Car battery in cold weather

[JoeWras]

I made these changes in this recent re-blast of cold weather:
1) Limit the use of seat warmers so that the alternator is not overloaded
2) Changed the cabin bulbs to LEDs
3) Bought a booster box

I'm not having any more problems even though yesterday was crazy cold for around here (low teens).

The cynic in me thinks that buying the booster pack is why I'm having no more problems. "A watched pot never boils" and all that. Now that I have the pack, I'll never need it. LOL.

The real reason might just be those LED bulbs. My habit is to open the doors on the tool van while doing these little volunteer jobs. Sometimes for hours in a day. They go out after 20 minutes, but sometimes I open and close the doors a lot which restarts the time-out. The draw from the 5 LED bulbs is nothing compared to the original incandescents. Could be a factor.

 

[Texas Proud]

Just a reminder.... you need to charge up those battery packs... mine says every 3 months but I think you can go 6...

 

[old medic]

Never had any luck with Advance Auto batteries and the way they usually test them is worth exactly what you pay them to do it, which is $0.

Or Never Ready from Wal-Mart. I would agree with getting the charging system checked.

 

[JoeWras]

I think I found a problem. I was dealing with some trouble codes and had an OBD2 dongle installed. I forgot to take it out. I've done this before and run for months, but only in the summer. The cold weather was just enough that the drain was enough to get me below the starting threshold. BTW, the dongle draws 45mA. Not a ton, but not chump change either.

My improvement I reported above was after I removed it. I also think replacing the cabin bulbs with LEDs has also helped.

 

[Golden Mean]

Just a reminder.... you need to charge up those battery packs... mine says every 3 months but I think you can go 6...

If you regularly use them, sure. That said, because they are lithium, they take sitting idle much better than ol' lead acid chemistry.

We keep my lady's jump pack charged about 80%, on the theory that it will extent the lithium battery's life. It still has no problem jumping her massive 1.7L 2005 Honda inline 4.

 

[Golden Mean]

I think I found a problem. I was dealing with some trouble codes and had an OBD2 dongle installed. I forgot to take it out. I've done this before and run for months, but only in the summer. The cold weather was just enough that the drain was enough to get me below the starting threshold. BTW, the dongle draws 45mA. Not a ton, but not chump change either.

My improvement I reported above was after I removed it. I also think replacing the cabin bulbs with LEDs has also helped.

Ivan, over at Pine Hollow Auto Diagnostics (an ace at troubleshooting complex computer/electrical issues), has been doing a bunch of parasitic draw repair videos lately and he mentioned he likes to see less than .20 A (20 mA) and ideally less that 10 mA total draw at the battery.

He recently had a Ford pulling 3A when off. That puppy was going through batteries like a popcorn.

 

[Al18]

3A draw when off is not normal. Something must be malfunctioning. Many years ago I had a rear window defroster stuck on - that draws a LOT of power.

 

[Golden Mean]

3A draw when off is not normal. Something must be malfunctioning. Many years ago I had a rear window defroster stuck on - that draws a LOT of power.

Right. It was a bad diode in the alternator.

 

[Texas Proud]

If you regularly use them, sure. That said, because they are lithium, they take sitting idle much better than ol' lead acid chemistry.

We keep my lady's jump pack charged about 80%, on the theory that it will extent the lithium battery's life. It still has no problem jumping her massive 1.7L 2005 Honda inline 4.

Maybe it is my packs... but I had one go 6 months and when I checked it out it was dead... no need having a jump pack if it is dead..

 

[Golden Mean]

Maybe it is my packs... but I had one go 6 months and when I checked it out it was dead... no need having a jump pack if it is dead..

Wild. It has a lithium-ion battery? I guess there could be an issue with parasitic current draw from the on-board circuitry.

 

[Texas Proud]

Wild. It has a lithium-ion battery? I guess there could be an issue with parasitic current draw from the on-board circuitry.

Yep... lithium ion...

Now I do not care as much since our PHEV will work with very little battery... when our window tint installers left the doors open and drained the battery we just connected and pushed the button and drove away with EV...

 

[Jack Cumming]

My son has a 2021 Toyota Corolla. He bought it a year ago and since it had the original battery he replaced it in Jan. 2025.

He mostly works from home. We’ve had bitter cold here and he’s finding that with his infrequent, short trips his battery is not always able to start his car. It will start the first time but then can’t start it again after a short trip. I have a charger so twice this week we’ve had to go get him started.

He went back to where he bought the battery, Advance Auto, and got it tested. They said it tested fine and sold him a trickle charger. Sure, nice idea if you park near an electrical outlet, but he lives in an apartment! He hooked up the trickle charger while he was here for a while and I sent him home with my charger.

This just seems like an inappropriate solution.

Anyone have advice for this? From what I remember it’s a Die Hard Gold, or something like that with a 48 month warranty.

I don't live in a cold climate, but I've had problems with a 2024 Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid. I think that Toyota has been upping the drains on the 12 volt starter battery without reengineering how the battery is adapted.

Since I'm retired, I don't drive that much. It got to the point at which I had to jump start the car every time we wanted to drive anywhere. The dealer wasted much of our time as we would go to the dealer and they would tell us that it was our fault because we didn't drive enough. We couldn't use a trickle charge for the same reasons your son couldn't.

Finally, after a year of trying to get the car to function, the dealer finally replaced the battery. It would be an understatement to say that the dealer was exasperated that we kept asking for that. Since then, once a week, we take the car out and park but leave the car running to allow the hybrid system to recharge that 12 volt battery.

That's an hour a week that we give to battery charging because Toyota no longer engineers its cars to be reliable as they once were. While 2021 seems longer ago, it falls within the new era of Toyota leadership. It's probably that this is why your son's car has the same weakness with cold that our car has with our old age.

From what I can tell, it seems likely that Age of Toyota Reliability has come to an end and that there may be better choices for people seeking a reliable car.

 

[Odduck]

I've seen a few reports of sleazy dealerships installing tracking devices, typically around the ODB port to sell information about your driving/shopping/etc habits. They transmit whatever they collect to cell towers, back to servers somewhere. Sometimes the dealerships would offer it as a service - you could have your car tracked if it was stolen or whatever. But many people had no idea these things were installed and only found out when they tracked down the parasitic load that was killing their battery.

Who knows - it's probably mostly an urban myth. But any which way, track down the loads and your battery will thank you with long life.

 

[The HalfBreed]

I've had Sears DieHard gold and Interstate batteries. Of those two, I prefer my Interstate 36 month battery, but they're close.
I just got a new Interstate in my taurus limited, although it's parked in an unheated garage. I usually get 4-5 yrs here in the Chicago area. $300

 

[JoeWras]

I've seen a few reports of sleazy dealerships installing tracking devices, typically around the ODB port to sell information about your driving/shopping/etc habits. They transmit whatever they collect to cell towers, back to servers somewhere. Sometimes the dealerships would offer it as a service - you could have your car tracked if it was stolen or whatever. But many people had no idea these things were installed and only found out when they tracked down the parasitic load that was killing their battery.

Who knows - it's probably mostly an urban myth. But any which way, track down the loads and your battery will thank you with long life.

Might be a conflated story or at least a slightly changed story... but it has truth in it.

Sleezy used car lot dealers who do financing absolutely will install such devices. It is mainly for repos when the loan is defaulted, but people desperate to buy a car that way will sign anything and dealers will add other "services" to the device.

I've seen a lot of pictures of these devices spliced into the wiring. The question from the mechanics on those forums is always: "Did you buy this at Big Billy Bob's Blow out used cars?" Answer: "yes"

 

[ERD50]

I think I found a problem. I was dealing with some trouble codes and had an OBD2 dongle installed. I forgot to take it out. I've done this before and run for months, but only in the summer. The cold weather was just enough that the drain was enough to get me below the starting threshold. BTW, the dongle draws 45mA. Not a ton, but not chump change either.

My improvement I reported above was after I removed it. I also think replacing the cabin bulbs with LEDs has also helped.

Hmmm, I never thought about drain from the OBDII dongle. I guess the only way to check is with an ammeter on the battery and check drain with and w/o the dongle. An added 45mA is not good, but only ~ 8 AH for 7 days of sitting, so not horrible either.

 

[Texas Proud]

I've seen a few reports of sleazy dealerships installing tracking devices, typically around the ODB port to sell information about your driving/shopping/etc habits. They transmit whatever they collect to cell towers, back to servers somewhere. Sometimes the dealerships would offer it as a service - you could have your car tracked if it was stolen or whatever. But many people had no idea these things were installed and only found out when they tracked down the parasitic load that was killing their battery.

Who knows - it's probably mostly an urban myth. But any which way, track down the loads and your battery will thank you with long life.

Not completely an urban myth... there was a guy here in Houston many years ago who found one in his car and went to the TV stations...

The dealer was trying to say they keep track of the car in case they need to repossess.... but the guy bought it for cash and no reason to have one...

It was one of those corner lots that sell old used cars.. not a dealer...

 

[68bucks]

I thumbed through the posts and didn't notice this asked, but what is considered bitter cold? The op said bitter cold, that's a little subjective. In International Falls bitter cold is - 50F. In Birmingham 10F is bitter cold.

 

[2cheap2eat]

I've had Sears DieHard gold and Interstate batteries. Of those two, I prefer my Interstate 36 month battery, but they're close.
I just got a new Interstate in my taurus limited, although it's parked in an unheated garage. I usually get 4-5 yrs here in the Chicago area. $300

I stick with Interstate now too, warranty is honored pretty much everywhere, so I don’t worry if I’m out of town.

I also agree with an earlier post that OP may need an AGM battery. They are gel based not liquid acid, and hold charge longer and perform much better in extreme heat/cold.

 

[dfblack]

Decided to look something up... a trickle charger that has a solar panel and plugs into the lighter plug...

Hmm, does his car have a plug? Guess the next question is if it is working when the car is off... my old car it did not..

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=sunway+solar+car+battery+trickle+charger&crid=2OVNBIAT5K8XJ&sprefix=Sunway+Solar%2Caps%2C192&ref=nb_sb_ss_p13n-expert-pd-ops-ranker_1_12

This is a great idea. Just make sure that the "lighter plug" (really not a thing anymore since no one lights cigarettes out of these anymore...) or power outlet is an "always on" type of outlet. If it is switched with the ignition, then the generated power won't be able to get to the battery to charge it.

 

[dfblack]

I have this one Amazon.com: GOOLOO GP3000 3000A Jump Starter,12V Car Battery Jump Starter for up to 9.0L Gas Engines & 7.0L Diesel, Supersafe Lithium Jump Box Battery Booster Pack, Auto Battery Starter with USB Quick Charge : Automotive and it’s been great. I let him take it home in case he needs it. I think he’ll buy one this week.

I’m just wondering if this is normal.

I have had great luck with this DeWalt model. Jump start with air compressor and work light. USB charging as well. But the great feature is that once the car is running you can check the alternator to verify that it is working.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/DEWALT-1600-Peak-Amp-Jump-Starter-with-Digital-Compressor-and-USB-Power-Bank-DXAEJ14/325277352?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&fp=ggl

 

[CO-guy]

I stick with Interstate now too, warranty is honored pretty much everywhere, so I don’t worry if I’m out of town.

I also agree with an earlier post that OP may need an AGM battery. They are gel based not liquid acid, and hold charge longer and perform much better in extreme heat/cold.

I swore by Interstate batteries for most of my life. When we moved to a location with an extreme winter climate, I was replacing them every few years. More recently, I switched to the NAPA - Legend Premium AGM Battery and could not be happier. It offers 750A during cold cranking tests, which is right up there with the best of them.