ScruffyLG

I have a 2008 Civic LX that is used infrequently (once per week, sometimes less often). It has been living outside in the Northeast cold this winter. (My 1-car garage currently houses my wife's Accord.)

Last winter I had a battery issue (probably due to a frozen battery that I tried to jump start) and I got a new replacement battery from Interstate. (I posted about it here. Just an FYI.)

I had planned this year to hook up a battery maintainer, but before I managed to do so, the car was left out in the cold for a couple of weeks. It was only for a few days that the temperature actually got below freezing.

Nevertheless, I tried starting the car...and go figure...nothing electronic in the car worked, and trying to start the motor produced nothing. I'm not very knowledgeable about car electric systems, but I do have a multimeter and measured the voltage of the battery at something like 2 volts (or a little less, I cannot remember).

I was busy and not in need of the car, so it got left out in the cold for another month (including the very cold weather we had recently). I finally took the battery out of the car (it was freezing outside) and stored it indoors for a week or so to return it to normal temperature. I purchased a CTEK charger / maintainer and tried to charge/recondition the battery. It gave me an error saying that the battery cannot keep a charge and that it may need to be replaced.

It's deja vu all over again. Of course, I feel plenty foolish.

I'd just like to learn more about car batteries and electrical systems. My questions:

Last year I had not tried to start my car for a month or more when it first showed a problem. And even then I got some dashboard lights working while trying to start the car. This year, I got the same problem even though I hadn't started my car in a week or two, and after even that brief time, I got no indication that anything electrical in the car was working.

Is this normal for a car in the Northeast (between NYC and Boston) to not even last a couple of weeks without starting after the first snow? (I lived in California for 30 years before moving back East last year.) Someone suggested to me that it may be an indication of an electrical short or some other unusual drain on the battery. If this is so, then why didn't I have any issue during the summer when I likewise would leave my car unused for a couple of weeks?

If it is some kind of short or vampire drain, is this something that I (a newbie/novice) can diagnose myself with a multimeter and other tools in a reasonable amount of time? Or am I better off just taking it to a specialist to diagnose? (I had an electrical short in another car that was a nightmare for a couple of qualified mechanics to find, never mind me.)

If you have a reasonably healthy battery, how long can you leave it out in the cold (e.g., temperature between, say 10 and 35 degrees F) and still have an expectation that it starts?

Apparently, my battery now cannot maintain a charge...so what is the most likely reason? Is it just that the battery froze and damaged the battery...or that it specifically froze while discharged...or something else I did?

If it's just an issue of the cold, and an unused battery is expected to drain that quickly, then I'll just have to hook up the battery maintainer very early in the season next winter, or perhaps start the car frequently. (How frequently?).

Thank you in advance for any responses and educational tips you can provide. (Please keep the laughing to a minimum.)

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

remove battery and put it inside during cold months.

or keep it in maintainer if left out (yeah, it's not easy to do when it's outside...)

this morning, 8F, my cell phone restarted while waiting for the windshield to defrost... battery shock from sudden drop in temp.

Colin42

you may have a parasitic drain, watch a couple videos on youtube on how to do it and if it seems like something you can do then go for it and post any results questions here.

Battery is definitely dead, you'll need a new one. If the car is driven that infrequently, you'd be better off leaving the battery on a maintainer or leave it disconnected.

I've noticed that batteries don't seem to last as long as they used to.
When you buy a new battery get one that has like a 3 year free replacement, if it dies within the 3 years you get a brand new one.

Did this with my girlfriend's car, first one lasted a year and then a cell shorted, went and got a new one. My old truck, the battery failed one month before the the 3 years was up went and grabbed a new one no problem

ScruffyLG

sdaidoji and Colin42....many thanks for your comments/advice.