JBrown6334

2014 Scion xD with 136K miles, well maintained, synthetic oil changes every 10K, good quality gas, new Toyota battery & spark plugs 2 months ago. Started having starting problems about 4 months ago. Starts fine in the morning (cold), starts fine after being turned off for only a few minutes (hot), has a delayed starting problem if it sits for a few hours. I only have to turn the key one time like normal but it takes up to 5 sec. to finally, sluggishly turn over, then it runs fine. The new battery fixed this problem !completely! , but 8 weeks later problem has returned and seems to be getting worse than before. Any ideas for my Toyota mechanic? The service advisor said it sounds like a drainage problem? But the new battery fixed it for 8 weeks, so, I don't know about that. I tried turning the key to ON for a few seconds to get the fuel system going before I started it, but it didn't make a difference. I also feel like the original battery died prematurely, unless Toyota batteries only last 2 years. I usually get them at Advance.

NotASpeckOfCereal

I'm not a mechanic, but it could indeed be a battery drainage problem, indicating that it's not getting a good charge.

On an older car, I would guess that the alternator is failing. If it's giving only a trickle charge, that would explain why it takes 8 weeks for a new battery to give the same indications.

I have no idea on a new car what keeps the battery charge going. Is there still an alternator?

At any rate, measuring this on an older car is relatively straight forward. It should be on a newer car too, regardless of the battery charging method used.