DO?IT?YOURSELFMAINTENANCE -> Checking battery condition for Your Toyota 4 Runner SUV Fourth Generation (2003-2009)

07 12.25  
Checking battery condition—  
—Precautions  
—Checking battery exterior  
Terminals  
D If electrolyte gets on your skin,  
thoroughly wash the contact area. If  
you feel pain or burning, get medi-  
cal attention immediately.  
CAUTION  
BATTERY PRECAUTIONS  
The battery produces flammable and  
explosive hydrogen gas.  
D If electrolyte gets on your clothes,  
there is a possibility of its soaking  
through to your skin, so immediate-  
ly take off the exposed clothing and  
follow the procedure above, if nec-  
essary.  
D Do not cause a spark from the bat-  
tery with tools.  
Ground cable  
D Do not smoke or light a match near  
the battery.  
Holddown  
clamp  
The electrolyte contains poisonous  
and corrosive sulfuric acid.  
D If you accidentally swallow electro-  
lyte, drink a large quantity of water  
or milk. Follow with milk of magne-  
sia, beaten raw egg or vegetable  
oil. Then go immediately for emer-  
gency help.  
D Avoid contact with eyes, skin or  
Check the battery for corroded or loose  
terminal connections, cracks, or loose  
holddown clamp.  
clothes.  
D Never ingest electrolyte.  
D Wear protective safety glasses when  
working near the battery.  
a. If the battery is corroded, wash it off  
with a solution of warm water and bak-  
ing soda. Coat the outside of the termi-  
nals with grease to prevent further cor-  
rosion.  
D Keep children away from the bat-  
tery.  
EMERGENCY MEASURES  
b. If the terminal connections are loose,  
tighten their clamp nuts—but do not  
overtighten.  
D If electrolyte gets in your eyes,  
flush your eyes with clean water  
immediately and get immediate  
medical attention. If possible, con-  
tinue to apply water with a sponge  
or cloth while en route to the medi-  
cal office.  
c. Tighten the holddown clamp only  
enough to keep the battery firmly in  
place. Overtightening may damage the  
battery case.  
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07 12.25  
—Checking battery condition  
Battery recharging precautions  
During recharging, the battery is pro-  
ducing hydrogen gas.  
NOTICE  
Type A  
Clear or light  
z Be sure the engine and all accesso-  
ries are off before performing main-  
tenance.  
Therefore, before recharging:  
Green  
Dark  
yellow  
1. If recharging with the battery installed  
on the vehicle, be sure to disconnect  
the ground cable.  
z When checking the battery, remove  
the ground cable from the negative  
terminal (“” mark) first and rein-  
stall it last.  
Type B
2. Be sure the power switch on the re-  
charger is off when connecting the  
charger cables to the battery and when  
disconnecting them.  
White  
Blue  
Red  
z Be careful not to cause a short cir-  
cuit with tools.  
CAUTION  
z Take care no solution gets into the  
battery when washing it.  
CHECKING BY INDICATOR  
D Always charge the battery in an un-  
confined area. Do not charge the  
battery in a garage or closed room  
where there is not sufficient ventila-  
tion.  
Check the battery condition by the indi-  
cator color.  
If the battery is disconnected or run  
down, the power window, power back win-  
dow and moon roof may not operate auto-  
matically, the jam protection function will  
not function correctly, and the back door  
will not open after you reconnect, replace  
or recharge the battery. In any of these  
cases, you should normalize the power  
window, power back window, back door  
and moon roof. To normalize them, see  
“Power windows” on page 27, “Power back  
window” on page 30, “Back door” on page  
32 and “Electric moon roof” on page 39  
in Section 12.  
Indicator color  
Condition  
D Only do  
a
slow charge (5  
A
or  
Type A  
Green  
Type B  
Blue  
less). Charging at a quicker rate is  
dangerous. The battery may ex-  
plode, causing personal injuries.  
Good  
Charging necessary.  
Have battery  
checked by your  
Toyota dealer.  
Dark  
White  
Red  
NOTICE  
Never recharge the battery while the  
engine is running. Also, be sure all  
accessories are turned off.  
Clear or  
light  
yellow  
Have battery  
checked by your  
Toyota dealer.  
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