[Toyo-Drvr]

Hi everyone first time posting.
Just purchased a 2020 rav4 xle premium first of December, first problem, leaving to go to work 5:30 am. no start had a dead battery, I jumped started and about 30 seconds after crank up the engine started to make a rattling and knocking sound so I immediately shut the engine off, and called Toyota road service to haul to the dealer ( 37 miles away ) the rav4 has 1,273 miles on it when this happened.
The service department had the car for 2.5 hours and could not find any problem, the service tech said the rattling and knocking was the high pressure fuel pump and that was normal, the tech said they charged the battery and did not know why it went dead. My question is has anybody experienced a battery drain with there new rav4 ? Fingers crossed this don't happen again, Thanks for any information.

+ 1 for the dead battery issue.

2020 Rav4 Limited FWD Gas
Built 10/19
Made in Japan
No Auto Stop feature
Purchased December 2019
Approx 3,000 miles
No mods, bone stock

It has been a daily driver since purchase. Last weekend I parked it in the garage (40-50 degrees) for 4 days. Key fob was left on a cabinet about 6-8 feet away. On the 4th day, tried to start it, headlights flashed, no start. Checked battery with a Fluke 87 DMM, found 3.7 volts in battery. Disconnected positive cable and slow charged battery overnight. Re-connected battery the next morning and it started with no problem. Took it to the dealer the same day. The performed parasitic drain test, load test and alternator test, found nothing wrong. Service manager said he has seen this issue with other Toyotas, but found no cause. He mentioned that one of the computers may have not shut down when I parked it. Based on the occurrences I have read on this forum, I have to wonder if the key fob's location with respect to the car had something to do with it. No one has ever told me not to leave the fob in the car or too close to it when not in use.

The car doesn't usually sit for more than two days without being driven. The majority of times, the key fob is inside the house and the car is in the driveway. But I have left the key fob inside the car overnight more than once without issues.

Currently, I am experimenting by letting it sit outside for 3 days and checking battery voltage. Key fob is well out of range. I did not check the battery voltage on the day I parked it, but at the end of the first day, it was 12.77 volts. If it has not dropped significantly at the end of the third day, I plan to drive it as normal.

I am very interested to find out what is causing this issue as I am sure others who have experienced it are. Fortunately, the car was in my garage, and I was able to charge it, as opposed to being at an airport or similar, looking for a jump or something.

-Toyo-Drvr

 

[Red Raver]

Does anyone other than me have a lab-grade voltmeter? I'm taking measurements with 0.01 V resolution (Fluke 87). I am measuring the voltage directly across the battery terminal posts.

I also have a current probe (clamp meter), but it can't measure down to the levels needed to see the problem (need mA resolution).

After getting an initial reading of 12.73 V, I compared the reported voltage in the service menu (what the car thinks it is) to the measured voltage directly across the battery terminal posts.

With the engine off (Key in "On" position), I entered service mode. See: How to access the service menu (2020 RAV4 LE)

Service mode: 12.0 V
Measured: 12.44 V

There must be additional activity after you turn off the car and remove the key, as the battery voltage didn't go back to 12.73, but instead jumped to 12.54 V (an increase of 0.1 V).

My next measurement (1 hour intervals) showed the battery voltage had returned to 12.73 V. I would think this means that the activity had stopped and the car wasn't doing anything to draw current. The next few measurements are at 12.71 V.

I'll keep measuring, but this throws some weight to my earlier question- Is there a calibration discrepancy between the measured and actual voltages? Is it important, or does the power management software take this into account?

The trick might be to figure out what the car is doing as it sits with the engine turned off. Also, if the behavior changes if the car is unlocked vs. locked with no detectable key in the area. My measurements are with the car unlocked and the key is (hopefully) out of detection range.

Battery info:
Part number: 380LN3-ISS
20 HR: 65AH
CCA: 603A
Manufacturer or date code(?): TM

The 20 hour rate of discharge spec is 65 A-H, with a Cold Cranking Amp spec of 603 A.

 

[EMartin]

+ 1 for the dead battery issue.

2020 Rav4 Limited FWD Gas
Built 10/19
Made in Japan
No Auto Stop feature
Purchased December 2019
Approx 3,000 miles
No mods, bone stock

It has been a daily driver since purchase. Last weekend I parked it in the garage (40-50 degrees) for 4 days. Key fob was left on a cabinet about 6-8 feet away. On the 4th day, tried to start it, headlights flashed, no start. Checked battery with a Fluke 87 DMM, found 3.7 volts in battery. Disconnected positive cable and slow charged battery overnight. Re-connected battery the next morning and it started with no problem. Took it to the dealer the same day. The performed parasitic drain test, load test and alternator test, found nothing wrong. Service manager said he has seen this issue with other Toyotas, but found no cause. He mentioned that one of the computers may have not shut down when I parked it. Based on the occurrences I have read on this forum, I have to wonder if the key fob's location with respect to the car had something to do with it. No one has ever told me not to leave the fob in the car or too close to it when not in use.

The car doesn't usually sit for more than two days without being driven. The majority of times, the key fob is inside the house and the car is in the driveway. But I have left the key fob inside the car overnight more than once without issues.

Currently, I am experimenting by letting it sit outside for 3 days and checking battery voltage. Key fob is well out of range. I did not check the battery voltage on the day I parked it, but at the end of the first day, it was 12.77 volts. If it has not dropped significantly at the end of the third day, I plan to drive it as normal.

I am very interested to find out what is causing this issue as I am sure others who have experienced it are. Fortunately, the car was in my garage, and I was able to charge it, as opposed to being at an airport or similar, looking for a jump or something.

-Toyo-Drvr

I don’t know anything about cars but from the way mine was behaving a few weeks before the battery died I almost feel like it’s some kind of software bug. A few before it died it seemed that the battery couldn’t stay charged up enough after I shut down the car and restarted it the next time to have enough power to allow the start stop to work. I kept getting “ battery charging” then after it died it almost reset itself and the battery can hold a charge now because my stop start has been working for the past 3 weeks. I’ve been putting my key fob as far away as possible from the car and in a meta coffee because I think it can’t communicate thru the metal. I also took my other fob to my parents house. I doubt that had anything to do with it but I’ll try anything to not have it happen again

 

[EMartin]

Does anyone other than me have a lab-grade voltmeter? I'm taking measurements with 0.01 V resolution (Fluke 87). I am measuring the voltage directly across the battery terminal posts.

I also have a current probe (clamp meter), but it can't measure down to the levels needed to see the problem (need mA resolution).

After getting an initial reading of 12.73 V, I compared the reported voltage in the service menu (what the car thinks it is) to the measured voltage directly across the battery terminal posts.

With the engine off (Key in "On" position), I entered service mode. See: How to access the service menu (2020 RAV4 LE)

Service mode: 12.0 V
Measured: 12.44 V

There must be additional activity after you turn off the car and remove the key, as the battery voltage didn't go back to 12.73, but instead jumped to 12.54 V (an increase of 0.1 V).

My next measurement (1 hour intervals) showed the battery voltage had returned to 12.73 V. I would think this means that the activity had stopped and the car wasn't doing anything to draw current. The next few measurements are at 12.71 V.

I'll keep measuring, but this throws some weight to my earlier question- Is there a calibration discrepancy between the measured and actual voltages? Is it important, or does the power management software take this into account?

The trick might be to figure out what the car is doing as it sits with the engine turned off. Also, if the behavior changes if the car is unlocked vs. locked with no detectable key in the area. My measurements are with the car unlocked and the key is (hopefully) out of detection range.

Battery info:
Part number: 380LN3-ISS
20 HR: 65AH
CCA: 603A
Manufacturer or date code(?): TM

The 20 hour rate of discharge spec is 65 A-H, with a Cold Cranking Amp spec of 603 A.

Since the models that have the auto stop start have a different battery than the 2020s that don’t have them i wonder if it’s safe to say that it can’t be a bad batch of batteries?

 

[undersc0re]

Be nice if you could plug a dummy fuse box into the original and have electronics in it to record any parasitic or any electrical draw at all from each circuit...must be something of the sort out there for these kind of cases. Then maybe it could be narrowed down quickly and fixed for everyone! I guess it could be straight from the battery to the alternator as well...

 

[TSoprano]

Hi everyone first time posting.
Just purchased a 2020 rav4 xle premium first of December, first problem, leaving to go to work 5:30 am. no start had a dead battery, I jumped started and about 30 seconds after crank up the engine started to make a rattling and knocking sound so I immediately shut the engine off, and called Toyota road service to haul to the dealer ( 37 miles away ) the rav4 has 1,273 miles on it when this happened.
The service department had the car for 2.5 hours and could not find any problem, the service tech said the rattling and knocking was the high pressure fuel pump and that was normal, the tech said they charged the battery and did not know why it went dead. My question is has anybody experienced a battery drain with there new rav4 ? Fingers crossed this don't happen again, Thanks for any information.

Yes! I have a 2020 RAV4 LXE I bought on December 16th 2019. I came home from work on Friday at 5pm. Last night at 7pm I went to start my car and my headlights started blinking very fast. The car turn over and then went into the dieing battery sound. Warning lights came on that said Do No Drive. Well I couldn't drive if I wanted to. My side mirror sensor lights started flashing. I got out of my car and tried to remotely lock it but it would not lock. Finally the amber mirror lights stopped blinking. This morning I called AAA the man hooked up a battery reader and it said the battery needed to be replaced. He was dumbfounded as well as I. My car did start with a jump. I shut it off and it started up again. I drove 10 miles to the store and she started up again. Tomorrow I have to leave for work at 530 am. I'll be holding my breath to see if it starts. After work I'm bringing it back to the dealership and I'll tell them to keep it until they find the trouble. Let me know if hou had anymore problems with you RAV.

 

[EMartin]

Yes! I have a 2020 RAV4 LXE I bought on December 16th 2019. I came home from work on Friday at 5pm. Last night at 7pm I went to start my car and my headlights started blinking very fast. The car turn over and then went into the dieing battery sound. Warning lights came on that said Do No Drive. Well I couldn't drive if I wanted to. My side mirror sensor lights started flashing. I got out of my car and tried to remotely lock it but it would not lock. Finally the amber mirror lights stopped blinking. This morning I called AAA the man hooked up a battery reader and it said the battery needed to be replaced. He was dumbfounded as well as I. My car did start with a jump. I shut it off and it started up again. I drove 10 miles to the store and she started up again. Tomorrow I have to leave for work at 530 am. I'll be holding my breath to see if it starts. After work I'm bringing it back to the dealership and I'll tell them to keep it until they find the trouble. Let me know if hou had anymore problems with you RAV.

My guess is they will tell you your battery is good to go. I actually don’t think it’s anything wrong with the batteries I think it’s a bad connection of software problem maybe.

 

[Red Raver]

OK, the numbers are in. The measurement at 4 minutes is when I turned the key On to measure the battery voltage displayed by Service mode (see this post above).

About 5 hours after I started testing, the battery dropped by 0.05 V, but that's about it. I don't know what system caused that to happen. The battery then stayed around 12.6 V for the remaining 24 hours.

Time, Hours since engine turned off	Battery Voltage, Volts
0​	12.73​
4 minutes, Service mode on​	12.54​
2​	12.71​
3​	12.71​
4​	12.71​
5​	12.66​
6​	12.67​
24​	12.63​

My car is inside a detached garage and I kept the keys inside the house. Hopefully, my car will start tomorrow morning. If it doesn't, I'll measure the voltage to see where it's at. More importantly, I have a car battery jump starter ready to go.

Further internet searching suggests the "ISS" after the battery part number "380LN3-ISS" means this battery is compatible with "Idle Stop-Start" car architectures. The batteries must be "registered" (detected) by the car's battery management system. Otherwise, it's a bad deal for the battery.

My guess is they will tell you your battery is good to go. I actually don’t think it’s anything wrong with the batteries I think it’s a bad connection of software problem maybe.

I'm tending to agree with you. If Stop & Start stops working due to "Battery charging", I'd say to disconnect the battery cable, let it sit for a minute, then reconnect the cable. IOW, cold-boot restart.

Stop & Start may be part of the problem, who knows. Whatever it's measuring to cause the "Battery charging" warning tells me that the battery is on its way to full discharge. Resetting the car's software state (put back to a known configuration, i.e. cold-boot start) won't fix the problem, but it will keep you going.

I don't know if this suggestion will actually work, but it makes sense based on the discussion so far.

 

[Lowcountry Rav]

OK, the numbers are in. The measurement at 4 minutes is when I turned the key On to measure the battery voltage displayed by Service mode (see this post above).

About 5 hours after I started testing, the battery dropped by 0.05 V, but that's about it. I don't know what system caused that to happen. The battery then stayed around 12.6 V for the remaining 24 hours.

Time, Hours since engine turned off	Battery Voltage, Volts
0​	12.73​
4 minutes, Service mode on​	12.54​
2​	12.71​
3​	12.71​
4​	12.71​
5​	12.66​
6​	12.67​
24​	12.63​

My car is inside a detached garage and I kept the keys inside the house. Hopefully, my car will start tomorrow morning. If it doesn't, I'll measure the voltage to see where it's at. More importantly, I have a car battery jump starter ready to go.

Further internet searching suggests the "ISS" after the battery part number "380LN3-ISS" means this battery is compatible with "Idle Stop-Start" car architectures. The batteries must be "registered" (detected) by the car's battery management system. Otherwise, it's a bad deal for the battery.


I'm tending to agree with you. If Stop & Start stops working due to "Battery charging", I'd say to disconnect the battery cable, let it sit for a minute, then reconnect the cable. IOW, cold-boot restart.

Stop & Start may be part of the problem, who knows. Whatever it's measuring to cause the "Battery charging" warning tells me that the battery is on its way to full discharge. Resetting the car's software state (put back to a known configuration, i.e. cold-boot start) won't fix the problem, but it will keep you going.

I don't know if this suggestion will actually work, but it makes sense based on the discussion so far.

Well I can't comment on the other issues, but your battery looks perfect. Its not as good an indicator as a load test, but if it had a bad cell it would have discharged very quickly and not stopped.

 

[EMartin]

OK, the numbers are in. The measurement at 4 minutes is when I turned the key On to measure the battery voltage displayed by Service mode (see this post above).

About 5 hours after I started testing, the battery dropped by 0.05 V, but that's about it. I don't know what system caused that to happen. The battery then stayed around 12.6 V for the remaining 24 hours.

Time, Hours since engine turned off	Battery Voltage, Volts
0​	12.73​
4 minutes, Service mode on​	12.54​
2​	12.71​
3​	12.71​
4​	12.71​
5​	12.66​
6​	12.67​
24​	12.63​

My car is inside a detached garage and I kept the keys inside the house. Hopefully, my car will start tomorrow morning. If it doesn't, I'll measure the voltage to see where it's at. More importantly, I have a car battery jump starter ready to go.

Further internet searching suggests the "ISS" after the battery part number "380LN3-ISS" means this battery is compatible with "Idle Stop-Start" car architectures. The batteries must be "registered" (detected) by the car's battery management system. Otherwise, it's a bad deal for the battery.


I'm tending to agree with you. If Stop & Start stops working due to "Battery charging", I'd say to disconnect the battery cable, let it sit for a minute, then reconnect the cable. IOW, cold-boot restart.

Stop & Start may be part of the problem, who knows. Whatever it's measuring to cause the "Battery charging" warning tells me that the battery is on its way to full discharge. Resetting the car's software state (put back to a known configuration, i.e. cold-boot start) won't fix the problem, but it will keep you going.

I don't know if this suggestion will actually work, but it makes sense based on the discussion so far.

The dealer told me .05 amps was What the car should be pulling at rest which is enough to keep the radio memory available. I wonder if when the battery dies the software resets and it works again for awhile kind of like when your phone is on the fritz and a hard reset can make it work again

 

[EMartin]

I

OK, the numbers are in. The measurement at 4 minutes is when I turned the key On to measure the battery voltage displayed by Service mode (see this post above).

About 5 hours after I started testing, the battery dropped by 0.05 V, but that's about it. I don't know what system caused that to happen. The battery then stayed around 12.6 V for the remaining 24 hours.

Time, Hours since engine turned off	Battery Voltage, Volts
0​	12.73​
4 minutes, Service mode on​	12.54​
2​	12.71​
3​	12.71​
4​	12.71​
5​	12.66​
6​	12.67​
24​	12.63​

My car is inside a detached garage and I kept the keys inside the house. Hopefully, my car will start tomorrow morning. If it doesn't, I'll measure the voltage to see where it's at. More importantly, I have a car battery jump starter ready to go.

Further internet searching suggests the "ISS" after the battery part number "380LN3-ISS" means this battery is compatible with "Idle Stop-Start" car architectures. The batteries must be "registered" (detected) by the car's battery management system. Otherwise, it's a bad deal for the battery.


I'm tending to agree with you. If Stop & Start stops working due to "Battery charging", I'd say to disconnect the battery cable, let it sit for a minute, then reconnect the cable. IOW, cold-boot restart.

Stop & Start may be part of the problem, who knows. Whatever it's measuring to cause the "Battery charging" warning tells me that the battery is on its way to full discharge. Resetting the car's software state (put back to a known configuration, i.e. cold-boot start) won't fix the problem, but it will keep you going.

I don't know if this suggestion will actually work, but it makes sense based on the discussion so far.

if your car starts giving you the “ battery charging “ message again it would be interesting to see at what rate it is discharging

 

[Red Raver]

The dealer told me .05 amps was What the car should be pulling at rest which is enough to keep the radio memory available. I wonder if when the battery dies the software resets and it works again for awhile kind of like when your phone is on the fritz and a hard reset can make it work again

Drawing 50 mA (.05 A) makes sense. I was going to make an analogy to restarting a phone in my prior post, but decided against it.

if your car starts giving you the “ battery charging “ message again it would be interesting to see at what rate it is discharging

Thanks for the suggestion. My clamp meter (current probe) may not be sensitive enough to see the current draw, but I can certainly measure the voltage. I'll take my best shot if I see the message again.

 

[EMartin]

Does anyone think that maybe the Toyota app working intermittently could have anything to do with the battery dying? I just say this because mine started giving me status updates again after not working for a month on the day my battery died. It has since stopped giving me updates and my battery has been good

 

[Red Raver]

Not for me. I haven't installed the Toyota app, nor have I signed up for any remote digital services.

 

[berniekk]

Does anyone think that maybe the Toyota app working intermittently could have anything to do with the battery dying? I just say this because mine started giving me status updates again after not working for a month on the day my battery died. It has since stopped giving me updates and my battery has been good

That's just what I was thinking so I disabled the toyota app about a month and half ago, everything has been good to go for about two months now, but the rav4 hasn't set for 2 days since having a dead battery.
Just a thought, maybe the rav4's has to learn all the driving habits, and when not in use with the new owner's ?? ( just a thought ) We got the new rav4 back in Dec. of 019 and the wife has put 4,600 miles on it so fore, and she really likes it.

 

[EMartin]

That's just what I was thinking so I disabled the toyota app about a month and half ago, everything has been good to go for about two months now, but the rav4 hasn't set for 2 days since having a dead battery.
Just a thought, maybe the rav4's has to learn all the driving habits, and when not in use with the new owner's ?? ( just a thought ) We got the new rav4 back in Dec. of 019 and the wife has put 4,600 miles on it so fore, and she really likes it.

How do you disable the Toyota app? I have just been staying logged out of it on my phone and haven’t been using it to try and lock and unlock my car. I really like my RAV4 too. My battery has been good for about 3 weeks now after dying ( knock on wood)

 

[Red Raver]

That's just what I was thinking so I disabled the toyota app about a month and half ago, everything has been good to go for about two months now, but the rav4 hasn't set for 2 days since having a dead battery.
Just a thought, maybe the rav4's has to learn all the driving habits, and when not in use with the new owner's ?? ( just a thought ) We got the new rav4 back in Dec. of 019 and the wife has put 4,600 miles on it so fore, and she really likes it.

Are you getting a "Battery charging" message when trying to use Stop & Start? Or, were you seeing this message before the battery died?

I'm wondering if your car has the same symptoms as mine. If so, perhaps a hard reboot might help.

By that, I mean taking the negative terminal off the battery and waiting 15 minutes before reconnecting it (found this info in another thread). The car should then reload everything from scratch. Maybe it got into a funky mode at the factory and a fresh reboot would set it straight.

If the battery was disconnected when it first died and got recharged, that might have had the same effect.

So far, I have no error messages with Stop & Start. It's acting like new. (I'm disabling it every chance I get.)

 

[Toyo-Drvr]

+ 1 for the dead battery issue.

2020 Rav4 Limited FWD Gas
Built 10/19
Made in Japan
No Auto Stop feature
Purchased December 2019
Approx 3,000 miles
No mods, bone stock

It has been a daily driver since purchase. Last weekend I parked it in the garage (40-50 degrees) for 4 days. Key fob was left on a cabinet about 6-8 feet away. On the 4th day, tried to start it, headlights flashed, no start. Checked battery with a Fluke 87 DMM, found 3.7 volts in battery. Disconnected positive cable and slow charged battery overnight. Re-connected battery the next morning and it started with no problem. Took it to the dealer the same day. The performed parasitic drain test, load test and alternator test, found nothing wrong. Service manager said he has seen this issue with other Toyotas, but found no cause. He mentioned that one of the computers may have not shut down when I parked it. Based on the occurrences I have read on this forum, I have to wonder if the key fob's location with respect to the car had something to do with it. No one has ever told me not to leave the fob in the car or too close to it when not in use.

The car doesn't usually sit for more than two days without being driven. The majority of times, the key fob is inside the house and the car is in the driveway. But I have left the key fob inside the car overnight more than once without issues.

Currently, I am experimenting by letting it sit outside for 3 days and checking battery voltage. Key fob is well out of range. I did not check the battery voltage on the day I parked it, but at the end of the first day, it was 12.77 volts. If it has not dropped significantly at the end of the third day, I plan to drive it as normal.

I am very interested to find out what is causing this issue as I am sure others who have experienced it are. Fortunately, the car was in my garage, and I was able to charge it, as opposed to being at an airport or similar, looking for a jump or something.

-Toyo-Drvr

I continued my experiment of letting the car sit, undriven for 6 days. I measured the battery voltage once per day each day around the same time. Over 6 days, the battery voltage dropped from 12.77 to 12.66, which I think is acceptable since there is a very small drain to power the clock/computer.

Whatever the cause of my dead battery was, I don't think it fits the scenario of the other owners that have had this issue since I don't have auto-stop, nor do I use the Toyota app. I have never seen a "battery charging" message.

I have not checked the on-board diagnostic to compare the computer's voltage measurement to my Fluke 87 measurement.

 

[EMartin]

I continued my experiment of letting the car sit, undriven for 6 days. I measured the battery voltage once per day each day around the same time. Over 6 days, the battery voltage dropped from 12.77 to 12.66, which I think is acceptable since there is a very small drain to power the clock/computer.

Whatever the cause of my dead battery was, I don't think it fits the scenario of the other owners that have had this issue since I don't have auto-stop, nor do I use the Toyota app. I have never seen a "battery charging" message.

I have not checked the on-board diagnostic to compare the computer's voltage measurement to my Fluke 87 measurement.

I don’t think the auto stop start is actually part of the cause of the dead batteries I think it just lets you know how weak you battery actually is since that system needs a certain amount of charge to work. I think whatever is causing the batteries is some computer system that almost gets stuck in a pathway and doesn’t seem to want to turn off after the car is shut down. Then once the battery dies and is recharged it is somehow reset and functions correctly. This is just my take and i know nothing about cars so I could be way off

 

[LunarND]

Has anybody tried turning both of their fobs off by using battery saving mode when not driving? Holding down the "lock" button while pressing the "unlock" button twice will essentially turn the fob off. You don't have to keep it far away or try to shield it when it's in battery saving mode. To wake the fob back up you only need to press any button.

If turning off all fobs when not driving doesn't help, then it's probably not a fob issue.