Time for a new battery?

[delguini]

Hey guys, i live in Montreal Canada, and the winters get rather nasty here. Up until now, we've had a rather mild winter (by our standards - knock on wood) but the rare nights it has been -15 degrees celcius or so (10 degrees farenheit) the car has had trouble starting in the morning. It cranks really really slow, but eventually starts. I've got 130,000km on her (81,000miles), i run Mobil1 5w30 fully synthetic, is it time to change her battery out? One thing i have noticed is when i park the car and my lights are shining on the garage and i tap the gas a bit and rev her, the lights get a little brighter. Maybe that's another clue it's starting to go? The last thing i need is to try to start the car at -20 degrees and it wont start.

Thanks
Joey

 

[MTV]

Change it. You don't wanna get stuck.

If it's harder to crank when it's cold, its the battery.

 

[i12drivemyMP5]

May wanna check out your alt too if it isn't new. I replaced my battery but still had the AC/light draw that would dim them a little. Plugged in a buddys radar detector that actually has a volt meter built in & it was only getting 11.7 - 12.4 volts. A month or so later the infamous batt light made it's debut on the dash but luckily I was in the garage when this occurred so just hopped in teh truck. Put the new alt pulley on the new alt & did the wp & ps ones as well while changing alt out. Getting 13.7 - 14.4 volts now.

 

[ForceFed]

Judging by milage and weather conditions...It most likely to be the battery...But have the Alternator checked out at your local parts store...Most ..if not all..do it for free..on or off the car.
Just drive it in.

 

[i12drivemyMP5]

Our alternators are not to be tested off the vehicle. The manual states that & the new alt had a sticker on it too that said same thing.

 

[slo4now]

If its the battery, might as well save some weight and go with
an Odyssey battery, they are like 13.5lbs compared to 35-40lbs
and pretty inexpensive. I used to run the PC680 batt on my Cobra w/
no problems.

 

[wiprotege5]

Had the same problems and use the same oil. The stock battery in the cold sucks, its too small and only about 540 cold cranking amps. I went with an OPTIMA RED TOP (oh yeah, 740 cca) and no problems since. Today, it was -5 F in WI and my 02 P5 started right up.

 

[delguini]

got a new motormaster battery, starts up right away, nice and smooth

i know it's probably a placebo effect, but the shifting on the car seems way less jerky. Dont flame me for that comment please lol

thanks
joey

 

[NCZ13]

considering the battery literally has no function on how the car operates when the engine is running means yes. its a placebo effect... a very strange one lol.

 

[delguini]

very strange indeed, but at the same time, the battery was unhooked for over a min so the ECU must have reset and is maybe learning my driving habits all over again.

no idea, but ya, i have been noticing a difference.

 

[tonybonekhang]

Keep in mind that when it gets that cold even a new battery won't help you. I'm from WI and the past week has been in the negative teens. As batteries get colder they output less CCA than they are capable of. Engines also get harder to turn from the parts and oil being cold. Put the two together and even a brand new battery at the stock rating will have problems firing up.

Truthfully your battery is probably fine for 90% of the year. During the coldest weeks of the year everyone has problems starting their car. I work at Firestone and we installed a new battery on this car. She came back the next day because it wouldn't start. Battery was fine, It was just too friggen cold. A lot of people buy new batteries this time of year just because of that one time it doesn't start.

I'd recomend just buying a booster pack that you can keep charged and warm in the house instead of a new battery every winter for each car.

 

[bucksatan]

Remember, the original poster was from canada, and so it was -15C, which works out to +5F, whereas -15F is about -26C. A 10 degree difference (in C of course, I am canadian too) is pretty big, especially when it is that cold.

When it is below -20C I like to plug my car in at night, which was a much bigger issue when I worked in northern ontario and some mornings were -45 or -50C.

 

[delguini]

Well today was -20 celcius (-30 with the wind) (-5F) and it started up really well A+++

I'm totally glad i got a new battery as the old one was the original Panasonic and it had about 130,000km on it.

 

[marshall@rayova]

Cold start Mazda 3

Had the same problems and use the same oil. The stock battery in the cold sucks, its too small and only about 540 cold cranking amps. I went with an OPTIMA RED TOP (oh yeah, 740 cca) and no problems since. Today, it was -5 F in WI and my 02 P5 started right up.

As an old geezah who's wasted his life on battery research, I was amazed at how sluggish my 2006 '3' was yesterday at Madison airport just 28 hours after leaving it there, albeit about 0F. Left the wife's Solara at Milwaukee airport for 11 days over Christmas with god knows how much parasitic drain from anti-theft, clock, radio, etc and it kicked over at 0F faster than my 3 does in the garage on a summer's morning.

SO.........The stock battery in the cold sucks...CORRECT, and since none of my mates would ever come out to jump me I'm looking for an upgraded battery 'with a quickness'

Note - MSN airport maybe blessed with Great Dane beers, but midweek you won't get a space in the main (covered) car park - so you'll freeze your goolies off waiting in the long-term lot for the bus and maybe miss your flight

 

[wiprotege5]

As an old geezah who's wasted his life on battery research, I was amazed at how sluggish my 2006 '3' was yesterday at Madison airport just 28 hours after leaving it there, albeit about 0F. Left the wife's Solara at Milwaukee airport for 11 days over Christmas with god knows how much parasitic drain from anti-theft, clock, radio, etc and it kicked over at 0F faster than my 3 does in the garage on a summer's morning.

SO.........The stock battery in the cold sucks...CORRECT, and since none of my mates would ever come out to jump me I'm looking for an upgraded battery 'with a quickness'

Note - MSN airport maybe blessed with Great Dane beers, but midweek you won't get a space in the main (covered) car park - so you'll freeze your goolies off waiting in the long-term lot for the bus and maybe miss your flight

I've noticed my dad's 07 Mazda 3 GT battery sucks in the winter, BRAND NEW. Mazda leaves a good 2-3 inches extra to put a bigger battery in, I just wished they would. Hense, I bought an optima. When I'm at college, I leave my car out in -5F weather for a week or so and it starts right up.

 

[tonybonekhang]

Most stock batteries in any car won't fire up in the northern states after a few years. If you replace it and live up north always go for more CCA.

 

[P-Funk!]

For extreme cold starts - turn your headlights on for a minute. Turn off and then start. The draw from the headlights will warm the battery and give you more starting power than not doing it at all.

 

[maniac_2oo4]

I sort of have a similar question..

I'm actually from Montreal Canada too, but I have a garage so I don't have problems with starting my car in the winter.

However, today I installed an amp and a small 10' sub in my car, and, of course, the lights and everything dim out from time to time.

Of course this is predictible behaviour, but what I wanna ask is:
is it normal?
can it damage anything?
is it because my battery's dying soon, and I should preemtively get a new one?
is there something I can buy that regulates the voltage that would help?

Thank you

 

[delguini]

I used to have an amp and subs back in the day.

from what i understand, subs and an amp put a bunch of stress on your alternator.

To prevent that i bought myself a capacitator (i think that's the word ) and it helped a lot. the lights wouldn't dim anymore and evrything ran a lot more smoothly.

hope this helps