Why does battery die when you leave lights on...?

Not a priority, apparently. Every other car I've bought since 1999 would take care of that.

 

My 88 Camry turns the lights off when u open the drivers door.

 

The gen 3 lights go off automatically.

 

Good, because that's what I thought.
At least I haven't been freaking out over whether I left my lights on or off.

It is disturbing that it took Toyota until Gen 3 to build in that rather basic operational safety option.

 

What's missing is its ability to cope with a map light or dome light left accidentally on.

 

Gen 2 headlights go out as you open the driver's door AFTER you turn off the car.

To leave them on, you have to never open the driver's door after you turn the car off.

If you lock the door with the exterior button, it will make an odd noise if the doors are ajar.

How are you getting the lights to stay on?

 

^ This. I think it was just an assumption on the OPs part, but just not true.

The main way people drain the 12V battery is with the interior lights (map lights) and the door lights if you leave the front doors open. That and leaving the car in accessory mode to listen to the radio.

 

In a Gen II the overhead light switch is a 3 position switch. Center is OFF, Left is always ON, Right is car controls ON/OFF! I have bumped it when I have removed the sun shade, it takes almost no pressure to move the switch! If you do it during the day you would never notice. I switched to LEDS anyway, the current draw is much less than the incandescent it replaces!
I also have an Optima battery, just for the times it does happen!

 

I park in garages so it's very noticeable if I leave lights on.

 

As mentioned, they do turn off automatically. The only times they wouldn't is if you do something like enter through the passenger door to turn the car on and roll up a window or eject a CD. I have done that a couple times but both times I realized I needed to turn the lights off because I keep mine in the "on" position 24/7.

 

Good procedure is to always lockthe car , even in your garage.

 

Yes I always try to lock it and then I unlock it even in the garage. I guess this doesn't catch everything, but its a start.

 

The suggeston was aimed at the OP. By force of habit I am still locking the PIP, even tho many of the problems of my 2005 are not present on the PIP.

 

...maybe I learned the trick from your prior posts, Andy

 

CSS28 right on. That overhead has gotten me a few times. Caught it in the garage.

They should have made that overhead light switch electronic and then managed it
or relay power controlled like the headlights. Easy. Then default is overhead lights always come on with door open. Then overhead light always shuts off when car starts with an over ride electronic button for map reading.
Open the door to get out and lights come on. Then shut off 1 minute later.
Thats normal for alot of higher end cars for the last 10 years. I have one car that does this.

Should of:
Master default mode=Car not in READY for more than 2 minutes=Turn ALL lights off.

Also On SKS cars=Lock the car automatically if SKS detected out of range. Shut all lights off. Auto lock the car when speed reached above 20mph (hackable but should have been standard) Toyota could have made these a selling point to move up a package to SKS. As if SKS was not nice enough.

All of these would have saved thousands of people from being stranded from dead aux batteries. And then exposed there cars to the dreaded jump start.

 

Maybe, one can never be sure where info is picked up, one thing is for sure, a infinitesimal portion is original. I will always be appreciative to Patricks dedication.

 

Btw, I hope this does not mean your battery went dead and you had to get a jumpstart. Be very careful as a jump start can cause major damage.

Did you just buy this car? If you bought it from a dealer that usually means the 12 volt battery went dead. It will not sit on a lot for long with the SKS on before it kills that battery. If allowed to go dead just once it will sulphate up fast and not hold a full charge so slightest load on the battery will then kill it. One good stone dead will ruin it.

If battery getting real bad right before it dies it will throw a red exclamation point on the dash for an instant upon start up. Thats the only warning you get. First time I saw that on my 6 year old battery and out it came. Moved up to an Optima Yellowtop.

Please see the post right under your about the 2008. Classic jumpstart damage issue. In dealer hell. Very very expensive.

Here's how to test your 12 volt. We need the second number the load number:

Weird stuff happening? MPGs dropping? Test The Battery | PriusChat

Good Luck.