I have a 2003 Ford Mustang (V6) that I don’t drive very much in the winter and because of the severely cold weather we’re experiencing in PA I keep encountering difficulties in keeping my battery from running down. I don’t want to have to drive it every day to keep it charged, and was wondering if it would be okay to remove the battery and keep it in my house? Will removing the battery cause any problems with the computer or my chip key’s programming?
Or should I be looking for a way to charge the battery from my driveway? For example, a heavy duty outdoor extension connected to a trickle charger overnight?
How old is your battery? We’ve been near or below zero F all week and I just hopped in and started my '07 Ion after it was sitting since last week Saturday. Popped right off. I’d look into the solar trickle chargers that are recommended for vehicles left in airport lots for weeks.
I don’t know specifics about your Mustang, but in general, removing the battery will often cause the engine computer to forget its settings, requiring the car to go through a “learning” period once the battery is re-installed. Some radio anti-theft systems get unhappy when the battery is removed. The manual for your car and/or your radio should outline any special procedures you need to go through.
Using a battery tender will eliminate those issues.
You’ll probably want to dump some fuel stabilizer in the gas tank as well.
If you can jack the car up onto blocks you’ll also avoid getting flat spots on your tires, though any flat spots will usually work their way back out on their own after a week or so of driving once the weather warms back up.
If you do run the car, don’t run it for very short periods, or water will condense in your exhaust and will rust it out very quickly. If you run the car, make sure you run it until it warms up completely (probably at least 15 to 20 minutes minimum) so that any water condensation will flash into steam and will just get expelled out the exhaust pipe.