[Andrew bussey]

Has anyone come across a 2022 sienna that has to be jump started almost every morning - especially in the cold? Dealer couldn’t recreate the problem when we brought it in. Is there something that we are doing that is draining the battery? It’s not the lights we are militant about making sure the dome/map lights are off.
thanks,
Andrew

 

[pamhar]

Anything plugged into 12V slot?

Any mods [dash cam, hitch, etc.]?

Any items staying plugged into usb ports [tablets, phones, etc.]?

 

[Sienna9816]

There's a TSB mentioned in one of the threads with similar battery issue. A few people (4 - 6??) here had their batteries replaced because they were faulty from the get go, or died prematurely within months. I say get a 2nd battery check from Autozone or others.

I would tell dealer to keep It until they fix it. You shouldn't have to look for solutions yourself. You should get a loaner too.

I hope you get it sorted out soon.

 

[Vanfam12345]

Depleted 12v Auxiliary Battery TSB

I've seen a few complaints about 12v Battery rundown conditions. Some may be due to events that occur, others may be due to the ECU not properly powering down to a standby state. TSB #16 for 2021 software might apply.

www.siennachat.com

 

[Andrew bussey]

There's a TSB mentioned in one of the threads with similar battery issue. A few people (4 - 6??) here had their batteries replaced because they were faulty from the get go, or died prematurely within months. I say get a 2nd battery check from Autozone or others.

I would tell dealer to

Anything plugged into 12V slot?

Any mods [dash cam, hitch, etc.]?

Any items staying plugged into usb ports [tablets, phones, etc.]?

Thanks for the input. We don’t have anything plugged into the 12v slot.

woulda drained 12v battery prevent the car from starting? Ie is there just one or two batteries? I feel dumb asking this but I can’t find details on the batteries.

thanks

 

[pamhar]

Think you've exhausted anything on your side so like others have said press on dealership especially since there is TSB as mentioned.

 

[Sienna9816]

You're right. There are 2 batteries. First is the Traction or High Voltage battery that is used to drive the car as needed. These are under two front seats. The 2nd is the traditional 12V battery that is used to power the computers that manage the drivetrain. For reasons that are beyond my purview or understanding, Toyota needs 12V battery for the car to function normally.

 

[Andrew bussey]

Depleted 12v Auxiliary Battery TSB

I've seen a few complaints about 12v Battery rundown conditions. Some may be due to events that occur, others may be due to the ECU not properly powering down to a standby state. TSB #16 for 2021 software might apply.

www.siennachat.com

You're right. There are 2 batteries. First is the Traction or High Voltage battery that is used to drive the car as needed. These are under two front seats. The 2nd is the traditional 12V battery that is used to power the computers that manage the drivetrain. For reasons that are beyond my purview or understanding, Toyota needs 12V battery for the car to function normally.

Thanks a lot - it would be worth mentioning that the first month we had the vehicle it had to go back to the dealer twice for what turned out to be a bad speed sensor (the dealer doesn’t like us at this point). This appears to me to be a condition described in the TSB (battery unattached to install accessory). Would that be a correct assessment?

 

[Andrew bussey]

Think you've exhausted anything on your side so like others have said press on dealership especially since there is TSB as mentioned.

I wish I could! As a carpenter I feel uniquely unqualified to figure this out. The dealer has however thrown their hands up. They have zero ideas other than “you keep leaving your lights on”. They are saying it’s our issue and we have to take responsibility.

 

[Alabama XL40]

Battery has to be bad or something along those lines. We have not had problems with the Sienna battery, but I’ve had to replace "new" batteries in new vehicles before. Manufacturers use the smallest and lightest battery possible to start the vehicle, and if the battery is damaged somehow in transit (froze, dropped, defective, etc) it may struggle to produce enough cold crank amps to start the vehicle. I had a Subaru Outback battery that the dealer insisted was fine, would recharge it, and the vehicle wouldn't start the next day. This went on for a while. I eventually bought a new battery from Autozone and never had another issue. I suggest, if your dealer refuses to help as you say, buying a new fresh battery to see if that solves the problem. If the van is still failing to start, then you know that you have some type of parasitic draw on the battery or other electrical issue which unfortunately the dealer will have to solve.

Two other general things I just thought of that can cause a small draw on the battery: the key being stored near the van, or leaving a door or the rear hatch open for a long period of time (even if interior lights have turned off).

Good luck trying to solve this issue. It's very frustrating when any car, but especially a new car, has trouble starting.

 

[Andrew bussey]

Battery has to be bad or something along those lines. We have not had problems with the Sienna battery, but I’ve had to replace "new" batteries in new vehicles before. Manufacturers use the smallest and lightest battery possible to start the vehicle, and if the battery is damaged somehow in transit (froze, dropped, defective, etc) it may struggle to produce enough cold crank amps to start the vehicle. I had a Subaru Outback battery that the dealer insisted was fine, would recharge it, and the vehicle wouldn't start the next day. This went on for a while. I eventually bought a new battery from Autozone and never had another issue. I suggest, if your dealer refuses to help as you say, buying a new fresh battery to see if that solves the problem. If the van is still failing to start, then you know that you have some type of parasitic draw on the battery or other electrical issue which unfortunately the dealer will have to solve.

Two other general things I just thought of that can cause a small draw on the battery: the key being stored near the van, or leaving a door or the rear hatch open for a long period of time (even if interior lights have turned off).

Good luck trying to solve this issue. It's very frustrating when any car, but especially a new car, has trouble starting.

Thanks a lot. I appreciate your thoughts. I’ll keep those things on the table!

 

[leolizroy]

The dealer is not being imaginative in my opinion. My first impulse is to talk to the dealership owner and arrange to swap cars with him for a few days, or asking him about your state's lemon law.

What is needed is to monitor what power is entering and leaving the battery over time. Devices like this are cheap and have minimal impact on your car's electrical system
DC 0-300V Battery Monitor Meter Capacity Voltage Ammeter Coulometer+Hall Sensor | eBay

It may be necessary to run a video camera in time lapse mode to get the full story.

BTW I recall a story with a dealer being unable to diagnose a similar problem. The cause was traced to the car being parked on a steep driveway which triggered a hood or trunk light to run the battery down.

 

[wscan]

I wish I could! As a carpenter I feel uniquely unqualified to figure this out. The dealer has however thrown their hands up. They have zero ideas other than “you keep leaving your lights on”. They are saying it’s our issue and we have to take responsibility.

It is pretty hard to leave things on that will drain the battery. Put the headlights in AUTO mode. The car will then control them and shut them off automatically. The interior lights are automatically shut off after a period of time (about 30 minutes) even if you leave the doors open. This is not enough to run the battery down so it won't start. The 12 volt outlets and the USB outlets are not powered when the car is off. You either have a bad battery (people have had bad batteries replaced) or there is something that is draining the battery. As mentioned above, there is a TSB regarding possible battery rundown after the battery was disconnected and reconnected. I am not sure whether this applies to 2022 models or not.

 

[circus]

My 89 Olds would drain the battery in a couple days. Removed one of the battery wires and series spliced in a tiny 12v bulb. It glowed slightly while pulling fuses and disconnecting components zeroing in on the circuit containing the drain. Then the bulb would stop glowing. In the Olds case it was the radio.

 

[Andrew bussey]

It is pretty hard to leave things on that will drain the battery. Put the headlights in AUTO mode. The car will then control them and shut them off automatically. The interior lights are automatically shut off after a period of time (about 30 minutes) even if you leave the doors open. This is not enough to run the battery down so it won't start. The 12 volt outlets and the USB outlets are not powered when the car is off. You either have a bad battery (people have had bad batteries replaced) or there is something that is draining the battery. As mentioned above, there is a TSB regarding possible battery rundown after the battery was disconnected and reconnected. I am not sure whether this applies to 2022 models or not.

Thanks for your input. The trouble is that the dealer can’t recreate the problem. They say that they have ‘tested the battery’ and it checks out alright. In conversations with other toolkits dealer mechanics, even they aren’t clear as to what that means as there seem to be a lot of different things you could ‘test the battery’ for. I dont have those answers because the dealer that we are working with hasn’t given us any documentation as to what they have done beyond ‘tested the battery’.
Also unclear as of yet if the TSB for 2021 hybrid siennas could apply to 2022 hybrids.

 

[Sienna9816]

How far are any other Toyota Dealers?

Or for the sake of it, ask them to put in a new battery to see if it solves the problem. New one might be 100-150 may be?

 

[janeandrea39]

Has anyone come across a 2022 sienna that has to be jump started almost every morning - especially in the cold? Dealer couldn’t recreate the problem when we brought it in. Is there something that we are doing that is draining the battery? It’s not the lights we are militant about making sure the dome/map lights are off.
thanks,
Andrew

Yes! I am having this exact issue. We have had it for 3 months now and the last couple weeks have been hell!

 

[janeandrea39]

Yes! I am having this exact issue. We have had it for 3 months now and the last couple weeks have been hell!

We have about 8000 miles on it and all the sudden it has been not starting.. I go out open the sliding doors with the button; so they auto open just fine. Put my kids in. Go to close the doors; by the button and it won’t close. Go to start it lights and sounds but won’t start. The dealer replaced the battery earlier this week then it happened again. They kept it this weekend and I am going to go back and fingers crossed they find something but I’m afraid they won’t. We have been through making sure no lights are left on and nothing plugged in. We have also stopped keeping the key fob inside the van because the dealer believed that could cause an issue. I disagree with that though because we leave it in the car because we have a garage and have done that ever since we got it and never had an issue until recently.

 

[Vanfam12345]

They might need to replace the DCM

 

[wscan]

We have about 8000 miles on it and all the sudden it has been not starting.. I go out open the sliding doors with the button; so they auto open just fine. Put my kids in. Go to close the doors; by the button and it won’t close. Go to start it lights and sounds but won’t start. The dealer replaced the battery earlier this week then it happened again. They kept it this weekend and I am going to go back and fingers crossed they find something but I’m afraid they won’t. We have been through making sure no lights are left on and nothing plugged in. We have also stopped keeping the key fob inside the van because the dealer believed that could cause an issue. I disagree with that though because we leave it in the car because we have a garage and have done that ever since we got it and never had an issue until recently.

There is a DCM software update that applies to vehicles made approximately before January 2021. If your vehicle was built in 2020, the DCM can cause the battery to run down if it loses the cellular signal. It then fails to re-aquire the signal and keeps trying. running the battery down.