Good Morning. I own a 2009 Altima Hybrid. I have a cheap dashcam that was left on for the last 2 weeks, and the car was not used at all because of the current pandemic. Finally went to use the car, and nothing works. No lights come on at all. I used a trickle charger on the 12V battery overnight, and that shows that the battery is fine. The key battery light was on in the car when I first hooked up the car to the trickle charger yesterday. Are there any fuses that I should check to see if they somehow blew? On the topic of fuses, I did remove the one 10A (15?) fuse a long time back because of the steering lock mechanism that would get stuck. The steering is not locked. The shifter is locked though so getting it out of my driveway for a tow seems like it will be a challenge. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

 

What is the voltage across the 12V battery terminals?

 

I actually don't have a multimeter. I'll have to go pick one up.

 

A small draw can completely flatten a battery (near 0V) over the prescribed time period. A 6W load can flatten a typical automotive battery in as little as 5 days. 12V batteries are EMPTY at 10.5V. Most chargers are designed to work within the expected operating range of a 12V battery. Furthermore, a "trickle" charger may not provide enough input overnight to charge the battery if the charger even works on a flattened battery at all. A typical trickle charger may require 120 hours to fully charge your battery. A common charge rate is 2A, and at that rate, you'll need about 30 hours to charge the battery.

My guess is that the trickle charger either 1) didn't work at all because of the extreme low voltage of the battery or 2) didn't have enough time to impart a usable charge to the battery to produce the voltage needed for the computers.

You should consider attempting jump start with another vehicle. Instructions are in your owner's manual, section 6-8. If you don't have an owner's manual, you can download a pdf online.

Assuming you are able to jump it, unless your battery is less than 6 months old, you should consider replacing it. Flattening a battery like this causes extensive damage. At a minimum, once charged, you should remove it from the vehicle for testing at an auto parts shop.

 

I will try a jump with my other car later today (I need to borrow lol), and report back. If that works, I'll get the 12v battery pulled and replaced.

Thank you for your help!

 

Note that the Toyota hybrids can trick you after 12V replacement (the Altima drivetrain is 99.9% the same as a Toyota Camry - licensed from Toyota). During your normal start process, you may need to press the power button 2-3 times at about a second apart before the car will go into ready mode.

 

It's alive after the jump. I connected it, and the remote worked right away. The car started right up. Lesson learned: don't use cheap dashcams, and make sure to run the car more. I'm running out to replace the 12V battery tomorrow. Thank you for your help!

 

Glad to hear it. Toyota recommends that NEW vehicles be placed in ready mode for 30 minutes every 2 months with all electrical accessories off to ensure the 12V remains charged and to ensure the HV battery stays in the healthy operating range. Given the age of your vehicle, I would recommend it every 1-2 weeks if you can't drive it at least a few times a week.