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Changing Battery Issues

11K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  KSNancy 
#1 ·
Hi everybody,

Yesterday afternoon I had the battery on my 2010 RAV 4 Sport changed after the old one started to give me trouble.

After the battery was changed I noticed that the car runs good but the Check Engine and Slip Indicator lights come on. Cruise control disengages after a few minutes of usage too.

I reset the Check engine and Slip indicator light with my OBDII scanner but both lights come back on after a few miles of usage. The code that I got was related to the car running to lean.

What could be wrong? Or should I drive it more so the computer re adjusts itself ? I have only driven it like 5-10 miles since the battery was changed

Thanks in advance
 
#2 ·
Somebody reversed the polarity on the jumper cables. If you're lucky it's just a couple of blown fuses.
 
#3 ·
I would try disconnecting the negative battery cable for a few minutes then reconnect and drive it. This will reset everything. I know my Corolla acted real bad when I changed the battery. It idled real rough, even stalled for the first 2-3 hrs before it was normal again. I never had that happen before but it happens....
 
#5 ·
Kev the reason for that is when you disconnect the battery, the ECM loses all it's parameters that have been stored up. The ECM goes back to the default parameters and it takes time for it to "learn" and adjust everything back to normal. For example, over time you will get deposits in the throttle body and the ECM constantly adjusts the parameters to compensate. When the ECM is reset, it goes back to the factory parameters when everything was new and the throttle body was perfectly clean. Same thing happens with the TCM. The adaptive transmission has to re-learn shift points and other parameters.
 
#4 ·
Another 1&DONE OP?
 
#6 ·
Isn't there a gizmo that we can use to keep 12V in the system while changing the battery? How about clipping a spare 12V to the cables, in parallel, while removing the old battery?

In my case, two of the electrical sockets are always live. A cig-lighter connected to a 12V battery, plugged in. Wouldn't that work?
 
#8 ·
I'd also considered supplying supplemental 12v current at the battery cable terminals when I will need to replace the battery on my RAV.. Would using a battery charger set to 12v work? And if so, what should the charger amps output be?
 
#9 ·
Jim, I found the doo-hickie.

http://www.amazon.com/9-Volt-Battery-Computer-Memory-KASTAR/dp/B00AZA28F0

It uses a 9V alkaline battery which is enough to retain memory while removing the car's battery. It is good for about nine minutes.

In my experience with my car battery chargers they can vary output, so I would not use one for this purpose.

You might need to make your cig-lighter live when the ignition is off.
Junebug has a page showing how to do that here. I made my console outlet and rear outlet live by using a 'chair' connector (with the back cut off) to jump the circuit he points to. It works perfectly.
.
 
#10 ·
Jim, I found the doo-hickie.

Amazon.com: 9-Volt Battery Computer Memory Saver-by-KASTAR HAND TOOLS: Automotive

It uses a 9V alkaline battery which is enough to retain memory while removing the car's battery. It is good for about nine minutes.

In my experience with my car battery chargers they can vary output, so I would not use one for this purpose.

You might need to make your cig-lighter live when the ignition is off.
Junebug has a page showing how to do that here. I made my console outlet and rear outlet live by using a 'chair' connector (with the back cut off) to jump the circuit he points to. It works perfectly.
.

Thanks for the info and the links, Pico. I had thought about using a battery charger even though output voltages, etc. vary because the voltage put out by the RAV's charging system itself varies also. I would want to check the charger voltage using a VOM before connecting. But the doo-hickie would seem to work if the socket into which it is plugged is always hot .. .
 
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