Trunk light killed battery? - Toyota GR86, 86, FR-S and Subaru BRZ Forum & Owners Community

Impureclient · 01-12-2017, 09:20 PM

So I left my trunk not latched last night and I guess that drained the battery down to nothing sitting about 24 hours. Shouldn't that have taken longer to drain it so badly?
Like dead as in nothing but one tiny light was lit up on the dash, super dead.
Is that normal for this car? Usually the lights will go off after a few minutes inside but I never thought about whether the trunk light will do that.
I never had a car battery drain like this. The trunk is hard to see if it's shut fully on this car so I guess it was bound to happen but on a newish(1.5 yr old, not sure how
much that converts to in Canadian years) battery just running that trunk light, that seems kind of odd.

billwot · 01-12-2017, 10:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Impureclient

So I left my trunk not latched last night and I guess that drained the battery down to nothing sitting about 24 hours. Shouldn't that have taken longer to drain it so badly?
Like dead as in nothing but one tiny light was lit up on the dash, super dead.
Is that normal for this car? Usually the lights will go off after a few minutes inside but I never thought about whether the trunk light will do that.
I never had a car battery drain like this. The trunk is hard to see if it's shut fully on this car so I guess it was bound to happen but on a newish(1.5 yr old, not sure how
much that converts to in Canadian years) battery just running that trunk light, that seems kind of odd.

Hmm...a Canadian year is not the same length as a US year?

But, yeah, leaving the trunk light on overnight can deplete the battery (even a Canadian night)

phrosty · 01-12-2017, 10:14 PM

I did this once, but my battery was already weak from a few deep discharges when I forgot to unplug my Tactrix overnight.

Ultramaroon · 01-12-2017, 10:30 PM

Common. I unplugged my trunk light soon after I bought the car.

humfrz · 01-12-2017, 11:20 PM

Yep, my granddaughter went out to our garage and turned on a rear dome light on our sedan (with an old battery) ...... and left it on. The next day - dead battery.

But, like the OP, I will always think that a 12 V auto battery should run a tiny dome light all night without draining the battery ......

humfrz

humfrz · 01-12-2017, 11:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

Common. I unplugged my trunk light soon after I bought the car.

Well, I suppose those of you that are getting up in age, and are short term memory challenged, should take measures like that ........

humfrz

Ultramaroon · 01-12-2017, 11:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by humfrz

Well, I suppose those of you that are getting up in age, and are short term memory challenged, should take measures like that ........

I'm not proud.

humfrz · 01-12-2017, 11:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

I'm not proud.

Hey, Ultramaroon, I have a non-chipped key in a magnetic box under my car ..... I found it OK. However, I have a chipped backup key/fob hidden somewhere inside my car ........ but, I can't find it .......

Any ideas ......??

humfrz

Ultramaroon · 01-12-2017, 11:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by humfrz

Hey, Ultramaroon, I have a non-chipped key in a magnetic box under my car ..... I found it OK. However, I have a chipped backup key/fob hidden somewhere inside my car ........ but, I can't find it .......

Any ideas ......??

Give one of your grandkids a flashlight and the promise of a reward.

humfrz · 01-13-2017, 12:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

Give one of your grandkids a flashlight and the promise of a reward.

Great idea!

humfrz

PandaSPUR · 01-13-2017, 01:15 AM

How much power does that trunk light even draw?

Off topic, but this makes me wonder how long my dashcam can really run before draining the battery. Its currently set to stop once battery voltage drops to 12v or after 6 hours, whichever comes first.

Impureclient · 01-13-2017, 03:34 AM

After posting this I did a drive by Google search and found this is sort of common. I didn't realize such a new battery would drain from such a tiny light.
I may just pull mine too and install a battery powered or USB charged motion sensor light like people do in their gloveboxes.
I had pulled the two bumpstops inside of the trunk lid to make it shut easier when I first got the car. Then it seemed to rattle too much from the subwoofer
so I put them back in. Next day, the battery died from not shutting it enough from those bumpstops.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PandaSPUR

How much power does that trunk light even draw? Off topic, but this makes me wonder how long my dashcam can really run before draining the battery.

If a tiny light kills it that quick, a dashcam seems like it wouldn't last much. Maybe my 1.5 year old battery is on it's way out?

And according to Google the Canadian year is about 0.76 of the American year.

guybo · 01-13-2017, 05:42 AM

Get the battery properly charged up (either with your own charger- 6A overnight or 20A for a few hours or at a garage for a few hours) and you'll minimize the permanent damage done to the battery for longer battery life.

If you try to drive it around to charge it up, you'll decrease battery life and most likely in a few weeks have battery issues again.

guybo · 01-13-2017, 05:43 AM

Get the battery properly charged up (either with your own charger- 6A overnight or 20A for a few hours or at a garage for a few hours) and you'll minimize the permanent damage done to the battery for longer battery life.

If you try to drive it around to charge it up, you'll decrease battery life and most likely in a few weeks have battery issues again.

01-12-2017, 09:20 PM	#1
Impureclient Banned Join Date: May 2015 Drives: 2015 FR-S Location: NPR, Florida Posts: 2,404 Thanks: 1,802 Thanked 2,903 Times in 1,282 Posts Mentioned: 25 Post(s) Tagged: 2 Thread(s)	Trunk light killed battery? So I left my trunk not latched last night and I guess that drained the battery down to nothing sitting about 24 hours. Shouldn't that have taken longer to drain it so badly? Like dead as in nothing but one tiny light was lit up on the dash, super dead. Is that normal for this car? Usually the lights will go off after a few minutes inside but I never thought about whether the trunk light will do that. I never had a car battery drain like this. The trunk is hard to see if it's shut fully on this car so I guess it was bound to happen but on a newish(1.5 yr old, not sure how much that converts to in Canadian years) battery just running that trunk light, that seems kind of odd. Last edited by Impureclient; 01-12-2017 at 09:38 PM.

01-12-2017, 10:14 PM	#3
phrosty Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Drives: 2013 FR-S Location: Seattle Posts: 806 Thanks: 202 Thanked 320 Times in 199 Posts Mentioned: 18 Post(s) Tagged: 1 Thread(s)	I did this once, but my battery was already weak from a few deep discharges when I forgot to unplug my Tactrix overnight. __________________ 2013 Whiteout 6AT FR-S \| Perrin Inlet Tube + 2.75" CAI \| OpenFlash Header \| P&L Catback \| 4.88 Final Drive \| Dialed in OFT 2.0x Stage 2 E85 \| 18x8 Enkei Raijin + 225/40 Michelin Pilot Super Sport \| 17x7 Stock + 215/45 Michelin X-Ice Xi-2

01-12-2017, 10:30 PM	#4
Ultramaroon 義理チョコ Join Date: Sep 2014 Drives: a 13 e8h frs Location: vantucky, wa Posts: 31,865 Thanks: 52,120 Thanked 36,513 Times in 18,917 Posts Mentioned: 1106 Post(s) Tagged: 9 Thread(s)	Common. I unplugged my trunk light soon after I bought the car. __________________ service manuals

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01-12-2017, 11:20 PM	#5
humfrz Senior Member Join Date: May 2013 Drives: 2013 FR-S, white, MT Location: Puyallup, WA Posts: 29,866 Thanks: 28,787 Thanked 31,813 Times in 16,424 Posts Mentioned: 708 Post(s) Tagged: 2 Thread(s)	Yep, my granddaughter went out to our garage and turned on a rear dome light on our sedan (with an old battery) ...... and left it on. The next day - dead battery. But, like the OP, I will always think that a 12 V auto battery should run a tiny dome light all night without draining the battery ...... humfrz

01-13-2017, 01:15 AM	#11
PandaSPUR PandaPandaPandaPandaPanda Join Date: May 2014 Drives: 2015 BRZ Limited CWP Location: New York City, NY Posts: 1,432 Thanks: 776 Thanked 697 Times in 438 Posts Mentioned: 12 Post(s) Tagged: 1 Thread(s)	How much power does that trunk light even draw? Off topic, but this makes me wonder how long my dashcam can really run before draining the battery. Its currently set to stop once battery voltage drops to 12v or after 6 hours, whichever comes first.

01-13-2017, 05:42 AM	#13
guybo Huge E85 fan! Join Date: May 2016 Drives: 2016 Scion FRS Location: Tampa, FL, USA Posts: 1,850 Thanks: 539 Thanked 1,010 Times in 605 Posts Mentioned: 32 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	Get the battery properly charged up (either with your own charger- 6A overnight or 20A for a few hours or at a garage for a few hours) and you'll minimize the permanent damage done to the battery for longer battery life. If you try to drive it around to charge it up, you'll decrease battery life and most likely in a few weeks have battery issues again.

01-13-2017, 05:43 AM	#14
guybo Huge E85 fan! Join Date: May 2016 Drives: 2016 Scion FRS Location: Tampa, FL, USA Posts: 1,850 Thanks: 539 Thanked 1,010 Times in 605 Posts Mentioned: 32 Post(s) Tagged: 0 Thread(s)	Get the battery properly charged up (either with your own charger- 6A overnight or 20A for a few hours or at a garage for a few hours) and you'll minimize the permanent damage done to the battery for longer battery life. If you try to drive it around to charge it up, you'll decrease battery life and most likely in a few weeks have battery issues again.

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