winter..... and batteries...

[Yorkshire Andy]

Well the old jalopy has been sluggish cranking past couple of weeks cold on Friday really highlighted this .... Saturday mid morning it was a bit groggy

And out with the batter tester yesterday..

Didn't leave me stranded but guessing if I hadn't replaced it, it would have done shortly

[Squirrelcatcher]

Yes, mine has recently needed convincing a second time before staring. Maybe I need to replace.
However - I was also thinking, is it partly down to the cold and would there be any way in which you could attach a small slave battery as a "keep warm and alive" type.
I bow to your greater knowledge in this area.

[Yorkshire Andy]

Id get the battery tested (the tester I have cost me £25... I distrust places who offer "free" battery tests

If you have a good local independent garage go ask them to test it .. that unit above also tests cranking and the charge system

That bad winter 9 years back pushing -15 and the last car started no issue..

You can get little lithium jump packs but they push the price of a new battery

If your car's a diesel check it's glow plug system .. don't think it's cold enough yet for diesel to "wax"

[unsure]

ive had to replace both of mine today . it was starting to crank over a bit slower than normal .
like andy , i ran a test and it came back replace on both of them . they were 6 years old and considered cheap , as in not excide and for the price of 2 new ones , i was`nt going to risk it .
as for diesel waxing , not heard of that for years , most companies [ bp texaco ect ] only supply winter diesel with More addatives .

[jansman]

I don't know about additives in diesel now,but I can remember 2010 when truck drivers were lighting fires when their tanks froze,and the deisel waxed.Saw it first hand up and down the A47 when I was delivering.I made sure I used a petrol van( Rascal) and not a diesel that week.

[Yorkshire Andy]

We had issues with the forklifts at work waxing nowt a good glug of unleaded couldn't solve .

[blue90]

Be wary of battery testers, we used a SnapOn one at work and it condemned some decent batteries and passed others that were totalled.

Hook up a multimeter to the battery and test voltage, now turn the engine over, the voltage shouldn't drop by too much, if your battery is healthy do it now, make a note of the voltage drop and when things slow down you have something to compare it to. But depending on the vehicle it shouldn't drop below 11. 9-10 volts and its heading that way, below 9 and its goosed.

Measure the battery trey, buy the biggest A/Hrs battery you can get in there, my Landy is supposed to have an 072 which has a CCA of around 550, sod that, I fitted a 110 Ahrs CCA 950 battery to it and used a starter motor with twice the Kw output than the standard one, it now turns over faster than it ever did, fires up straight away and I have enough battery power to accidently leave my side lights on all day with no effect what so ever (whoops), cold weather doesnt bother it at all. 2 years on, glow plugs on a switch, 2.5 indirect injection diesel engine, everyday use with only a 45 amp alternator and its still like new.

https://www.halfords.com/motoring/batte ... 81670.html

[Yorkshire Andy]

Well the tester confirmed my thoughts that it was fubar..

Those who are aware of their car has a good understanding of how it sounds / feels at cranking it's always good for diagnosis... Sisters car had starting issues... Battery tested fine . Using the old school 100a load drop tester soon pointed to a knackered "earth" strap by testing down stream from the battery....

Quick test involving a decent jump lead..... Bingo fault found £20 for a new chassis to gear box link... Good as new.......



I cooked my Lidl jump pack when the wife's car died that battery failed to short was fine a few weeks prior

So £100 ISH dropped on

https://www.sipuk.co.uk/sip-03936-rescu ... pMQAvD_BwE

We have one at work and it kicks a 5l Perkins diesel lump over quiet happily from cold..


Next up this weekend is test the coolant it's due a change in mine but the big Covid thing has prevented me doing it but it should be ok.... The hydrometer will tell all though...

Oh and £10 from China I've fixed the Lidl unit