Camry car battery draining after a few weeks

My 2002 Toyota Camry runs and starts fine except if I go away for a
few weeks, the car battery is completely dead when I return. First
time, I replaced the battery. Second time, I took it into the dealer
who checked the electricals said it was fine and that I had tightened
the battery terminals well enough. Now it's happened again.

Question: will the clock and security system light drain a battery in
3 weeks? Should I disconnect the battery if I go away?

wrote:
> Question: will the clock and security system light drain a battery in
> 3 weeks? Should I disconnect the battery if I go away?

It's in relation of using and not using this car. The best way is to
disconnect the battery.
There are some backup accumulators for connection on cigarette lighter
on the market which provides power to backup radio and other devices to
not loss memory.

If you use this car only for short drips a extern charging from time to
time to charge this battery full would help.

That's the same problem that I have with my Chrysler Voyager, so I turn
interior lights of and allowed only go on during night times.

Regards,

Ralf
--
www.omnibusclub.de
Erfinder des Abgasturboladers Dr. Alfred J. Büchi: "Die Abgase,
deren noch inne-wohnende Energie bis dahin vergeudet wurde ..."

> wrote in message
ups.com...
> My 2002 Toyota Camry runs and starts fine except if I go away for a
> few weeks, the car battery is completely dead when I return. First
> time, I replaced the battery. Second time, I took it into the dealer
> who checked the electricals said it was fine and that I had tightened
> the battery terminals well enough. Now it's happened again.
>
> Question: will the clock and security system light drain a battery in
> 3 weeks? Should I disconnect the battery if I go away?

I have the same problem with one of my cars...In my case, the residual drain
of current from the battery is only about 30-40 milliamps, USUALLY.
Apparently,
some system-as yet unidentified - activates occasionally and drains the
battery.

You can install a battery cut off switch, cheap at WalMart, and disconnect
the
battery as needed.

Fixing this sort of intermittent fault can be troublesome. I have ordered a
new
VOM which will allow me to monitor the residual current constantly and
record
the maximum current drawn over a period of time. Eventually, this will let
me
ferret out the offending system.

On May 29, 6:45 am, wrote:
> My 2002 Toyota Camry runs and starts fine except if I go away for a
> few weeks, the car battery is completely dead when I return. First
> time, I replaced the battery. Second time, I took it into the dealer
> who checked the electricals said it was fine and that I had tightened
> the battery terminals well enough. Now it's happened again.
>
> Question: will the clock and security system light drain a battery in
> 3 weeks? Should I disconnect the battery if I go away?

In modern cars there is a LOT of electrical activity still going on
even when ignition is off. Clock of course is one example, but there
are many other drains now. It is like modern TV sets- they draw a lot
of current whenever they are plugged in, not just when set is "on".
This activity will drain a battery in a few weeks.

As someone else said, you need to either add an aftermarket switch, or
charge the battery somehow between usage. The battery switch is not
the greatest, as a lot of computerized settings will be lost and car
will not drive as well, and all of your radio station presets will
disappear.

The car will drive differently, because modern engine control
computers store info on your driving style and optimize settings to
it.

On May 29, 9:45 am, Don Stauffer in Minnesota >
wrote:
> On May 29, 6:45 am, wrote:
>
> > My 2002 Toyota Camry runs and starts fine except if I go away for a
> > few weeks, the car battery is completely dead when I return. First
> > time, I replaced the battery. Second time, I took it into the dealer
> > who checked the electricals said it was fine and that I had tightened
> > the battery terminals well enough. Now it's happened again.
>
> > Question: will the clock and security system light drain a battery in
> > 3 weeks? Should I disconnect the battery if I go away?
>
> In modern cars there is a LOT of electrical activity still going on
> even when ignition is off. Clock of course is one example, but there
> are many other drains now. It is like modern TV sets- they draw a lot
> of current whenever they are plugged in, not just when set is "on".
> This activity will drain a battery in a few weeks.
>
> As someone else said, you need to either add an aftermarket switch, or
> charge the battery somehow between usage. The battery switch is not
> the greatest, as a lot of computerized settings will be lost and car
> will not drive as well, and all of your radio station presets will
> disappear.
>
> The car will drive differently, because modern engine control
> computers store info on your driving style and optimize settings to
> it.

Thanks very much for your quick and helpful reply. I do have a trickle
charger. But don't I need to disconnect the battery to use it (thereby
losing the presets and settings annyway)?

On May 29, 9:45 am, Don Stauffer in Minnesota >
wrote:
> On May 29, 6:45 am, wrote:
>
> > My 2002 Toyota Camry runs and starts fine except if I go away for a
> > few weeks, the car battery is completely dead when I return. First
> > time, I replaced the battery. Second time, I took it into the dealer
> > who checked the electricals said it was fine and that I had tightened
> > the battery terminals well enough. Now it's happened again.
>
> > Question: will the clock and security system light drain a battery in
> > 3 weeks? Should I disconnect the battery if I go away?
>
> In modern cars there is a LOT of electrical activity still going on
> even when ignition is off. Clock of course is one example, but there
> are many other drains now. It is like modern TV sets- they draw a lot
> of current whenever they are plugged in, not just when set is "on".
> This activity will drain a battery in a few weeks.
>
> As someone else said, you need to either add an aftermarket switch, or
> charge the battery somehow between usage. The battery switch is not
> the greatest, as a lot of computerized settings will be lost and car
> will not drive as well, and all of your radio station presets will
> disappear.
>
> The car will drive differently, because modern engine control
> computers store info on your driving style and optimize settings to
> it.

Thanks very much for your quick and helpful reply. I do have a
trickle
charger. But don't I need to disconnect the battery to use it
(thereby
losing the presets and settings annyway)?

wrote:
> Thanks very much for your quick and helpful reply. I do have a
> trickle
> charger. But don't I need to disconnect the battery to use it
> (thereby
> losing the presets and settings annyway)?

Be careful with electronic charger. Some of them providing a electric
impulse to charge and a damage of vehicle electronic may result!
Only with a normal charger - transformer and rectifier, charging without
a disconnect.

Regards,

Ralf
--
www.omnibusclub.de
Erfinder des Abgasturboladers Dr. Alfred J. Büchi: "Die Abgase,
deren noch inne-wohnende Energie bis dahin vergeudet wurde ..."

> wrote in message
oups.com...

> Thanks very much for your quick and helpful reply. I do have a trickle
> charger. But don't I need to disconnect the battery to use it (thereby
> losing the presets and settings annyway)?

A trickle charger can be a good interim solution. Even they can damage
batteries over long usage.

For extended use of a charger I have sometimes put a small 12V lamp,
such as a trouble light, in series with the charger so that the current
is limited to the battery.

For example, if you wanted to limit the total short circuit current to a
battery
to a half amp, you would use a 12 volt lamp in the range of 6-7 watts (or
the nearest
reasonable value). This simply keeps a positive bias on the battery and
will
counteract most normal key off current draw.