Ok,Today i went to lunch with my buddies,My (Manual)Car starting fine everything was fine,i parked the car i say for about 5 min or so,did what we did,and i went to start my car,it started fine but all of the sudden,the car was idling so low that it shut off,i have a volt meter i noticed it around 12.5- 12.7 volts which i normallly dont see at idle,it about in the mid to high 13's and when driving mid to high 14's......but waited 30 secs start the car up again samething happen.idled very low to a point where the car turned off...i said ok,i checked the battery just in case,if it was dead or needed charging,but it had the blue circle with the red dot in the middle and according to the icons on the stock battery,it was ok......So im like ok lets try this again,i start the car,it starts fine begins to idle a little low but not as low as the last two times,so i gave it some gas for a few secs to about 1500 rpms,then i let off the gas and it idled normal,in the 700's......this has happen to me a few other times but not to the point where the car shut off,Now it was pretty chilly and windy in the high 50's.....I have a 06 tc with 59xx miles......5 speed.......

Now you think it could be a sensor or something......cause it happens once in a blue moon,or maybe it is the battery....and needs replacement...

 

Same thing happened to me awhile back when I took my front bumper off and left it off all night . In the morning I started my car and I noticed that the idle was very low to the point were the car turns off. So I turned it on again and the engine started to shake awfully hard. And I gave it has then it would shut off. Soon after that happened my battery died. So I just got a new battery and has never happened again. I think you may need a new one soon. Mine was an 2005 battery I got a gold top for $80 with 5 year warranty .

 

interesting,i mean i know that happens when we reset our ECU's.....But i havent done that in awhile,But like you mention and the first thing that came to my head,was the battery,Not sure how accurate of a reading it will give you before it needs charging or before it dies,But i just thought maybe it could be a sensor or something,but if that was the case,im sure a CEL would come on,think ill change the battery before it gets even worse,just wonder how long the stock batteries last

 

Go to autozone and ask for a free battery test. Just to make sure that their equipment says that the battery is your problem.

 

yeah i've had batteries before with that stock blue/red dot thing, and the battery was tested out and still was bad. So I consider those things useless, because they only test the water/electrolyte levels inside ONE cell inside the battery. Doesn't take into account the other 5 cells in there.

Sounds to me too like it's the battery. You might wonder why the alternator wasn't registering 13-14v on your volt meter when the car was started. Because once its started the alternator should take over. But... the battery is part of the electrical system, completes the system. So if it was bad, then ya you'd have some strange readings.

I say take the negative battery cable off, then the positive, then let autozone test the battery by itself. That way if their equipment shorts or is weird it won't back up into your electrical system, since you have the cables removed. yeah autozone will do it for free. and their batteries are made by Johnson controls, same people who make the battery you'd get from the Toyota dealer, same quality too! (which is excellent).. if you need a battery, can get one from them. both the gold and regular duralast batteries are fine for the tC, the regular is 600 cold cranking amps, which is similar to the stock battery.

but get the battery tested, and go from there. if you need to know the stock battery is rated at 575-580 cold cranking amps (for autozone to input that data into their tester).

 

Actually, I've seen numerous good batteries test as bad just because they weren't fully charged. The only way to reliably test a battery is to have it fully charged (or attempted) and then load-test it. The handheld bettery test units that they use at most parts stores can't perform a load-test, although most of them have a machine inside the store that can. Of course the drawback is that you have to take the battery out of the car to use the machine, and it takes a few hours to insure that it's charged properly, and then cycle it through the load-test.

If this problem is being caused by something in the charging system, it could just as easily be the alternator, a bad battery cable, a short in the system, overloading the system (common with big stereos), etc... Personally, judging from the low charging voltage on the guage, I would check the alternator first. A properly functioning alternator should be at about 13.7 volts.

 

my audio is stock, for the most part the car is fine,but once in awhile this happens,but never did it die like that before,and the volts never went down to the 12's before,normally at idle the volt meter reads about 13.5-13.7,then as your drive it goes up to 14's and what not,which i knew is normal,gonna change the battery and see if that happens,easier then doin the alternator,my battery is over a little 4 yrs....so i think its time to replace any how,

 

yup that's what i thought it's the battery. they usually go at about 4years, depends on where you live. well once you get it charged, i bet it fails the load test, but that's just my opinion

 

same thing has happened to me too... i need a new battery and i think my alternator is going bad too cause i never changed out the battery when it first started messing up because i thought it was good cause of the little blue and red dot indicator..... i have a cel and want to get it tested to see if its the alternator..

 

if it is the alternator, are the ones that auto zone or oreilley's sell good or should i get it from somewhere else???

 

The battery indicators aren't very accurate. The best way is to go to someone that you know or autozone to get your charging system checked. This in turn checks out your battery and alternator. With a good battery tester, it would tell you if either of the parts passed or failed, and the current voltage in the battery and the charging volts of the alternator.

 

Interesting,I'm here thinking,My battery is good cause of that blue with red dot,but then Im thinking to myself,well how accurate is that really,does anyone else have that issue or know more about these batteries,Tried looking into it here on SL didnt find much info on it,then a few people with the 05-06 models has similar problems as i did and there bettery still read the blue with red dot,and battery was a little over 4 yrs and failed the battery load test,which is basicially means time to replace it,But im just glad that i know now that,the battery icon isnt accurate and i suspected that,that"s why i made a thread for others to benefit also,but i think this info should be in the Sticky if not already..I thought it may have been like a Sensor or something....

 

yea man mine is a 06 as yours is and were both in the same boat. im more in it than u since my cel is on and i think it may be my alternator thats going out. weird thing about it is, this last time my battery died, i took it to autozone to have them charge it up and to test it to see if it can hold a charge. i go back about 2hrs later and they tell me that it held the charge fine and that im good to go. so im like, ok. cool. the battery is charged and i shouldnt have naymore problems right? wrong.. put the battery in the car and just started it up to see if it was good. it started up fine and i just turned it off since i wasnt going anywhere till tomorrow morining (work).

morning comes and i get in my car, turn it on and its idling real low to were i have to rev it up to keep it from dying. i read on here that its common for our cars to idle low for a while after the battery was disconnected so i didnt think much of it but since it was happening to me the whole day and since my car kept dying everytime i would put it in neutral i knew it wasnt normal. no cel light comes on tho, until this past saturday. drove from the east side of town to the west side to a party and on my way back the car started jolting and then the cel came on... need to wait till the weekend to get it checked but im hoping its nothing too major..