Hello,

Recently, my car has been having issue w/ starting in the cold weather. I won't have time to go to the Battery auto center until the weekend. Please help me diagnose if I am having a car battery issue or starter issue.

Yes, I have went to AutoZone & Advance Auto parts. Advance states all is fine. Auto Zone states all is fine until today they are stating bad starter. Yes, I have gone to them for the test more than a couple of times


So i purchased one of those jump starter from Walmart. For the last 2 days, during lunch break, my car doesn't start. I use the Jump starter & the car will start fine. Going home, the car starts but barely. Does this mean the starter is good since the car is able to start? or the battery is going bad.

Thanks in advance.

 

Update..

its 44 degree F currently..

Car been sitting in garage for bout 12hrs. Volt meter showing 12.32 12.33v on battery. Didnt start car yet..folks are still sleeping

battery going bad?? Or both battery & starter??

damn autozone test is throwing me off stating bad starter

 

^^
How old is your battery?
Use a battery hydrometer (about $10.00) to test the individual battery cells. Any cell not holding a full charge would cause your vehicle not to start in cold weather. You may need to replace your battery and clean & tighten battery cables.



Telcoman

 

Battery is 3yrs old. Its a Die Hard battery so no cell.

Sears store is a little far for me to go to hence weekend availability. The one by my casa is closed

 

Weather warm up today.. 70 F

no problem starting but have been turning off radio & lights when turning off car.

hopefully, its just a bad battery

 

Static battery should be around 12.7-12.8. Being at 12.3 I'd bet the battery is about to go. I recently had the same issue on my car. Starter has always cranked slower than what I though it should and finally once the weather started getting cold I had to break out the jump pack a few times in a one week period. Ended up purchasing a AGM battery from Advance.

 

Sears performed test & all checked w battery.

went to advance yesterday & all (starter, alternator, battery) checked fine.

issue is w cold weather start up. It is 80 F degree out. How do i proceed w this? Dont want to be stranded again but Sears wont warrant battery unless test states Failed.

 

get a god damn battery already. if you put a real carbon pile load tester on that cra ppy die hard battery i bet you it would fail. them jac kas ses at autozone and other parts places like to use the handheld digital battery testers that aren't worth their weight in dog sh it because its testing the surface charge on the post and not the capacity of the cells when you put a heavy load on it.

 

If i take the battery out & have them performed the test, it will fail??

instead of testing it in the car??
carbon load test = outside of car??

 

I agree with crookncastle on this one. Just replace the battery and be done with it. It is 3 years old and there is no telling how old it was when Sears (gasp) installed it. Sears is going bankrupt and closing their stores- the last thing they are concerned about is keeping a happy customer by honoring a warranty.

I also do not hold much faith for the chain store auto parts guys (and ladies). All due respect to them but most (in my area at least) are college kids with little to no automotive experience. They get hired, take a crash course on a computer, and they are suddenly techs.

Your battery has already given you signs of crapping out. They colder it gets the more likely your battery will get weaker. You can waste all the time you want testing it here there and every where but like most things: sh#t happens when you least expect it and always at the worst time and place.

Go to a reputable shop, get a new battery (check the date of manufacture), and move on with some peace of mind. Just my thoughts...

 

you do not need to take the battery out to perform a load test on it. a carbon pile load tester is the battery/alternator tester that uses a mechanical load to drain the battery and see whether it can sustain proper battery charge. i have no clue why you are focusing on removing the battery from the car to test the battery, at no time in my initial post was there any inference or implication to have the battery tested outside of the car. i stated very clearly that the handheld battery testers that most chain parts stores such as autozone or oreillys uses are just a piece of sh it. the results of the handheld battery tester is as worthless as a toilet in a shi thole 3rd world country without proper plumbing.