Hey Scotty!
We have a 2008 Lexus RX400h, with 145,000 miles on it, it's got a CVT.
A couple months ago, the right HID headlight flickered pink and went out. It killed the battery, and we needed a jump to get home. Fixed the headlight, same old battery, and the dealer said all good.
At Easter morning mass today, we were listening to the pastor via radio for about 40 minutes, and ran the cold air for about 5 minutes on medium speed, and the radio began to malfunction. In fact, turning off the air conditioner also turned the radio off!
We needed a jump, and AAA installed a new battery today.
Was this just a bad battery, or did the flickering HID headlight destroy a circuit which now causes excessive battery drainage? Lexus dealer didn't find anything wrong with it, but I suspect otherwise.
Thanks, Scotty!
😊
(Note that in church, we did not turn the key to "START" it was in the "ON" mode the entire time. The engine did not run.)
END OF QUESTION.
A few details that make this weird:
- We drove on the freeway for about 20 minutes to get to church. There's NO way the battery was prematurely drained.
- All we did was listen to the radio for about 40 minutes, and used the A/C for about 5 minutes on medium fan speed, how the heck does this drain the battery so much? (Happened within minutes)
- The radio volume knob stopped working, I couldn't change the volume or even push the button to turn it off. The only way to turn off the RADIO was to press the "FAN OFF" button! How does the fan button now control the radio?
You might want to test the alternator, as well. There's no discussion about whether the technician did so.
Also it's time to test the fuses, download an electrical schematic of the car and see if there are any shared relays that might have gone bad, months ago.
- Find a diagnostic mechanic who will diagnose. That means, in most situations, an independent shop.
If your battery was weak/old to begin with, listening to the radio for 40mins along with a short burst of blower motor could certainly drain it beyond the point of no return.
A weak battery can wreak havoc on the electronics of any modern vehicle.
If the problem hasn’t returned post installing the new battery, I’d say problem solved.
I also suspect a weak battery.
