issues.

 

[Darrin]

That's how I also take batteries whenever I got issues with them. To start, you should first consider how old the battery has been. I replace mine every two or three years because that's the supposed lifetime of a car battery. If not and they're not able to give the power their supposed to be, I just consider them as bad batteries. Look, car batteries are really dispensable and are not expected to last more than 5 years unless you change their contents every now and then.

 

[TruckRider]

She did, and it was a faulty battery (at least according to them). They replaced it so hopefully there won't be any more issues.

Does the issue on battery doesn't occur anymore? hope so