Leave your lights on?

I'm afraid your tailgate parties will have to be short. The accessories run off of a relatively small battery. They are not connected to the big battery system.

 

No, the battery will drain. But the headlights will turn off if you turn the car off and open the driver's door and close it.

 

Kevin -

I actually "drained" the auxillary battery once already. I didn't fully read the manual and turned the car on in the "ig-on" to listen to the cd-player while I was out doing some yard work. After about an hour the music stopped and the dash display had the red triangle lit up. The car started o.k. and then I figured what I did wrong. I have since had the cd-player on with the car in "acc" mode with no problems.

So the answer to your question appears to be yes - the car is smart enough to keep enough reserve in the battery.

 

Well, I managed to leave my lights on while at work one day a couple of weeks ago. (Don't ask how. Please.) Ten hours. The car was dead, dead, dead when I was ready to leave, and I had to have it jumped.

I phoned the free Toyota service that comes with the car, and they were fairly helpful and prompt. Be aware, however, that the guy thought I'd have to get the car jumped directly to the small battery in the back of the car. I thought I recalled that the manual indicated that you could do this from under the hood, and I confirmed that while waiting for the tow truck to arrive. (Thank God!! With the battery dead, I couldn't unlock the hatchback to open it and wouldn't have been able to get to that battery anyway!!!)

It was difficult for the guy to attach the jumper cables to the appropriate spots on the engine -- the connections are kind of crowded in the locations the manual recommends, particular the positive connection -- but he managed. It may be worth finding some smaller clamps to use in the future. It started right up once he got everything connected, and I haven't had any problems since. But be aware that you CAN drain that battery enough to prevent you from starting the car.

Paul
'04 Tideland Pearl
Columbia, Missouri

 

wow! isnt that kinda unusual that it discharged after only 10 hours? i've left it on a couple of times when i got home and it worked fine the next day, that was about 16 hrs. but good to know that there really is a risk of discharging the battery.

 

I was listening to the CD player in mine while waxing it today - my solution was just to leave it fully powered-up. Since the engine shuts off when not needed, there wasn't really any difference, and no chance of running the battery down.

One other note that may be helpful - there's a manual release for the rear hatch, but it's under the removeable rear flooring section down where the spare tire is. It's a bit difficult to get to, but it may be a help incase you ever need to get the back hatch open without power.

Dave.