battery froze?

Martron

back in the cold weather i was not running my car. i can only presume the battery froze.

anyway i have had the car started with the battery since. and seemed to go no problem.

however now the battery does not start the car. i had it on charge over night with a charger. put it back in the car and it still does not have enough juice to start it. it turns over extremely slowly.

would the cold weather have killed the battery?

i have looked and all the cells are full.

anyway of checking it? i have tested it with a multimeter and it is reading 12v .

any suggestions are welcome.

It just seems the battery is not taking a charge whether in or out of the car. ( but is reading full on the charger ..... would that be possible?)

listermint

Bad battery contact on terminals?

Immobilser?


What sort of Car is it?

Martron

the contact terminals are on tightly and are clean and free of corrosion.

there is no immobiliser fault with it. ( as there is no extra one fitted and the dashboard is not displaying an orange key. )

its a fiat.

New battery time me thinks.

SouperComputer

Yeah, sounds like the cold might have knocked the ***lox out of it. That said it really only happens when the battery is marginal already. The charger will behave as if the battery is full, but as soon as you put a load on the battery it dies. Pop a voltmeter on the battery while trying to start it and see what the result is.

Batteries dont really "freeze" under normal circumstances. Got a low as -26C over here and our batteries are still chugging away.

Martron

was thinking that just wanted to elliminate anything else.

Martron

SouperComputer wrote: »

Yeah, sounds like the cold might have knocked the ***lox out of it. That said it really only happens when the battery is marginal already. The charger will behave as if the battery is full, but as soon as you put a load on the battery it dies. Pop a voltmeter on the battery while trying to start it and see what the result is.

the voltage should be notacibly different at the end of trying to start it?

listermint

Martron wrote: »

the voltage should be notacibly different at the end of trying to start it?

Not necessarily, can have a drop of .4 volts to cause issue.

Martron

ok i jumped it off a car and it started straight away. i can assume that its the battery thats screwed?

Martron

Martron wrote: »

ok i jumped it off a car and it started straight away. i can assume that its the battery thats screwed?

Yes

aujopimur

An auto factor will test your battery for you.

shogunpower

the frost has busted the contact between two of the cells.new battery is the only cure.

shogunpower

shogunpower wrote: »

the frost has busted the contact between two of the cells.new battery is the only cure.

It's started fine according to the OP since the frost, I would imagine the battery has quite simply reached the end of it's life.

Martron

yep it did start. its not holding a charge.

once its jumped it runs fine.

if i turn it off i can turn it back on in about 2 minutes anything after that its dead again.

charger says its fully charger even though its not.

projectgtr

If im around during the week ive a battery tester here, ive also a decent charger if you want me to try it again but id say its the same as mine tbh, mine would hold a charge for a few hours then gone, exact same symptoms. Cold spell definitely takes it tolls on batteries,

Halfords do decent ones (made by bosch i believe) plus they come with a good warranty and if i can get my hands on my trade card we can get a few euro off.

BostonB

SouperComputer wrote: »

...
Batteries dont really "freeze" under normal circumstances. Got a low as -26C over here and our batteries are still chugging away.

Open to correction but I think batteries are spec'ed differently in different regions. They have bettter CCA/cold cranking amps ratings than regular batteries, and heavier insulation. Some places even have battery warmers.

I think the battery froze in our car when it was like -8 and lower. Wouldn't start. Next day when temps had heated up to about -1 or 0 it started fine. Battery tested fine afterwards too. Our drive is very exposed to wind though.

Esel

Martron wrote: »

...i had it on charge over night with a charger. put it back in the car and it still does not have enough juice to start it..

What is the rating of your charger? Tbh, I would not automatically expect a domestic-type charger to recharge a totally discharged battery overnight.

Yawns

when you got it started did you manage to take it for a long spin? YOu don't have to go far, keep it close enough to where you live but drive for a good 30 mins and ass if that helps.

Had some trouble myself over the cold weather but when I got it going, we had to drive for about an hour and it's been fine since, that was some weeks ago. I was ready to go for a new battery at that stage too but all seems fine now