I recently moved from Florida to Oregon. It is winter here and my some mornings my car doesn't want to start. After not driving it for 3 days I found the battery was completly dead. I replaced the battery in Florida about 5 months ago so it is a new battery. Is there anything I can do to stop the cold weather from draining the battery?
2007-01-03 17:27:22 · 15 answers · asked by SparklyThingz 2 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
The weather doesn't drain your battery, hot or cold. If it's slow to start it may need spark plugs, perhaps an oil change. Have a talk with your mechanic. It is true that batteries in very cold weather (and I'm talking below zero) lost some capacity, but they aren't drained, they just aren't as effective at 20 below as they are at 70.
2007-01-03 17:38:01 · answer #1 · answered by oklatom 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
10 minutes idling is not a good idea. Just starting the car might use more power than is replenished by a few minutes of idling. The best thing to do is to keep the battery on a trickle charger if you have access to an outlet. If not that then simply put it on a charger about once a month and fully charge the battery if the car goes unused for that long. More frequently than once a month won't hurt anything. A car battery self discharges at a rate between 2% and 10% per week. Batteries self discharge faster in a warm temperature, more slowly when cold. That's one of the reasons people sometimes keep an unused battery in a refrigerator, mainly the smaller portable device type batteries. The more discharged it is the more likely it will be damaged.
2016-03-29 06:58:39 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
First, I would take the vehicle to a shop and make sure you don't have an electrical drain on the battery when it's not running. If it checks out ok then, I would buy a battery with a higher cold cranking amps rating (for cold weather starting). That should solve your problem. good luck
2007-01-03 17:35:16 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
kiss. keep it simple sis, what ever, stop down to the local auto parts store and ask if they could take a look at your charging system. if they can test to see how well the alternator is charging, the belt condition, what shape are the battery cables are in. could be all of that is fine and you just have a loose connection somewhere. that's all it takes to make it so the battery won't recharge. another thing to consider is; what weight oil do you have in your engine? when i drove my old chevelle out to nebraska from connecticut i found out real quick, you can't run 20-40 racing oil in the winter in nebraska. hope these ideas and the others help you solve the problem. good luck and why the heck did you move to oregon??? heehee!!
2007-01-03 18:41:26 · answer #4 · answered by car dude 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The cheapest surefire way to address this if you don't want to find why batt is draining is to install a battery disconnect switch. If you have a side post battery as most are you'll need the blade type.It's about 30.00 to $35.00 and quickly bolts between your battery and the cable. Put it on whichever one is most easily reached as you'll have to open the hood every time that you want to leave it set for few days.If your batt still is weak then you'll for sure need to try to get warranty credit for it from a dealer of that battery brand.All batteries have a date code stamped on them
2007-01-03 18:27:30 · answer #5 · answered by Sovereign and Sui-Juris 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You must have an issue with the alternator, etc.. The battery itself is probably fine, it's just not charging properly. Oregon is not North Dakota, a block heater should not be a necessity (but they don't hurt).
2007-01-03 17:31:18 · answer #6 · answered by michinoku2001 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
a pretty good site to look @ that will explain a effect to batteries w/ climate is www.uuhome.de a jump of that sort sounds like you may have deeper issue's, but start @ the battery first. test it then move on.
2007-01-03 17:42:43 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Go to the auto parts store, and buy one of those battery warming blankets. They are made out of black vynyl, and just wrap around the car battery. All you have to do is plug it in when the vehicle is not in use, and unplug it before the vehicle is in use. You can also leave it installed when its out of season.
2007-01-03 17:38:09 · answer #8 · answered by Craig C 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
buy a "battery tender" and hook it up and plug it in when you're not using the car. It puts a slow charge in the battery,keeping it charged up for those cold mornings.
2007-01-03 18:07:11 · answer #9 · answered by Wolfman 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You can plug your vehicle in, but you can't prevent cold weather by draining your battery...LOL
2007-01-03 17:29:33 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋