1997 Camry Sport battery hassle

Hi,

I doubt the battery is faulty. But some or maybe most alarms monitor the voltage of the battery when you set the alarm. If say a door is opened then there is a current drawn by the bulb that comes on when door is opened to assist passengers getting in the car. This drop can me less than a few MA that's 1000th or one amp.

if maybe the battery is nor well or fully charged, you may get a volts drop at the terminals because of it maybe being slightly higher voltage after just switching the engine off. That was the SET voltage the alarm saw.

What happens if the alarm goes off like you say after some period and you reset the alarm at lets call it the level it dropped to to set the alarm off.

Will the alarm stay set as usual then.

I know when you get a new battery it may need a full over night charge. Do u have a Battery tester a Hydrometer to measure Specific Density. I just recently changed a battery on a Ford for a friend but non of the cells showed a full charge from the shop.They took 12 hours to come fully up,

The rating is 70AH means you could draw 1 amp for 70 hours 2 amps for 35 hours and so on.

The 250Amp is I think the cranking availability for the starter load.

That's just my 2cents.

Don't have a battery tester. Battery is a no maintenance type with a window showing different colour depending on charge (green ok, white not ok, etc.)

Once the alarm as gone off (it must be the battery alarm because I cannot shut it off and it starts 20 mins after I shut engine down and lock up car) it stops after 7-10 minutes of its own accord. Yet I feel sure I could leave it for a week without using it, and start it ok.

However previous battery just died on me without all the beeping tantrums of this alarm. I don't use the car that much and had been using it once a week or so. Then one day the previous battery failed to turn over engine. Hence I bought a new one. Now this wretched alarm annoys me and neighbours 20 minutes after I park.

I have seen this happen on other people's cars, BMW springs to mine, so it must be a common problem.

I may take it back to the garage to get them to test its charge state. However, could I not recharge using the alternator on a long drive?

Hi Don,

Yes ok it will charge up on a long drive to some extent. But a good overnight would be better.

Ok on the Window colour.

Well I have a 1995 CAMRY 4 cyl 2.2 litre. Owned since new.

My battery on there lasted 9 and a half years yes 9.5 years. It just died. No low battery no signs but one cell was way low.

It still showed the BLUE window saying all was ok.

I wonder just out of interest. Did anyone check the electrolyte level in the battery. I take it they are all ok?

Maybe just for the hell of it check the connectors on the battery. There will be the usual 2 heavy wires but maybe a smaller one direct to the alarm. Has that been connected WELL.

Just a thought. Some times its the simple things Don.

Cheers Johnny UK

Johnny

The window colour is green, but then the battery has just been purchased new from dealer for £52. Plus they charged me £5 to dispose of my old battery!

Not sure the electrolyte level in the battery can be checked as it is a sealed no maintenance battery with just the window (which only checks one cell). I think the only way to check such batteries is by testing the voltage (this is probably what my car is doing and then wasting more power beeping at high decibels for 7mins to tell me its at a low level). I will get the dealer to do this for me.

Of course my alternator could be faulty (this is what the dealer said when I asked for a new battery). But I figured the battery was at least 4+ years old and I needed to use car immediately, so decided to get a new one.

I suppose I could install a battery switch to disconnect the battery. Don't know how easy it would be to do this.

Don wrote:

====================== That would not be the best idea. You will lose your radio presets, clock setting and any stored computer drivability settings. Here's probably more than you ever wanted to know about batteries:

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Couple of suggestions: Just buying a "new" battery, does not mean you're getting a "new" battery. There is a manufacturing date coded on the battery - usually "A" for January and so on. If the battery is first placed into service more than six months after the manufacture date, chances are sulfation has already begun to develop on the internal battery plates, and reduced the battery's ability to store a full electrical charge. Second, most technically oriented purchasers prefer a battery design where water can be added. Many of the "no maintenance" batteries actually have caps that can be pried off. Sounds like yours does not. On a personal note, I once had one of those fully sealed batteries explode, so I never purchased another after that. Was a full size Cadillac. Came out of a store, turned the key to start, and boom. No real damage apart from the battery, because I was able to rinse down the acid quickly. I can only surmise an internal short occurred. Third. If the new battery has created problems you didn't have before, I would suspect the battery. If your alternator is not charging, you will see a "charge" indicator on the dash. The most common alternator problem in Camrys with over 150,000 miles, is simply worn brushes, which can be purchased for apx. $20 (USD). Check on the Internet, or in your owner's manual to determine the necessary capacity required for the battery for your car. I like to use a temperature compensated hydrometer by Ez Red, cost around $20 (USD) online, to check the state of charge of each cell, and then use a battery charger as required to see if the battery can be brought back up over night. This is also a convenient way to see if a single cell is marginal. But you cannot do this with a sealed battery. All you can do is check the voltage with a digital multimeter. I believe the Exide articles (exideworld.com - above) give some guidance on what the readings should be to determine battery condition. This is probably not what you want to hear, but sometimes you just cannot get satisfaction from certain establishments that are more focused on sales than serving customer requirements. You may just wind up buying a different battery elsewhere. When they've sold you one item which you sensed was not correct, and now the next solution is to sell you another item, I get very suspicious.