Any tips on how to keep your car battery going with the upcoming deep freeze?

[WI_DEM]

through the mid section of the country starting late tonight and for the rest of the week, there will be several days of temperatures day and night with windchills of 30-50 below. The coldest we've seen in some time. Just curious as to any tips on how to keep the car battery running when you don't have a garage for protection?

Thanks!

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Oil pan heater or take the battery out and keep indoors.

[Andy823]

2. A block heater

Works also. I have both an oil pan heater and block heater on my old 85 chevy diesel. When it gets really cold I plug them both in, otherwise I just use the block heater, which does better than just an oil pan heater from my past experience when I only had the oil pan heater and not the block heater.

[sandnsea]

4. Right, block heater

I couldn't remember what it heated. That's what we used in Montana.

[Nickster]

24. Be EXTREMELY careful about taking the battery inside. I used to do that all the time, but as

technology has advanced, vehicles have become much more complex mechanisms. I took a battery out of my car a few winters ago and it caused a major problem because the car's computer brain lost all juice. I can't tell you how hard it was to find someone knowledgable enough to figure out how to reprogram the computer part of the car not to mention diagnosing the problem to begin with. If you have an older car, you should be fine, heck that's how I grew up with cars and what I was taught, so the computer thing was a complete surprise to me.

[sandnsea]

3. You need an engine heater

Call Knects or whatever auto store and find one and have them hold it for you. And you might want to bring the battery in too.

[doc03]

5. If you can run electric cord to your car get a battery

maintainer. You could also get one of those portable jump starters, if your battery is low they work great. A block heater keeps the engine oil warm and therefore makes it easier to crank but does nothing for the battery. You could also leave your car running.:sarcasm:

[ogneopasno]

6. Get yourself a block heater. Works great.

[mrcheerful]

7. And a trickle charger on the battery along with the oil pan heater, also

using 10/30 oil helps, remember the thicker the oil you use means the harder the starter has to turn over to get car/truck started in the cold. Best thing, a heated garage, lol.

[theoldman]

8. I lived in Vermont where the temperature dropped to 20 below.

An engine block heater was all I needed. I never had a problem with the battery.

[MADem]

9. Maybe a battery blanket would see you through....

http://www.jcwhitney.com/BLANKET-STYLE-BATTERY-WARMER/GP_2006128_N_111+10201+600000917_10101.jcw

[DS1]

10. Wind chill just makes things get cold faster

It won't make them colder than the ambient temperature.

[Blue_In_AK]

11. Be sure to have a block heater installed.

We all use those up here, and even when it was -30 last week, we had no problem starting our truck. We've had almost two weeks of subzero temps.

[WI_DEM]

12. Thanks for the tips, everybody!

[TreasonousBastard]

13. If the battery is in good shape, it should start the car...

down to zero and below. The right oil is probably a little more important to reduce initial friction in the engine.

Should you be reasonably paranoid and don't have another car that would start so you can jumpstart the car, one of those jumpstarting gadgets sold at parts stores would work, or you could by a cheap battery and charger and have it ready in case the car battery craps out-- these would be far more convenient than taking the car battery in and out of the car when it's 10 below out there.

[elocs]

14. Wind chill has no effect on inanimate objects. They can only get as cold as the air temperature.

The best way to have your car start in super cold weather is to have a good battery. My last car was 11 years old and I never had any trouble starting it even in the coldest of winter weather. Decades ago I did use a tank heater and at times did take the battery inside at night, but there is no substitute for a good battery and they are so much better today than they used to be.

[trotsky]

16. ^^^^^ Totally recommend this post.

Today's batteries are head and shoulders over what they used to be. The other big boon for winter starting was the invention of fuel injection. No more tapping the gas juuuuuuust enough... OOOPS! flooded.

[screembloodymurder]

15. Keep your car in a heated garage.

Or bring your battery in at night. It helps to have a good battery.

[mojowork_n]

17. An oil change should come first.

Sub-freezing temperatures are hard on your engine, so oil change intervals should be shorter (more frequent) this time of year.

Or-- spending a couple of extra bucks for the best synthetic oil (which most people leave in the engine a little longer) is a good idea.

Either way, in this kind of weather (I live in Milwaukee, I'm not looking forward to the next few days either), standard 10w-30 oil is too thick. 5w-20 or 5w-30 oil doesn't get that stiff, taffy-like maple-syrup-consistency, even when it's below zero. That way, your car's battery doesn't have to work any harder, when it's at its lowest efficiency and output, to push sludgy, cold oil through all the small passageways in the engine.

An engine block heater effectively does the same thing, by preheating the oil, but they need time to work and you don't always have a place to plug them in.

If you're not sure about your car's battery, most auto parts stores have portable battery test equipment. They typically don't charge you anything to run a "load check," for the chance to sell you a new battery, if the battery you have now really isn't up to spec.

[WI_DEM]

18. Good point on the oil change

[mojowork_n]

28. A book about Agnes Morehead ?!?

She could curdle milk with just a look, from across the street.

Margaret Hamilton was afraid of her.

In a mujera a mujera catfight, she'd totally wither the she-creature in Aliens, with just a furrow of her brow and a sneer of contempt.

I had no idea she was so accomplished, in every area of acting. Looks like an interesting book to pick up.

[Ilsa]

19. Do you have access to public transportion?

Just in case, know the routes, time, and have necessary currency, just in case your car still doesn't start.

good luck. We are having pleasantly freezing cold weather where I live in Texas. Nothing real dangerous, though.

[Roon]

20. Hang a trouble light right above your battery and gently lower the hood

don't close it, but just enough to cover the engine. The light will keep your battery warm.

[liam_laddie]

21. Use synthetic oil

like Mobil 1 or other similar products. These flow very well in below zero temps. In fact, such lubricants were developed decades ago by the US military for Arctic conditions.
Another way to keep the battery "up" is to place a 75-100 flood lamp under the hood, aimed at the battery. Not too close, but enough to get the radiant heat "into" the battery case; means running an extension cord outside but that's generally feasible. Works for me...
On edit...same as #20

[qb]

22. The first thing you should do is invest in a $5 terminal cleaner.

This is a little wire brush device that will clean all of the corrosion off the terminals and the inside of the contacts. This will improve charging & starting efficiency. Also make sure lights, heater & stereo are off before you try starting in cold weather. My dad was convinced that turning your headlights on for a second and then off again before starting gets the juice flowing... I don't know if there's anything to that one.

[kestrel91316]

23. Just drive your cars out here to SoCal. It's mid 80s today and tomorrow

and tonight is only gonna drop down to about 60. Highly abnormal. Warm winds have been howling for days, and fire danger is back up to high.

January is normally our coldest, wettest month.

[TheCowsCameHome]

25. Keep it garaged if possible.

At least overnight when temps are coldest.

[Dawgs]

26. Drive South.

Worked for me.

:)

[CatholicEdHead]

27. Block heater $35+ labor to install

All my cars I have had always have them. It comes in handy in NW MN and North Dakota. It will be much better starting in -20 mornings this upcoming week.

[Winterblues]

29. You can buy a heated dipstick for a lot less

It does exactly the same thing and only cost about twelve dollars. Just use it in place of your regular dipstick on those really cold nights and your engine will turn over much easier.

[ThomWV]

30. You've got it easy - if you drive a diesel and it gets that cold the fuel turns to jelly

The fuel gels in the tank, fuel lines, filters, fuel rails (a part of the injection system) and that's all she wrote until it warms back up. All the batteries in the world won't get you running.

[4_TN_TITANS]

31. Insulation blanket?

I can't believe I'm in TN and the first (I think) to mention an insulation blanket made for batteries. It could be because most of the time here that's all you really need... Just be careful about flames and sparks because of the explosive fumes.