Panasonic Battery Retirement

Finally had to retire the original Panasonic battery. It served for 7.5 years and just over 52k miles. Not a lot of miles, so this was likely an age related demise.

Rather than spend months pouring over the endless online data and forums regarding who has the best battery and stressing about it, I decided to just get a Super Start Economy battery at my local Oreilly’s where I normally shop. I’ve actually installed their batteries in four of my family’s vehicles and they have done ok.

The economy battery comes with a 12 month full replacement warranty which isn’t that long. The premium came with a full 2 year replacement, it was $60-70 more. So I’m betting $60 that if the battery lasts 1 year without leaking or failing, then it will probably go two?

The car went about 3 hours without a battery because I spent extra time cleaning under the battery tray. Upon initial power up and first start, the engine did not do a momentary shutdown as others have reported. As a matter of fact, the radio kept the station presets. All I lost was the last trip meter mileage, clock, mpg and trip timer.

The Panasonic was rated at 530 CCA, the new battery is rated at 585 CCA. I suppose this is a slight improvement though I’m not really concerned about CCA since my truck spends every night in the garage.

 

I installed super start back in 2021 and it lasted a good 4 years before it needed a change. I would call that a win. Went with Walmart everstart Maxx this year. The good old Panasonic days are long gone.

 

I bought my 2019 on 30 September 2018. I have been listening to the sound of the starter on initial crank of the original Panasonic for some months now and knew that I would be taking a chance getting it through the winter. Plus, my annual trip to Boise is coming up this week and it is usually much colder there than the Bay Area.

I bought an Everstart at Wally World with the 24 or 36 month warranty and swapped it out. If I could get another new factory Panasonic, I would do so. Not much in the way of quality in batteries anymore due to manufacturer consolidation.

 

The stumble on first start is caused by throttle relearn. I guess your throttle body was clean enough compared to new, that it didn't cause enough of a drift to stall the engine. Pro-tip from a dealer tech: after connecting the battery, you can force a throttle relearn and avoid the stumble by turning the key to ON without cranking the engine, waiting a few seconds, then turning the key to OFF.

Your previous compass zone setting (correction between magnetic north and geographic north) is also lost, if you ever bothered to set it.

 

I have a basic SR5 so no compass. Now it’s time to focus my attention on the original wiper blades which still function but are starting to tear on the edge. Also I need to plan on a transmission drain and fill. First I’ll need a reasonably priced scan tool that provides transmission pan fluid temperature.

 

^You don't have a compass in that little LCD strip screen above the head unit?

 

Nope.

 

My 2018 SR5P has a compass reading on the display screen just above the odometer reading.

Yours doesn't have that?

 

Nope, I don’t have the SR5 premium. Just the basic SR5 with cloth seats. No compass or navigation.

 

I would argue maybe not. I've had good luck with Toyota replacement batteries from the dealer; one for the '94 Pickup which is going on its 13th year and the other for the 4Runner which is going on its 7th year. Some popular mechanic influencers say all batteries are the same, just different stickers on the case (without any proof). Much like saying Toyota engine oil is just Mobil 1. It's plausible that battery manufacturers, as per Toyota's request, take extra quality control steps for the batteries that get the Toyota stickers. Back in 2013, I was tired of batteries that didn't fit quite right in my '94 Pickup so I went ahead with the dealer battery. It fits perfectly and that's what I initially liked the most.

 

I change my battery every 4 years now irrespective of the charge or condition. Things are not made to the same quality they were used too.

 

Toyota engine oil is not Mobil 1. Toyota engine oil is likely lower quality Basically the lowest bidder that met Toyota's minimum requirements.

The dealer may maintain the batteries in inventory better than the kids at Walmart, and that may very well make a bigger difference than mfg quality.

 

Six of one, half a dozen of the other, I'll take it.

 

Hum, Not sure ;-) unless I found a fake/counterfeit picture

 

Aw no . . . .

 

It's somewhat widely known that Toyota oil is brewed by ExxonMobil as it says on the label. That doesn't mean Toyota oil is the same as Mobil 1. In all likelihood Toyota oil is worse than Mobil 1. That is, Toyota leverages its large purchasing volume to get ExxonMobil to formulate a cheaper product, with lower quality base stocks compensated with more additives, to meet Toyota's minimum requirements. That may be why Toyota's high-performance GR engines (including GR Corolla) are specified to use GR oil brewed by Shell in Spain, not the lowly "regular" Toyota oil:

 

How was the cost?

 

Is our beloved Toyota ATF WS just cut-rate ExxonMobil double malt as well???

 

i went with this one on my 2011 SR5 from Walmart. 3 year warranty and 750 cca.

 

Good luck finding Mobil 3324 (named after the JWS 3324 standard) though: https://www.mobil.ca/en-ca/lubrican...al-vehicle-lubricants/products/mobil-atf-3324

 

In March of 2013, before tax, the local dealer charged me $141.96 CAD (or $190.90 CAD today) for the '94's 24C battery. In September of 2019, before tax, the local dealer charged me $199.75 CAD (or $242.22 CAD today) for the 4Runner's 27F battery. Both are 84 month.