Battery life

[jraiderr]

Help...I'll try to be brief....my 17 year old son had knee surgery Mon. He asked me if I would get him Mcdonalds for breakfast today.....to get him out of the house I told him to come with me. I needed some stuff from B.J's wholesale club by the Mc D's and he could sit in the Sequoia and eat while I run in. I turned off the engine to save gas, and the kid listened to the radio while I was gone...not very long. When I got back dead battery....Sequoia won't start...but radio still works. The sequioa is a 2003. It will be 3 years old on Thanksgiving. Do I need a new battery? What kind?

On another note a friend has a Sequoia also (newer than mine), and he says he has run the battery down, and not had it start too. Is this a common problem?

I did not take a cell phone with me, had no jumper cables with me, my son had no shoes on, and my 2 year old in a car seat had no shoes on. Taught me a lesson on "running somewhere really quick".

I asked the man working in the B.J.'s tire center if he would jump me...he called customer service and asked if anyone could...he was putting tires on. They said that they had no one available to jump me....I was just in the store it wasn't busy! After all the gosh darn money that I spend in there. I just asked the guy if he could loan me the cables. I brought the cables to the truck and my son (no shoes and on crutches),and I are trying to open the hood. A young guy at the vavoline oil change place next door sees us comes over and tells me that he will jump us, he told me to put it in the truck in neutral and he would push it back so he could get his car infront of mine.
He then got his car and jumped me......I tried to give him ten dollars and he wouldn't take it....what a nice guy (kid). My next oil change will be there...after I get a new battery.

[devillar]

jraiderr,

Sorry to hear you had such a bad experience. Do you park your Sequoia outside over night in the winter or in the warm garage? The reason I ask, new batteries in cars do not seem to last as long as the after market kind. Also, the battery being exposed to hard winters in Clevland may have had some bearing on it (just a guess). Two years is all I have ever gotten out of batteries installed in new vehicles. There are some new super batteries out there. I do not know which one to advise you on getting but, let us know what you do get. I am sure that I will be replacing my batteries next year.

Originally Posted by jraiderr

Help...I'll try to be brief....my 17 year old son had knee surgery Mon. He asked me if I would get him Mcdonalds for breakfast today.....to get him out of the house I told him to come with me. I needed some stuff from B.J's wholesale club by the Mc D's and he could sit in the Sequoia and eat while I run in. I turned off the engine to save gas, and the kid listened to the radio while I was gone...not very long. When I got back dead battery....Sequoia won't start...but radio still works. The sequioa is a 2003. It will be 3 years old on Thanksgiving. Do I need a new battery? What kind?

On another note a friend has a Sequoia also (newer than mine), and he says he has run the battery down, and not had it start too. Is this a common problem?

I did not take a cell phone with me, had no jumper cables with me, my son had no shoes on, and my 2 year old in a car seat had no shoes on. Taught me a lesson on "running somewhere really quick".

I asked the man working in the B.J.'s tire center if he would jump me...he called customer service and asked if anyone could...he was putting tires on. They said that they had no one available to jump me....I was just in the store it wasn't busy! After all the gosh darn money that I spend in there. I just asked the guy if he could loan me the cables. I brought the cables to the truck and my son (no shoes and on crutches),and I are trying to open the hood. A young guy at the vavoline oil change place next door sees us comes over and tells me that he will jump us, he told me to put it in the truck in neutral and he would push it back so he could get his car infront of mine.
He then got his car and jumped me......I tried to give him ten dollars and he wouldn't take it....what a nice guy (kid). My next oil change will be there...after I get a new battery.

[Johnnny Rock]

Originally Posted by jraiderr

Help...I'll try to be brief....my 17 year old son had knee surgery Mon. He asked me if I would get him Mcdonalds for breakfast today.....to get him out of the house I told him to come with me. I needed some stuff from B.J's wholesale club by the Mc D's and he could sit in the Sequoia and eat while I run in. I turned off the engine to save gas, and the kid listened to the radio while I was gone...not very long. When I got back dead battery....Sequoia won't start...but radio still works. The sequioa is a 2003. It will be 3 years old on Thanksgiving. Do I need a new battery? What kind?

On another note a friend has a Sequoia also (newer than mine), and he says he has run the battery down, and not had it start too. Is this a common problem?

I did not take a cell phone with me, had no jumper cables with me, my son had no shoes on, and my 2 year old in a car seat had no shoes on. Taught me a lesson on "running somewhere really quick".

I asked the man working in the B.J.'s tire center if he would jump me...he called customer service and asked if anyone could...he was putting tires on. They said that they had no one available to jump me....I was just in the store it wasn't busy! After all the gosh darn money that I spend in there. I just asked the guy if he could loan me the cables. I brought the cables to the truck and my son (no shoes and on crutches),and I are trying to open the hood. A young guy at the vavoline oil change place next door sees us comes over and tells me that he will jump us, he told me to put it in the truck in neutral and he would push it back so he could get his car infront of mine.
He then got his car and jumped me......I tried to give him ten dollars and he wouldn't take it....what a nice guy (kid). My next oil change will be there...after I get a new battery.

2 to 4 years is normal depending on how cold your winters are. I am not 100% sure on this but I was once told that there are only 2 battery company's in the USA with many different names on them all. I personally don't like Sears battery's (DIE HARD). I have had very good luck with Interstate Battery's, they make a battery called the(Megatron Plus, take a look here:http://www.ibsa.com/estore/search.as...HH6V3D71A&js=1 ) and I got 4 years out of that battery and I would say that's pretty good especially here in Jersey we have cold winters and hot summers and Battery's hate quick changes in temperature and lately that's been how it is here in New Jersey hot one day and cold the next. I have a second battery in line with the original in the back of my truck because of all the stereo amplifies I have drawing a lot of power all the time. My second battery is a gel cell battery, Take a look here: http://www.1st-optima-batteries.com/ Now this Battery is the best battery you can get, it's a little pricey but I think it's well worth the extra cash. As soon as my stock battery is 2 years old I am going to put a second one in. Instead of me typing out all the reasons why it's a great battery you can just go to the web page and read it all yourself but it's definitely the best battery you can get by far. Hope this helps you out, Johnnny

[jraiderr]

Thanks very much...I will research these batteries and get a new one before winter. My Sequoia is always parked in the garage...but we do have harsh winters here in northern Ohio.

[Johnnny Rock]

Originally Posted by jraiderr

Thanks very much...I will research these batteries and get a new one before winter. My Sequoia is always parked in the garage...but we do have harsh winters here in northern Ohio.

The garage is why you got the lesser amount of time out of your battery. Battery's hate quick change in temperature and keeping your truck in the garage gets the battery nice and warm then you go drive out in the freezing cold weather and the battery gets cold. So, if I where you I would get a high end new battery for your Sequoia. Johnnny

[KLS]

Johnson Controls and Exide are the two huge battery makers, and there are a few smaller makers. Both companies produce for many private label retailers and distrubutors, and some companies (Wal*Mart) may switch suppliers from time to time, or may use both suppliers. Both battery makers make a range of qualities, depending on what their wholesale customers want for quality and cost.

Interstate batteries are made by Johnson Controls. So are Costco Kirkland. So are Optima. NAPA are made by Exide, as are Wal*Mart in this region.

I'm going on five years from my Tundra OEM Johnson Controls battery. I'll probably replace it with an 84-month warranty Kirkland battery--half the price or less of an Optima and much more than half the life.


Ken

[Johnnny Rock]

Originally Posted by KLS

Johnson Controls and Exide are the two huge battery makers, and there are a few smaller makers. Both companies produce for many private label retailers and distrubutors, and some companies (Wal*Mart) may switch suppliers from time to time, or may use both suppliers. Both battery makers make a range of qualities, depending on what their wholesale customers want for quality and cost.

Interstate batteries are made by Johnson Controls. So are Costco Kirkland. So are Optima. NAPA are made by Exide, as are Wal*Mart in this region.

I'm going on five years from my Tundra OEM Johnson Controls battery. I'll probably replace it with an 84-month warranty Kirkland battery--half the price or less of an Optima and much more than half the life.


Ken

Here's all the Battery info anybody should need. Johnnny