How much does a starter cost for a 1998 Toyota Avalon XLS and what about labor costs?

R

Rick

New member
For some reason the battery keeps going dead or acts like it's dead and I have had the dealership run tests on the system and it's checking out fine. There is also no current draw or VERY little when the vehicle is off based on these tests. After it sits for about 2 days you can't start it w/out giving it a jump, even w/a new battery? This is odd! There is no clicking, no lights work, the security light does not blink, etc.

Any ideas on what this could be? Could it be the starter going bad?
Thank you. This all did not start to happen until my wife went on maternity leave and the car was driven less. Other than that it has been driven every day to/from work about 35 mile round trip. Now it's about 1-2 time/week. I understand what you're saying and the car has a factory alarm from Toyota. I thought it was the trunk light at one time, but it's off when the trunk is closed. To ad more confusion to this the it's at the Toyota dealership now AND they have run a test on it while the car is off and there is normal drain from the battery, nothing excessive that would cause it to go dead. So it has all of us scratching our heads. It has been off at the dealer for 2 days now so we'll see late tomorrow if it starts for them.

I welcome any more thoughts, please...
 
The starter is just for starting the car, hence the name. It sounds like there is something that stays constantly on and that is what is drawing power from your battery. It could be the stereo, maybe a clock display, some type of sensor that never goes off. It could be any number of things. You should look into taking into a shop that does electrical work. Do you have a car alarm? It could possibly be that. You can try to take it somewhere where they install alarms maybe? They can maybe help you out better.

Strangely enough, my neighbor had a 96 camry and the same thing happened to her. I know that after a while, she just disconnected the battery from the car every time she came home and then reconnected it when she left for work. It got so annoying for her that she just sold the car for less money because she disclosed the problem to the buyer.
 
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