This is the second year that the same thing has been happening. As soon as it gets cold, I have trouble with my battery.
I go to my car, try to start it and nothing… the battery is dead. No auxilliary items or headlights left on.
I jump the car, it works fine. I let it charge, load up the battery and take a drive just to ensure things are okay.
An hour later, the battery is dead again.
It happened three times last year and twice so far this year. So, what am I looking at here? Does this problem go deeper than the battery?
What do you think I should do? I’m a poor college student so if I can avoid buying anything, it would be great!
If the battery keeps going dead, I would think the alternator could be the reason. But I suppose it could just be a battery that doesn’t hold a charge well when cold. Some auto parts shops test your alternator and/or battery for free, so try there.
Second year, huh? Same battery as last year? If so, replace it, no matter what other problems may be found.
No problem in warm weather? Virtual certainty the alternator’s okay. Still, easy enough to check the charging voltage with a voltmeter. Should be about 14-14.5 volts idling with moderate electrical load (headlights on, blower on high).
It would be nice to know what the key-off drain on the battery is. It can be tested with an ammeter, but ammeters tend to be pricey compared to volt-ohmmeters. Normal drain on modern cars is typically 15-20 milliamps. If you get this far, be aware that many cars have circuits that are energized for up to an hour after the key is turned off or the battery reconnected. This means there’s a certain efficient way to approach taking the measurement, which if not followed will result in great frustration and/or a bogus result.
I’d say a faulty battery is the most likely culprit, but an accurate diagnosis requires specific test results that we’re not likely to get.
I agree it’s probably the batt. It should have a year/month code on a sticker, take it to any dealer that sells that brand, they will load test it and if it has a bad cell, which I suspect, they will prorate the cost of a new one.
I’m gonna’ guess that you bought el-cheapo and I suggest you trade up for, at least, a five year batt., especially since you live in an area with extreme temp. variation.
I typed too soon without thinking. I had the car for two years… that’s why I spoke of the past two winters.
The battery is older… not much older, but older.
I’m having a milder version of the OP’s problem. So here’s a really, really stupid question: how do you buy a battery? Are all batteries more or less configured the same? Does price/brand matter? Is replacement a simple do-it-yourself job? And how much can I expect to pay at Autozone?
Automotive batteries are not all the same. For best results, get a battery that meets all the specifications for your particular car.
Batteries come in different configurations (which includes dimensions and terminal orientation) known as “group size.” You need the right group size for the battery to physically fit into your car. They also have different electrical ratings (specifications such as cold cranking amps - CCA - and reserve capacity) and different expected lifespans (reflected in the warranty period). Within a group size, price varies by the electrical capacity and lifespan. Getting a battery with stronger electrical strength than called for doesn’t hurt anything and might be a benefit in certain situations (e.g. left the lights on for a while), but sometimes means spending more than necessary and not getting anything for it. Getting one with weaker electrical strength than called for risks having problems and is usually a false economy. As far as the length of warranty, you generally get what you pay for there, with the notation that if the battery fails prematurely you have to go to a vendor that honors that battery’s warranty in order to get the prorated credit towards buying its replacement.
Sorry, I overlooked the do-it-yourself question. On most cars, it’s fairly simple and straightforward. Typically requires basic wrenches and just takes a few minutes. On some, however, it can be rather challenging. It depends on the location of the battery and how it’s held in place.
If you do it yourself, do yourself a big favor and get a battery terminal brush (if it’s a top-post design). Use it to clean the inside of the cable ends so they’re shiny clean. Then spread open the cable ends and fit them all the way down onto the posts (a little bit of the post will stick out above the ends). This will help ensure maximum connectivity. If it’s a side-post design, likewise use a wire brush to clean the cable ends that contact the battery terminals. It doesn’t have to be specially made for the purpose, but might do a better job more easily if it is.
To minimize the chance of unintended arc welding of a wrench to the car body, always disconnect negative first and reconnect negative last.
I don’t know a whole lot about automotive batteries. But I have never bought into the notion that higher CCA = better battery. I recall reading something along these lines once:
In order to increase the CCA for a given battery size (LxWxH), you need more plate surface area. To get more plate surface area, you need to use more plates. In order to fit more plates into the battery, each plate must be thinner. But there is a downside to using thinner plates… they’re not as durable and they’re more susceptible to corrosion & sulfation. Batteries with very thin plates are less likely to survive a complete discharge, which mean if you buy a very high CCA battery that is the same size as your normal battery, you had better make sure you never leave your lights on.
Anyway, I could be all wet here, but that’s what I recall reading.
Battery class is now in session.
Heat kills batteries, but the damage does not show up until the cold weather arrives. So in the case of the OP, the damage was done last summer or the summer before. In the summer however the battery has a pretty easy time of it. When ole man winter shows up, it takes a lot electrical energy to turn over a cold motor with thick oil. Add to that the cold slows down the chemical reactions in the battery, a cold start in winter is truely a stress test for a battery.
this is because an alternator is not designed to charge a dead battery. An alternator is designed to keep a fully charged battery fully charged, or to bring an almost fully charged battery back to fully charged.
About do it yourself replacements:
First off if your battery is dirty or has corrosion on the terminals or on the battery tray, that stuff is acidic. I doubt it would burn your skin, but if you get it on your clothes, when you wash them you may have some very unique holes that were not there before. You can buy battery cleaner in a spay can, or you can mix up some baking soda and water to clean the area.
Not only does size matter so does orentation of the terminals.
Two batteries that have terminals like this
Battery 1
-
Battery 2
+
Are not identical.
Which brings up the next and perhaps the most important point of this post. If you can not identify with 100% accuracy which is the positive battery cable and which is the negative battery cable, pay someone else to replace the battery. Trust me it will be a lot cheaper in the end. I once saw a car owner that did $2500 worth of damage when he hooked up his battery backwards.
And let me repeat Gary T’s words here
I’m pretty sure you can walk in to any Advance Auto store and say “hullo, I’d like to buy a battery. Can you tell me which one I need, and then install it for me?” and they will hook you up (literally. ha!). I don’t know if it’s a free service or not, but they do it.
I think battery installion is free at Advance Auto, but I wouldn’t get one of their batteries if you want to keep the vehicle more than a couple years. I got 6 years from my original Ford Motorcraft battery, when it died I replaced it with an Advance Auto Titanium battery ($60 or so IIRC.) It only lasted 2 years before it died. So I spent the extra ~$20 and bought another Motorcraft.
Summary: I would get a Sears Diehard, or an Interstate, or another good brand.
I tried to start it today just to see how it acted. After failing to start the car, I went around to look under the hood at which time I heard a clicking sound… this is after the car had been turned off, key out of ignition, etc. Could this be relative to the alternator?
Also, while getting the info off the battery to look up prices (an AC delco, 100 bucks… ouch!) I read that there was an indicator with colors which change according to the battery being ready to charge or in need of replacement. Green said that the battery was in acceptable state for charging…
and the indicator was green. Are these indicators accurate at all or just for show?
That’s not what the indicator means. Green means it is charged enough for testing. That may not always be true, however. Where the indicator is useful is when it’s not green, in which case it should be charged before testing.
The indicator does not tell you whether or not the battery is faulty.
I hope you’ve asked this last question out of academic curiosity. If you’re hoping to somehow salvage this battery I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed. The symptoms you’ve described pretty clearly indicate that this battery cannot be trusted to hold a charge.