Great time for a dead battery. Winter sux!

[XS22J8R]

7” of wet snow last Friday and Saturday here, which I did a good job of staying on top of before the temperature plunged in the evening to below zero that night.
I’d gave up trying to get the snow off my truck, but I cleaned the wet snow off the car before it froze to solid ice. I mostly drive my Dart in winter trying to keep the truck out of the salt.
Went out for a bit Sunday in the Dart when it was -4, but then I hunkered down until Tuesday morning, it’s -10 when I had to venture out at 7 am to head to work. My Dart turns over slow, fires, stumbles and dies. Then won’t even turn over.
I tried to open the hood to use my booster pack, but it’s frozen shut. Trucks iced up, so I gave up driving to work.
Today it warmed up to a balmy 15 so I tried to start the Dart. No dice, same deal as the previous morning. And I still can’t get the hood open. The I tried to open my garage service door to get a plastic trim tool to pry at the hood, and get an extension cord so I can use a hairdryer on the hood, but the lock is froze.
A new battery should fix everything but if I can’t open the hood or get into the garage to get at my tools that task is going to be an insurmountable challenge!
With my luck the stores will be out of my size battery when I go shopping.
I just want to crawl in bed and wake up in 2 months…

 

[Jim 68cuda]

I feel your pain. But, my day yesterday wasn't quite that bad. We had about 3" of snow. Not quite enough on the paved part of the driveway to get the snow blower out of the barn, or even the snow shovel for that matter. Just got the push broom and swept the driveway up to the house. But not the gravel driveway to the garage and barn. Cleaned off the Ram pickup and the Durango that were parked outside. I tried to start the truck first, and then the Durango. The batteries were dead in both vehicles. As much as I hated to pull the '14 Challenger out of the garage for the icy and salt covered roads, that's what I drove today.

 

[demonram]

Guys, I don’t miss that at all. Not anything about it, never liked winter. Take care, be safe and try to stay warm.

 

[XS22J8R]

I feel for you having to drive your Challenger in salt!
I had an 09 Classic that I’d suspend the insurance after thanksgiving and leave it sitting in the garage until late March. Thus I didn’t have a backup vehicle for winter.
I did get the ice off the truck windshield early afternoon Tuesday when it warmed up to 2 and sun had shined on it for hours, so drove it to work today. Streets were dry but white with salt, and I would have preferred to not drive it.
Things could be worse, I ran into a coworker buddy today whose diesel Excursion is dead in our parking garage since Tuesday PM, and he’s busily trying to figure out whats wrong. He’s thinking PCM.
Dusting of snow forecast tonight, high of 18 tomorrow, then 3” overnight into Friday and back to 0.
I‘d really like to get that damn hood open tomorrow and my mind has been spinning trying to come up with ideas. If I could get at some windshield washer fluid in my garage, I could pour some in the gap around the hood. Maybe that would free it up. Or buy windshield deicer spray and try spraying that in the gap. I did find a nice plastic prying tool in my house that I got at a supplier exhibit at work last year so that is positive step.

 

[33 IMP]

Extension cord , and a heat gun, or hair dryer? (for the hood latch)? I've got a cheap hf heat gun, works pretty good for what it is.

 

[WileERobby]

 

[1 Wild R/T]

I sure don't miss winter in Chicago... Or any of the other cold places I've been....

 

[hdwrench]

been real cold here , near 0’ f overnight . i live out of city , way out . our snow belt has been getting pounded and of course they been useing the new driving ban often near buffalo. glad i’m outta there. we have around a foot of the fluffy stuff i’m sure they have way more ….

 

[BB BELLA]

seems you guys are too far south! coldest we've had here this season is 12F 100miles north or Tor.
I did put new batts. in the 6.5 TD a month ago! , old kirklands were 10years old. costco 2 new 850's were only $370 tax in. that's pretty cheap piece of mind! I never plug it in, just run 5/40 T6!
been great weather when you got a mutt that needs walking!
got 12" snow last week,so trails are starting to get some grooming! was enough to get the sled out for a shakedown run on the roads and it's back in the shop. pyro gauge started reading high just when i was getting home so i knew something was wrong! 02 bung weld cracked.weld her up today and new sensor coming tomorrow, they don't last long on a 2 stroke, maybe 2 seasons!

 

[PlymCrazy]

I'm hoping for a short winter myself. Fingers crossed.

 

[alsant]

One thing I don’t miss about Chicago is the weather ! But I do miss Cheryl Scott

 

[Runcharger]

There is not one good thing about winter. I used to enjoy snowmobiling but when the engine left the building and broke every casting in my 700 Polaris I gave up on that too. It was just an expensive crutch to try to have fun in the winter anyway. Working and trying to keep machinery going and routes clear in the winter was a frustrating effort as well. Pass the tequila! I love this photo to keep me in line. This is just to get in the gate, then fire everything up, move snow and make a run.
To the OP, if you're fast you can take a kettle of boiling water and pour it all around the edges of the hood then quick as a bunny open it up.

 

[68BabyBlue]

Looking out the window this week, I laugh when people ask me if I miss driving a truck. Picture was taken in January, 2008. Single digit weather, plus wind chill, fast idle all night to keep fuel from gelling.

 

[XS22J8R]

We got down to -22° F overnight in 2019, and that morning I headed out the door to go to work, and the Dart started. At that point its OEM battery was 4-1/2 years old. Interestingly though, about 7 months later in late July, I went to start my car and it was dead. I went and got a new battery at Walmart and its been fine since. The car had been giving me hints that the battery was on its last leg for a few weeks before it went DOA that summer. You'd open the door and the instrument panel would "rattle" for an instant, and again when you close the door. It always does that when its real cold regardless, but not in summer. So it has been "rattling" for several months but no other evidence the battery was on its way out now.
Today it is supposed to be in the mid 20s and I am hoping I can figure out a way to get under the hood to change the battery. Temps plunge tonight and it will be frigid over the weekend and won't get above freezing until early next week. So if I can't change the battery today I will need to wait awhile.
I wonder what the tow truck drivers in this area do when they get called for a jump and the stranded motorists hood is iced shut. Do they have a trick to thaw it quick, or have to tow it to a service facility?
I did see a nice sunrise when I walked out the door yesterday morning. Other than that I can't say anything positive about anything the last month or so. If I could hibernate around December 1 and not wake up until mid March, I wouldn't miss anything!

 

[Ron H]

Remember four times in 26 years here where the old ’92 Ram 2500 stick plow couldn’t handle snow on our ¼-mile driveway. Took over 8-hours over the course of two days to clear a narrow path beating the living chit out of the plow. Stuck a dozen times with another truck behind to pull it back on day-two. BIL brought his skidster down on day-three to open it up more so I could put the snow off to the sides. Add the hours of shoveling (some of that digging the plow out…and my geezer body is spent).

 

[1967coronet]

I'm hoping for a short winter myself. Fingers crossed.

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[XS22J8R]

I got the hood open this morning in about 5 minutes. Pried at it and cleaned the gap around the hood with my plastic fastener remover/pry tool I got as swag, but it didn't open. Then I tried the hood release again and it popped! I didn't think it would have re-latched after I'd tried it Tuesday.
But my garage door handle is still froze and my sockets are in the garage. I do have an electric ratchet in the house, so buying a cheap 10mm and extension to do the job wouldn't be the worst thing to happen.
Question is, should I jump it and see if the battery charges up OK, or figure 4-1/2 years is reasonable life and it's time for replacement?

 

[ckessel]

As a lifetime So Cal native, the only time I've been around an abundance of that stuff is if I drove out of my way to play in it. Some years ago two of my neighbors and I went to the AMBR show in Pomona. One was from Nantucket, a native, the other had spent time in NY working for the airlines. Listening to those two guys about dealing with daily life stuff around that type of climate, heavy snow/butt jazz cold/frozen locks/dead batteries/mold in basements/frozen pies etc etc, makes me glad I'm around this type of area. No snow, does get cold[ for us, warm for you], rain, overcast, fog, but a nice mix of bitchin weather.

 

[33 IMP]

Charging it just costs a little juice, and some time. It could be that the battery was just too cold. I would sure give it a charge before I buy a battery, they ain't cheap anymore.
Edit: love the AMBR show. Pomona fairgrounds is about ten minutes from my house.

 

[Ron H]

I got the hood open this morning in about 5 minutes. Pried at it and cleaned the gap around the hood with my plastic fastener remover/pry tool I got as swag, but it didn't open. Then I tried the hood release again and it popped! I didn't think it would have re-latched after I'd tried it Tuesday.
But my garage door handle is still froze and my sockets are in the garage. I do have an electric ratchet in the house, so buying a cheap 10mm and extension to do the job wouldn't be the worst thing to happen.
Question is, should I jump it and see if the battery charges up OK, or figure 4-1/2 years is reasonable life and it's time for replacement?

From my experiences batteries have gone to chit every 4.5 to five-years like clockwork. Found that checking them can be a hassle, they can show good voltage and drop to near zero trying to start them then pop back to 12v on the meter. Last time it would show just over 12v sitting. Good batt needs to show 13-14 volts. That battery was 4.5 years old. If a battery is at the age I replace it working or not.