Issue With Ignition Turning On

[lenore]

Ok just recently when the key is turned to the start position the Ready lamp does not come on, just all of the warning lamps. When you hit the start position one more time then the Ready lamp comes on. Could this be a ignition switch issue? Has anybody else had this issue? And can just the switch be replaced, not the whole lock assembly.? Note this is a Hybrid 2008 400h with 166k miles. My thoughts are either the ignition switch is intermittent or the ignition start relay....

[VBdenny]

Tough call with a hybrid I think. As much as it may pain you you'll probably have to take it to Toyota to get repaired. While it sounds like an ignition switch, could be anything. That puppy is packed with all kinds of sensors.

[lenore]

Ok, I will give a few days for verification, but I checked the battery last night and found two cells at below 75% charge rate. Voltage was at 11.8 Volts, and under examination one cell was not holding a charge at all. Went to Costco and bought new battery, took it home and installed. Voltage was at 12.5volts. Even after running to Costco the old battery had actually measured worse at 10.9 volts. I am crossing my fingers that was the problem. The car came to Ready immediately without a requiring a second try on the ignition switch this morning.

[VBdenny]

Amazing how a battery can cause so many weird problems. Glad you got it all squared up.

Denny

[RX400h]

Low voltage can cause strange things to happen in any vehicle. Years ago my wife's Honda dash started showing warning icons while I was driving it. It turned out that the battery had at least one bad cell at only 2 years old.

Last week, our second battery failed as expected after 5 years (same age as the OEM battery when it was near failure). A fresh Costco battery brought her back to life for about $90 - $20 for the old one. The NAV territory setting went from the west coast to Virginia, but that was easily reset.