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Asking advice from the frozen north.

67440chrg

67440chrg

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What is the best cold cranking amp battery to have in this 0deg F and below weather. I have a new 800 cold cranking amp battery in my beater 03 5.3 Silverado it has become our backup vehicle it is becoming harder to start. I can put a trickle charger on it at night but that wont help at my daughters work. The amp gauge reads 14.5 or so when running. I just need it to be reliable for my daughter when she barrows it.
 
The Optima REDTOP is one of the best in your situation. They cost, but they work.
 
Connections, connections, connections. Clean those connections, especially the grounds. I too was having a slow cranking issue, cleaned all the connections, spins much faster and more sure of itself now.
 
A new 800 CCA should make it spin more than enough. Especially a fuel injected motor. Zero degrees robs most of the battery's energy, but there is still plenty. If it is a daily driver, I would suspect a drain someplace. When did it last have new plugs?
In this cold, a open door warning light over night can affect older batteries, so it doesn't take a large drain.
 
67440chrg said:
I have a new 800 cold cranking amp battery in my beater 03 5.3 Silverado it has become our backup vehicle it is becoming harder to start.
Click to expand...

How new is new? Just because it may be a few months old, doesn't mean that it's good!
How long does it sit between starts?
Daily drivers shouldn't have a problem unless there are other issues, like mentioned above.
Your charging systems checks, so I'd be looking elsewhere.
Do a batt. swap with another vehicle for a few days and see what happens with that.
When I lived in Rapid Shitty, I had to bring the batt. inside on super cold nights. Yeah, that sucks, but you gotta do what you gotta do to get to work! Good Luck
 
It is about 2 weeks old. I wire brushed all the connections when I installed it. It is a walmart battery I hate walmart but their warranty is good. It failed to start after setting only 5 hours yesterday. This morning It started after setting all night. It cranked real slow but started. I dont think it is a constant discharge but I will recheck the connections and grounds. Thanks for the responses.
 
An 800 Amp battery should be adequate at 0* F. Much below 0* F most batteries lose power quickly. Sounds like your battery may be a bit defective. I'd take it back & ask for a replacement. I've had a few Wally batteries & been surprised at their performance. Not sure who makes which of their models, I suspect they have multiple suppliers.
I'd double check your connections.
 
What CCA does the vehicle call for? If you have an 800 in there, but it wants an 850 or 900, it's gonna crank slow.

Test your sitting voltage - engine off, you should have 12v or more. The 14.5v running only means your alternator is working, it doesn't tell you anything about your battery.

+1 on clean all contacts - ALL contacts, including at the starter, and the chassis grounds - and make sure everything is tight. I recently had to double-nut (locknut) the battery terminals on my Cummins batteries because I was getting a slow crank / dead battery symptom. Trying to jump start it one day, I saw sparks at a terminal and noticed they'd worked loose. Once I tightened/locked them all down, I didn't even have to charge anything - it spun right over and started up like brand new.
 
Go have that batt. load tested! You may have a lemon of a batt. Good Luck
 
Yeah, I can’t believe that you’re having cranking problems at those low temperatures. Here we don’t even get worried until it’s minus twenty or colder. Our three requirements for battery survival are synthetic oil, battery heater, and block heater. I generally get three years or more from a battery. But again, until about minus twenty anything should work. Most people here don’t even use the battery heater and still start OK at minus forty.
 
Maybe a bad cable or a bad starter.
I replaced a cable on my 300 over the summer it had a factory connection with a heat shrink on it.
Totally corroded beneath. I think it was starting on about 3 strands.
Changed the cable starts like nothing now.
 
Yeah, our old Subaru kept getting harder and harder to start, then stopped starting. Everything was good, changed the starter and it was back to starting like new. Was a gradual deterioration, over a few months.
 
BTW the battery heater is just a little pad about the size of a postcard, with an insulated jacket for the battery. You can tuck the heater either beside the battery or under it, like I do. Really seems to help.
Daughters boyfriend has an oil pan heater, block heater, and battery heater.
 
Short term even an old school trouble light with a 100w bulb under the pan will help.
 
800 CCA on a Silverado with a 2 week old battery should start without any problems. My 1989 Chevy farm truck will sit sometimes 6 months without starting it. Cranks and fires, no problem. And I bought the battery at WalMart 3 years ago for $60.00.
 
Hey-O said:
The Optima REDTOP is one of the best in your situation. They cost, but they work.
Click to expand...

I have been running that very same battery for 8 years or so. Unfortunately Optima was bought out by Johnson Controls who shut down the factory and moved it to Mexico. Unfortunately the quality and warranty took a dump. I have heard lots of negative comments about them ever since. It's so sad that a business is never happy making a healthy profit anymore; the new business model is "Engulf & Devour.":(
 
yep grounds , check the cables and see if they are still good . the battery needs to checked it might be good.i worked at GM for 8 years in Montreal and they started at -15 f . with a volt meter you can check parasitic voltage drop . positive lead on the battery and the other lead on positive at the starter.
there should be no or very little voltage drop. if you see 1 volt that cable is eating 1 volt.and then volt meter on starter casing to block and block to negative of battery . a volt meter measure voltage drop
a lot of mechanics don't know or remember how to do this but its really accurate to find a problem.
in the early 90,s a s a young mechanic I impressed the owner of the garage when a client had the same issue with a jag , and I did that test the ground wire was corroding inside the cable . I had cracked the engine and the volt meter read1.5 volts from battery neg to engine ground, replaced cable and after 0 volts . that the way to doit good luck
 
I just replaced the battery in my 2010 DTS. It is an 800 CCA Walmart battery. Started it this morning after sitting outside for a week in temps near or below zero without any hesitation.

I've had several other Walmart batteries that performed just as well.
 
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