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2003 Toyota Camry V6 - Slow Starting

My Camry has been great until today.

My wife went out to start it today and it wouldn't start...cranked 'slowly' and no start. By the time I got home the battery was drained. I jumped the battery and it started right up. I took it to work at about 1PM and at 5PM I came out to start it and it was slow to start...cranked for about 5 seconds before it caught. It seemed to be cranking slower than usual.

I'm thinking about a new battery but I'm not convinced this is the problem. On the other hand, I think my wife only tried 4-5 times to start it before she called me and I told her to leave it alone until I got home. Battery was definitely drained when I got there. It sure acts like a weak battery.

Finally we checked all of the lights, doors, etc for being left on/open and as far as I can tell it wasn't sitting all night with the dome light, etc on....I'm not too sure I think a 2.5 year old battery should fail this early.

Will a weak battery cause the car to start slowly?

Reply to
rjkbob
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Yes. A common failure mode on all cars happens when the terminals on the battery develop an invisible layer of corrosion. You need to take the terminals apart and use a wire brush (inside and outside versions for the old style connectors). Just because the terminals look good doesn't mean they will work well. Put them back together and include felt washers under them soaked in grease and coat the terminals with grease to keep out the air, water and acid.

Reply to
Stubby

Yes, a weak battery can do that. Especially when you charged the battery and started the car right up.

2.5 years is way too short for a battery. They should last several years without problems. That said, I simply change it out at 5-6 years no questions asked. A weak battery puts a lot of strain on the alternator (trying to charge a battery that won't take a charge) and can cause the much more expensive part to fail early.

Do clean the contacts and check that all cable bolts are tight. Besides an early battery failure, check the alternator charging voltage. It should be about 13.5-15 volts. You can have a good battery that's not being charged properly. Also check the alternator belt tension. A few days ago one owner posted a problem with the automatic tensioner pulley in a TSB warranty repair (that may only be the 4 cyl's problem). Check to see what type of warranty you have on that battery.

rjkbob wrote:

Reply to
johngdole

also have a 2003 v6 and had a similar problem. From the sounds the car made when we tried to turn it over, I thought maybe I should have the started checked out. Turns out it was the battery. Maybe the 2003 just drains the batterys harder than most cars. I say this because I just replaced a battery on my 1997 Honda civic and it was the stock battery. That thing almost lasted 10 years, the last 5 being started at subzero temps in the winter, not bad! So I wonder about the camry and its electricity usage. We have the LE and even with that there is enought electrical stuff that will pull hard off the battery. I can imagine if you have a higher model what it might do.

Reply to
runsrealfast

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