Cold Weather Battery

[cmac18]

Hi, I have a 1986 Chevy long bed truck. I do not drive often and it seems that when I do I have to jump start the battery. I start the truck at least once a week. I live in an area that does get cold in the winter so I am looking for a battery that will hold it's charge in the winter, any suggestions?

Thank you in advance

[Nick_R_23]

Your battery is likely not the issue, you need a battery tender. I recommend them to customers for anything that sits for about two weeks. If you are just starting it and not letting the battery charge up, that can kill it slowly as well. It takes on average about 15 minutes of driving to recover the charge lost during starting. However, if the battery is too old or has been left on a low state of charge for too long, it may have become sulfated (or frozen in the cold weather) and not capable of holding a full charge any longer. Anything below 12.8v is considered a dead battery.

[truckin 79]

I have a cut off switch on positive cable on my truck since the radio does take a little juice while just sitting there. I also bought a 60.00 harbor freight Viking battery booster that I have used a few times to jump my carb van and truck . It is lithium and holds a charge for a long time and at 60.00 you can beat it.

[wilkin250r]

I agree, I don't think your battery is the real issue, or at least not the "type" of battery. Almost any battery I have ever known will easily start after a week of sitting, regardless of the temperature.

It could be a bad connection, bad cables, a drain on the battery, improper charging, or the battery may be unable to hold a charge. But a week shouldn't be an issue. I'm in high altitude Lake Tahoe, it gets dang cold here, and I can leave my truck for two months and it will still start.

I'm with Nick, I'd start with a battery tender. If that is impractical (maybe the truck is parked in the street?), then I'd start with a new, quality battery, and do some diagnostics. Check the connections and cables, check for a power drain, things like that.

[S10Fan]

These are the best!

http://www.batterytender.com/


Available at WalMart, I have two, wouldn't take anything for them. The last battery in my C-10 went nearly 8 years before I chickened out and replaced it.

[Texas Agman]

I use 5 of them here at the ranch and they triple the life of the batteries. And, your batteries never go down.

[SCOTI]

A truck sitting for a week or two should not have a problem starting. Battery tenders will help a discharged batt if there's a small drain pulling the batt down (which would be my bet here). I would also have my electrical system checked for a drain.

[cmac18]

Thank you all so very much for the replies, they are all very useful. I will purchase a tender today, and also a new battery. Any recommendations on the best battery? I have allocated up to 300.00 for a good battery. Thanks again
Posted via Mobile Device

[donut]

Originally Posted by SCOTI

A truck sitting for a week or two should not have a problem starting. Battery tenders will help a discharged batt if there's a small drain pulling the batt down (which would be my bet here). I would also have my electrical system checked for a drain.

This.

I haven't gone fancy with batteries over the years. Most CCA with the best warranty from the local parts store. That way, any problems can be handled locally.

FWIW, my trucks have sat for months, in sub zero temps, and started.

[wilkin250r]

Even Wal-Mart MAXX batteries should be good, most of them are made by Johnson Controls, the same company that makes high-end batteries.

My personal favorite is Optima, they list the 75/25 for our trucks, but I personally like the 34/78. It has a little more CCA, and the posts are closer to the center of the battery, which moves the positive post away from the frame. The relocated posts are better for jump-starting, I always used to be afraid of arcing against the core support.

[tucsonjwt]

Costco Interstate batteries are in my vehicles. They have a 3 year replacement no hassle warranty.

[Jeepwm69]

If your battery is dead in a week you have a bad battery or a drain.

Unhook your negative battery cable, and then get a test light and put the clip on the now-unhooked negative battery cable, and the probe on the negative battery terminal.

My guess is, the test light will come on.

Now pull fuses one by one until the light goes out. When you find that fuse, that is the circuit that your drain is in.

I start my 83 about once a month, if that. Sometimes it sits for 3 months between starts. I have an old pre Johnson Controls Optima Red Top on it (they are crap now, but used to be good batteries). It starts every time.

[MikeB]

The 6-year old cheapie battery that was in the truck when I bought it, is doing something similar. A 10 minute charge will get the engine started, and the alternator will charge the battery to 13.2 volts, and it will even start on its own the next day. But after a couple days the battery voltage has dropped to around 10 volts. Current draw is a just a couple milliamps, so the problem is simply a very old battery that won't hold a charge very long.

Doesn't get much cheaper than this! Amazing that it lasted 6 years.

[wilkin250r]

Budget Battery. I love it.

[lilpoindexter]

I have a Costco battery in my 78. It's going on 5 years...there were periods when i didnt drive the truck for months, and the battery seems to recover with a jump and driving around. i drive the the truck around once a week now, and it does just fine...I am, however, in SoCal...where cold is an overnight low of 40f, maybe a handful of times a year. I have a Mazda Miata with an absorbed glass mat battery...i drive that car only about 1000 miles a year...and the battery only lasted about 2 years.

[wilkin250r]

The death of a lead-acid battery is allowing it to sit discharged for an extended period of time. And you must KEEP it charged, because the battery will slowly self-discharge.

A battery that is constantly recharged (like in your car, charged by your alternator) will last years and years. But if the battery is discharged, and then sits, it will be completely useless within a few months, and no amount of recharging will make it useful again. The deeper the discharge, the shorter amount of time it takes to kill it.

If you want more info, just ask.

[MikeB]

Replaced the 6-year old Budget battery I mentioned above with an 800 CCA Interstate battery from Costco for $82.95. (I think my Budget battery had 500-something CCA.) Costco warranty is 3-year free replacement, and then nothing after that. But my experience has been if they last one summer, they'll last 6 or 7 more.

Installed it yesterday, and today the voltage has dropped only .01-.02 volts, so I'm good to go.