What’s going on with my 21? (Battery)

Hello. For about two or so months, I’ve had some battery issues. Now, part one is what I know what was wrong. One of my battery terminals was horribly corroded. I cleaned it but the battery was bad. So I replaced the battery. I then replaced one of the connections from battery to truck. Everything looked great. Worked fine, until JUST now. I stopped at a gas station and my truck sputtered, but started.

What is going on? Any ideas?

The pic shows my battery which seems to be “less than ideal.” The thing is about a month old. Battery condition on the outside looks fine. No corrosion.

Anyway, just trying to figure it out before I get stuck somewhere! Thanks!

 

You should probably get your charging system checked. Your alternator may not be putting out enough since you have had one battery replaced and another that seems low.

 

Stop by an Autozone and have them do a test? They also test the alternator. Start with that. Is free

 

First thing I would do is download and see if any pending codes exist. Hard start after a refuel sounds like a purge valve stuck open.

 

What voltage does the battery normally seat at? Mine normally sits at just below 14V but it's a 2017, not sure if the 21s are different

 

Gauge is reading normal. Anything over 12v is charging, 13-14.5v are all totally normal

 

That’s normal, anything over 12.6 is charging

 

@ETXGuy1836 long shot, but does your truck have the flex fuel system by chance?

 

I have a 2021 mine sits at the same spot. I have the original battery came with my truck. I'm the first owner and purchased on July 21

 

What kind of battery did you replace it with? I bought my ‘21 in the dead of winter, they had to replace the battery before letting me leave because it died after the test drive. Dealership of course replaced it with another Toyota OEM battery that lasted about 6 months before it shit the bed. I’m guessing the replacement they put in was also sitting in the cold of a warehouse and had sulfated. As others have said, autozone and other stores will load test your battery and check alternator for free, so long as the employees know what they’re doing it can be a good place to start. Can also check across your positive/negative terminals if you’ve got a multimeter and make sure voltage is correct, but your gauge looks fine.

 

My guess is that you didn’t get the connections at the battery terminals clean enough. Always look at the simple things first then escalate. If you have a multimeter you can do voltage drop test to confirm if you have a poor connection. YouTube voltage drop test to see how it’s done.

Take a picture of your battery terminals.

 

Can you expand on what occurred when the truck sputtered, like you pulled in and it died or died at idle or long cranked and turned on or long crank and didn’t turn on. Then what happened next?

I just replaced my 2021 original battery with a Toyota OEM (been slightly corroded for years now and about due anyways) and had the alternator replaced under warranty at Toyota (50k miles they said it wasn’t charging right, recommended replacement).

 

Just to let you know, there is no such thing as an OEM battery. Toyota doesn’t make batteries. There are only three major suppliers of batteries in the US and resellers just add the stickers for their company. So many shops replace alternators with batteries and the alternators in most situations is perfectly fine. Toyota alternators are very reliable. It’s an easy sale with a good profit margin.

 

No.

 

Hey sorry guys, forgot to check the thread during a busy week! Yeah, I parked. Went inside to get a snack, when I got in to start it up, it just "sputtered" but DID start. I guess a better term was it "struggled to start". It has started and run fine after that. BUT, like I said, I had trouble over the last few months with an old battery, bad terminals, etc.

 

I actually took this that day right after it happened. Sorry, forgot to take the + cover off. It looks good though.

 

I also have to say...I am NOT a mechanic by any means. So it is hard for me to explain this or even understand some of what y'all are saying. haha.

 

All of these 21' batteries going out has me wondering if mine will be on the way soon. When that last polar vortex made it's way south, I did have a couple mornings where it was harder to start.

What's everyone using/suggesting these days as replacements? AGM's worth it? Used to be an Interstate fan, but heard their quality has fallen off as well.

 

I agree with you, but, there is a susipiciously higher number of folks in 20-21's that have had early alternator failure, including me. I know at least 2 others on this forum, plus a couple of people personally with the same issue. It seems there was a bad batch or something. I speculate it to COVID supply chain related.

Also, it was a total PITA to replace. Replaced mine just over 60K.

 

I would start by doing voltage drop tests. It’s pretty easy and can confirm a connection with high resistance.
If you look at the drivers side inner fender you will notice a ground connection. Undo the bolt and check for corrosion.

 

There’s a awful lot of gap on the ground connection in the pic