My car sometimes doesn’t get driven for a week at a time, between that and winter cold I am having constant issues with it dying and needing to be trickle charged. My engine also seems to want a lot of juice for it to turnover.
Would an AGM battery last longer between charges? Would it perform better in the cold? Is there any better solution than just making sure some regularly drives it a few times a week?
Edit: It seems Costco lists an AGM for my car cheaper than a lot of regular batteries, so it seems like I will find out either way… But I am still curious if people think this will solve my charging problems.
How cold?
How old is the battery? I live very far north and a 4 year old battery has done it’s time.
If you have a lot of cold starts every year consider installing a block heater and and using an oil with good cold performance.
Don’t waste your money on an AGM battery. Unless you have a premium luxury vehicle (i.e. Audi) and the extra cash to burn, just find a decent brand battery with as much CCA as you can fit under the hood.
Get yourself a 12V trickle charger. Most quality units will fully charge your battery and keep it in a “floating” mode to top it off, letting you keep it connected to the car for several days at a time.
Why does the car being permium matter?
It seems an AGM battery does have the highest CCA that the websites list.
Its a 40-$50 difference between the highest CCA regular vs AGM.
Internet also says that AGM can take more abuse as well. Seems like it’s perfect for me, no?
Edit: Just checked out Costco and they apparently only list an AGM battery for my car and its cheaper than the highest CCA regular battery at other shops. Hopefully this works better.
Why does the car being permium matter?
More electronic systems means higher instantaneous current draw.
Seems like it’s perfect for me, no?
Hey, if you get a fine deal on it and it provides all the CCA you need then that’s a win in my book. You should still look into trickle charging if not driving the car for more than a week. The battery can get damaged.
Besides what others have said. Have you changed your oil? Cold oil is slow oil and makes starting harder.
A cold weather oil will move more freely and do a better job of lubricating the engine during the hardest part of the run cycle, the start.
Yeah, oil is not the issue. It needs a lot of juice all the time. Even in the summer if its not driven at least once in a week will have a good chance of being dead. This has been over like 3 batteries in the last 5 years.
Sounds like you have a parasitic draw somewhere
I concur. Get the alternator checked. The diode might be giving up the ghost and causing reverse-current, draining the battery even while off.
A block heater can reduce the load on a battery in the cold.
Batteries preform worse in the cold.
If it’s cold enough to affect your battery, you need to keep them warmer. As another commentor points out, block heater are a solution.
Agm is fine, but I’d guess you really need a trickle charger more. Also something might be sapping power, like something plugged into a USB port.
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