I Need Your Help - Dealer Runaround Two Service Calls So Far

[gerryzub]

I have a voltage drop problem on my car. It is the ECO plus model. When the temperature (I am in Pennsylvania) got above 40-45 degrees the voltage on the electrical system has dropped to 12.6 to 12.8 volts. It is a very perplexing problem. Only when the temp is above 40-45 degrees does it do this. If the car is in park the voltage is normal about 14.2 to 14.3. As soon as I take it out of park the voltage starts to tick down. It takes about 1 minute or so till it bottoms out between 12.6 and 12.8. I have seen it get as low as 12.3 for a few seconds.

I have had it in for this problem twice. The first time the temperature was in the 30's and the problem did not present itself to the dealer. So they found nothing. Today it was about 50 and the problem was seen by them. They are now telling me that all Corolla's do this.

So I have a request from my fellow Corolla owners. Please check your Corolla's voltage after it is warmed up and in forward, reverse or neutral and reply to the thread with the results. I am very hesitant to use the car much because I am not sure if I am going to get stuck.

This is my third Corolla in a row. 2002, 2007 (still have this one) and now 2014. I really like the car but I am worried about this problem.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[vance07]

I'm just thinking here obviously a better answer is required from Toyota. Does the voltage drop at idle in drive or is it dropping as your acceleration and the car is warming up? The reason behind my train of thought is the eco system itself. I myself opted for the type s but the eco did intrigue me. BMW has ben using a similar system only more complex for a couple years. What IM wondering is because of colder air is more dense is it possible that as the ambient temps are rising the eco system is creating more current draw. since the system is en electric motor holding open the valves for more air flow could this be the root of the problem? Again not to waste your time just curious. I hope Toyota can come up with a better answer for you

 

[Donabed Kopoian]

I have the S, mine is around 14.2 at all times but he has a point about the Eco system.

 

[gerryzub]

Thank you both for the your replies.

The voltage drop only occurs when the outside temp is above 40-45 degrees. Only when out of "park" on the transmission. It doesn't change with engine RPM's at all. I would actually have expected something like that but it doesn't vary at all whether I am stopped or going down the highway at 65mph.

If the dealer would have had a 6 speed S the day I bought this car I would probably be driving one today. This is the first automatic transmission I have owned for 29 years. I keep trying to shift it.

 

[Donabed Kopoian]

You don't have the paddle shifters in yours? Well ... LE Eco ... I guess they wouldn't have them. Nevermind.

And yeah, I swear they make the brake pedal large in automatics to mess with the minds of stickshift drivers. I've already hit the invisible clutch a couple times in my girl's car and tested the ABS system.

How are you testing the voltage out of curiosity?

Is your battery light coming on?

 

[gerryzub]

No paddle shifters in mine. I have never driven a car with them. I test the voltage with a multimeter at the battery and with a cigarette outlet plug in meter from ebay. I ordered a OBDII guage called Ultragauge. It should arrive today or tomorrow I hope. That may help figure this out.

No battery light on ever. Even down to 12.3 volts it never turned on. That is worrying....

 

[Donabed Kopoian]

Let me know what you end up with. Keep us posted. Also, is there another dealer nearby you can get an opinion from?

 

[Scott O'Kashan]

gerryzub - Any updates for us?

 

[TigerHeli]

I have an Ultraguage - it works well.

12.6 to 12.3 is battery voltage, meaning the alternator is not outputting any charge to the system.

If they are saying it is supposed to be like that, the only thing I can think of is that maybe the system turns off the alternator in drive and turns it back on as you are decelerating or when you shift into park.

 

[Donabed Kopoian]

This happens on all LE Eco models so it is most likely normal and a trick to squeeze out a couple extra mpgs from the engine.

 

[TigerHeli]

This happens on all LE Eco models ...

Do we KNOW this? The only thing definitive I saw was the OP's dealer said "All the cars do this" - which often is codeword for "We are too lazy to look into figuring out the REAL problem."

 

[Donabed Kopoian]

Judging from here and other forums, it seems like this is normal on the LE Eco only. No other Corollas do this, so it has to be for an mpg boost.

 

[TigerHeli]

I might avoid an ECO for that reason (was likely to anyway). A few extra MPG aren't worth that type of aggravation ...

 

[Donabed Kopoian]

No stickshift Eco ... so S was the natural choice.

 

[TigerHeli]

For me, it's less color choices in the Eco, for more money and less availability (and apparently dicey charging system logic).

 

[ottoman]

Glad I came across this post! My LE ECO that was bought new in Jan.'14 began to slow crank on starting a few weeks ago (22 months after purchase in a mild climate). Took it to the dealer and they replaced the battery. Being the shadetree mechanic and not trusting a busy service dept. to do a thorough job I decided to check the charging voltage and got puzzling results. Puzzling until I saw this post (my voltage numbers and conditions they occurred are identical to gerryzub) Are we trading a tad better mpg for shorter battery life? The OEM battery was replaced by one with more cranking amps but have noticed the SOC on the new one starting to decline. Bad charging algorithm or what? Will try to start thread to see if others are experiencing early battery failures on 2014 LE ECO.