1997 Toyota Camry - replaced alternator and battery every year for the past 3 years

Asked by Paula May 13, 2017 at 01:04 PM about the 1997 Toyota Camry LE V6

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

What could be the issue? The alternator is draining the battery but what is
causing the alternator to do that?

3 Answers

21,930

Are there any Aftermarket Accessories installed on this vehicle. Are there any warning lights on or flashing? A good Auto Tech would perform a "Parasitic Load Test" on the Battery to see if there is something not turning off when you park and shut the vehicle down.

Thank you so much for responding! We are not the original owners but do recall the seller mentioning that there was a sound system added with a switch on the firewall. Also we remember when we first got it the alarm was stuck on and drained the battery. We thought we took care of that. ????

21,930

These aftermarket accessories could be the cause of this issue...which sounds like an excessive parasitic drain on said battery. A test should be performed in order to verify this diagnosis. Best to have this test performed at a repair garage familiar with the proper equipment.

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