dead battery?

[lunarhighway]

it would seem my battery does not like the cold.
ok it's an old battery, i've accidently let it run dry a couple of times in the past, and now i shut of the engine but not the headlights at stoplights...so most likely i've been pushing it a little further than i should have, but it only recent began to behave badly when it started freezing.... two days ago i had to jumpstart the car and today while dropping my drother off on my way to work (car had spend the night inside and started right away), like any good gassaver i shut the (now somewhat warmed up) engine off, and not a minute later i can't start again.... so fortunately we're on an empty parkinglot, and bumpstarting has become second nature so with a little push from my bro i'm off again.... i figure given enough space i could do this myself, but this is not how i plan to start my car in the future.

so what's going on... is it the cold, is the battery dead for, and of so what should i replace it with... would a deep cycle battery be worth getting...or might there be something else going on that prevents my battery from chareing.

my initial thought is that it's not in top condition, but most porblems are caused by the cold... in wich case battery insulation might be helpfull.

any thoughts or advide on this?

better make sure i'm not the last guy in the parking lot tonight...

[JanGeo]

Get home - park inside the garage? - turn on the headlights and wait for them to get dim. Make note of the time it takes to run the battery down - if it is not 5 hours or 3 hours or 2 hours you have a worn out battery. Charge it back up again and drive to your favorate battery store and swap it out for a new one.

[lunarhighway]

mmm ok think indeed the thing has sadly passed away...

my dad's old car is due to head for the scrapheap, so i could have that battery (along with some more goodies if i ask nicely), but he's probably driving it for another week or so, untill he can get his new car registred etc, bad timing but it could be worse...

should i get a complete new battery, what's worth getting what should i look for in the specs?

[GasSavers_SD26]

Each time you run a battery down in it's voltage, you really hurt it. Push a deep cycle battery down below 10.8 volts, and you're severely limiting it's life.

A battery is just a place that stores power. If you're not keeping enough power in it when you stop, it won't work for the job you give it. Even an ignition has a power requirement, and it takes time for the alternator to replenish the power you use for start up and ignition and fuel uses.

Cold slows down the excitement of the energy in the battery. Yeah, a warm battery will be more excited than a cold one. You can actually buy a battery warmer. Drag through thick, cold oil will take more power at start up too.

[VetteOwner]

Originally Posted by lunarhighway

mmm ok think indeed the thing has sadly passed away...

my dad's old car is due to head for the scrapheap, so i could have that battery (along with some more goodies if i ask nicely), but he's probably driving it for another week or so, untill he can get his new car registred etc, bad timing but it could be worse...

should i get a complete new battery, what's worth getting what should i look for in the specs?

i know your in a different country but i wouldnt think it would matter, but the auto parts store should be able to look up on thier computers and see what your car needs. then buy that one. be sure to bring your old one in. they recycle them and properly dispose of what cant be reused

[lunarhighway]

well it's clear now, the battery is no more... had to use jumper cables to get away from work today and i don't think my co worker would like to repeat that tomorrow... so i hope i can get the car going again tomorrow morning... shouldn't be a problem as my dad's new car will be there...and than i'm off to the garage where my dad works to swap in a new one.... this is the battery that came with the car,it's been changed at some point but in a 20+ year old car that i've owned for 2 years now... well time for a new battery.

hopefully my milage will improve slightly as recently it's been just horrible...

[GasSavers_Ryland]

At 32F or 0C your battery has only 65% of the energy it did at 80F, and at freezing, your engine oil has thickened to the point that it takes one and a half times as much energy to turn the engine over, at -0-F your battery has 40% of the energy it did in the summer and the engine is more then twice as hard to turn over so as you can see the colder it gets, the harder the engine turns over, and the less energy your battery has in it, this is why people have their cars die in the winter.
most batteries also have a spot where you can mark what date it was bought, then figure it will last 3-5 years depending on how harshly it was used.

[VetteOwner]

3-5 years? i lasted 9 years on the stock AC delco battery in my truck.

BTW modern batteries suck, they give NO warning that thier gonna die...can start up quick and fast on the way to work yet when you go to leave completely dead...

[lunarhighway]

i think this one must have lasted about 10 years as well... when i bougth the car the garage that serviced it all it's life tolled me that the battery had been replaced only once... it belonged to an older lady and it spend more time in the garage than on the road, but still... if this one lasts that long the car will be gong before the rest.

it's nice to have a fit battery with this weather...