[Scooby]

Well My Car's been sitting still in the driveway for about six months now until i can afford safety / e-test / insurance etc.
i've been starting it everyother day just so the engine wouldn't be messed come summertime.
The other day when it was -30 the car wouldn't turn over... Hoping something wasn't wrong i tried on a warmer day (About +2*C) and thankfully it turned over.
Today i filled it with gas and a bottle of gasline antifreeze but when i tried to turn it over, nothing happend. it was about -1*.
A buddy of mine said my battery was probobly dead but he's not the brightest when it comes to cars, i was just wondering if it's just the weather or if my battery could infact be dead...
My bad if this sounds stupid but i know very little about cars.

 

[mori0174]

could be that its too cold, could be that the battery is getting weak.

 

[nova]

Same thing happend to my mom's car, she thought the brakes were bad and left it sitting for a few months, when I tried to get it to run The batterie was dead.

To make sure its the batt and not cold weather see if lights will turn on and stuff, if they dont its most likely the batterie is dead.

 

[Grimreaperman]

i've worked on cars, mainly the old pushrods but a battery when warm, lets say it has 200 cranking amps, ok in the cold it would have 150 or really cold 100 or less. if the battery is old and you hardly use it like you said and don't let it run for quite a while the battery won't get charged efficiently. what you could do is just put a trickle charger on it to keep it at its best. but the battery loses power as it gets old or cold or hasn't had efficient time to charge.

 

[bobme]

i could tell you but your using the worng words.
when you say turn over? wtf?

if you cranks then the bat. is good. If its dead, meenign your turn the key and hear nothing. then the bat. is no good.

 

[Grimreaperman]

no if the battery is old like two years old its about time for a new one but in the cold it might crank but it will be slugish. if the battery dies and ain't old it can be charged and all will be fine. depends on the battery. do what i did. go get a high amp rating for the cold and as well as warm. guaranteed to start it then. if the battery cranks it might be good but of course i had a battery in mine, two years, ok just got it inspected and drove to the store started fine, came back and the battery was dead and could not be charged or nothing. that was within 30 minutes

 

[BAMBINO]

check out all: batt , alternator, ignition and distributer connections.

you should find your problem.

 

[Grimreaperman]

yeah probablly needs a new battery and spark plugs. old plugs will make it hard to start and a bad or worn down battery hard to turn over.

 

[NegativeCamber]

check out all: batt , alternator, ignition and distributer connections.

you should find your problem.

[snapback]833179[/snapback]​

Excellent advice.. go in that order. A lot of auto parts stores like Autozone will test these thing for you for free and tell you if it is indeed the problem. The bad part about it is, you will have to stand you ass out in the freezing cold to take the part off...

 

[Fido]

i could tell you but your using the worng words.
when you say turn over? wtf?

if you cranks then the bat. is good. If its dead, meenign your turn the key and hear nothing. then the bat. is no good.

[snapback]833149[/snapback]​

turn over = engine cranking--those are the right words

The reason your car doesnt start when it is cold is because you need mroe CCA rating. CC=cold cranking amps, in your weather I would suggest at least 800CCA!

 

[Grimreaperman]

thats what i got

 

[BUBBA]

Buy a new Battery

 

[Grimreaperman]

yeah what are they anyway 100 bucks for a top of the line battery. hell 50 for a pretty good one.

 

[tinylilredbelly's]

you shouldnt even have a battery in a car that has less than 400 CCA (Cold Cranking Amps)in Canada especially (ktown) the only thing that i could think that needs less than 200- is like a fire fly,80's nova a geo somthing really sh*t.... anyway...

so you dont get confused... when i say turn over i mean does the car want to start but isnt. or when i say fires i mean it starts...

so when you turn the key does it turn over and fire, just turn over or does it just not make a sound.
if it does make a sound does it sould like its a weak start?

if you have been starting it every so often it shouldn't be the car itself, if you have a volt tester, test the batt if thats anything above 10 v your good.(when the cars off)

i could help you better with more info... car make and model just sh*t like that... and if you need "help" getting your car saftied and etested pm me

Canadian tire also does free elec testing, just incase there isnt an autozone in kitchener

 

[hellraiser7821]

ok maybe im not reading enough but what is the year make and model and engine??

and btw get new battery, new cables, distributer, change oil, new spark plugs, ya give me the info and i can tell ya the neumber in whatever brand u want

 

[scrubbs]

you guys are funny. -1 and he needs a crazy heavy CCA battery? -1 is nothing, really. At -1, I dont plug my car in, my battery has something like 600 CCA, its an 86 Honda civic, I've drained the battery dead at least 5 times, and it still starts.

I dont even plug in my block heater until i know it will hit -20C.

but yeah, get your charging system tested.

 

[94NDTA]

you guys are funny. -1 and he needs a crazy heavy CCA battery? -1 is nothing, really. At -1, I dont plug my car in, my battery has something like 600 CCA, its an 86 Honda civic, I've drained the battery dead at least 5 times, and it still starts.

I dont even plug in my block heater until i know it will hit -20C.

but yeah, get your charging system tested.

[snapback]834666[/snapback]​

Amen Brotha....it was -20 degrees F this morning and my old carbed 305 with a 550 CCA battery started up like a champ. when it gets to -30 or below, a block heater does help.

AS FOR THE PROBLEM.

When your car turns over sometimes and doesn't other times, it is generally the alternator. YOUR BATTERY IS MORE THAN LIKELY FINE, it probably just has very little juice in it, and the cold weather isn't helping it. Batteries that have been drained a couple times generally last longer anyways. You're alternator is not charging the battery sufficiently, hence sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

GO TO A LOCAL BATTERY DEALER. They can test your battery, alternator, and starter (incase that could be it) for free, or at least most of them do. They can tell you EXACTLY whats wrong with your car. If it does turn out to be the alternator, hook up a trickle charger to your battery and you wqill be as good as new.

Oh yeah, don't listen to hellraiser7821.

I will be willing to put dowm $10 that it is the alternator (exact same thing has happened to me on 2 different cars)

Any takers on the bet?

 

[94NDTA]

i've been starting it everyother day just so the engine wouldn't be messed come summertime.

[snapback]832974[/snapback]​

That is absolutely the worst thing you can do for your car when it is in storage. IF YOU ARE GOING TO START UP YOUR CAR IN THE WINTER, DO NOT JUST LET IT SIT!!! You MUST drive it. You will never get it hot enough to burn off condensation and contaminates generated by startup UNLESS you drive the car. if you are not going to drive the car - do not start it. You are doing FAR more damage by letting it idle (or worse, reving on it) than you would be by just letting it sit. If you are worried about the battery dying, take it out, and set it on a peice of wood or rubber (never the ground) or get a battery tender. If you are worried about the gas going stale, get a fuel stabilizer and top your gas off before you store it (prevents corosion), stuff your exhaust with some steel wool, throw some dehydrating packets in your interior. Also, Jack the car up, and take off your tires to prevent flat spotting. ALSO, do NOT parkit on concrete unless you have a intermediate material between the tires and the concrete floor (rubber, cardboard, carpet, etc.) Reason, moisture can wick from the concrete to the tires, promoting rot. Same can happen to your underbody. ALSO!!! Make sure you have fresh oil in the car. Old oil has acids in it when broken down and that could cause rust and premature corrosion to build up inside the crankcase.

I've done this before, if you can't tell.

 

[Grimreaperman]

yeah if its an alternator you'll be lucky if a rebuild one's 50 bucks. oh and plus that starting every other day or so like 94ntda said it will mess it up more if not driven. tires will rot and on top of that your rotors if you have disk brakes will rust and wear your pads out when you decide to drive it. had an idiot do that. wore the pads out in a couple days.