Auto Mechanic Experts - cold weather and car battery

[hopedale]

Looks like this cold weather is draining my battery on my Expedition.

Thursday went to get in and go to the gym, but wouldn't start. Hooked up the battery charger and put a full charge on the battery.

Did a short trip Friday no issues.

Not the case this morning. Drove to Walmart to pick someone up for a duck hunt. Parked, shut the vehicle down, loaded up the gear, and wouldn't start. Hooked up jumper cables, had to wait a bit, but started up. Drove to lake, hunted, and started up.

Went to Autozone battery tested fine. Alternator tested fine.

The guy at Autozone said everyone is having battery issue with the cold weather.

I'm pretty sure this is the orginal battery (bought the vehicle used).

So, do I just need a newer battery or a different type?

[Walker]

Exact same thing happened to me. Got a new battery yesterday. Check your battery with a hydrometer. I'll bet your at 75% or less. Time for a new battery.

[RattlesnakeDan]

Needs a battery. They should have "Load Tested" it. The cold just exposes a weak battery.

[Kingfisher789]

Needs a battery. What rattle snake Dan said is correct

[Pstraw]

^^^^^
These last two.

[tex4k]

Check ALL your terminal points also, the wife's Armada has had a couple of these episodes, there are multiple connections on the positive side of the battery, doesn't take much corrosion build up in there to cause problems.

[hopedale]

Thanks. I got a feeling he did not do a load test.

He was telling me they were short today and he was supposed to be working commercial.

Got the feeling i was bothering him.

[dharris]

Thanks. I got a feeling he did not do a load test.

He was telling me they were short today and he was supposed to be working commercial.

Got the feeling i was bothering him.

How old is the battery?

[cva34]

I'm bettin on bad battery...I seen them test alternator and test battery and come up good but once you put in new battery its fixed..

There is something about testers that miss something...

[RifleBowPistol]

It sounds like it is likely the battery, but it may not be getting charged, either the alternator is not working or bad cables, possibly bad connection, such were the cables connect to the power distribution box. It could be something draining the battery. I would check the voltage of the battery with the vehicle off, then start it and see what the voltage is. Should be around 12.2 volts when off and nothing is drawing amps from the battery. Then once the vehicle has started, you should see at leas 13.2"v to upwards of 14.6, the higher it is charging, the weaker the battery is or you have something tat is also draining power when running.
To check to see if you have a drain, to see if you have a drain on the battery, disconnect the negative cable, Then connect a DVOM set to AMPs and the leads in the correct position with the DVOM set to Amps. Then connect one lead to the batter and the other to the cables you disconnected It may show some amp, when you first turn the vehicle off, until all of the modules have turned off all lights, radio, ect After about 10 minutes, everything should be off, then look and see what the amps are. If it's anything more than about .3 amps, you should start looking for a draw on the battery.

[hopedale]

Thanks.

Pulled the trigger and got a new battery.

[Rakkasan2187]

Looks like this cold weather is draining my battery on my Expedition.

Thursday went to get in and go to the gym, but wouldn't start. Hooked up the battery charger and put a full charge on the battery.

Did a short trip Friday no issues.

Not the case this morning. Drove to Walmart to pick someone up for a duck hunt. Parked, shut the vehicle down, loaded up the gear, and wouldn't start. Hooked up jumper cables, had to wait a bit, but started up. Drove to lake, hunted, and started up.

Went to Autozone battery tested fine. Alternator tested fine.

The guy at Autozone said everyone is having battery issue with the cold weather.

I'm pretty sure this is the orginal battery (bought the vehicle used).

So, do I just need a newer battery or a different type?

It don't get cold enough is Texas for you to have to worry about that except in the panhandle I would think.

[Pushbutton2]

Wife's Explorer was doing the same thing a while back.
Load tested battery, it was fine. Put jumper cables on it and it started. Couple days later she's at work it does it again.
Replaced battery, where'd good for 2 days. Did it to me again. Load tested battery it was good.
Chased it for 2 weeks. Ended up being a loose battery cable connection.

It was loose here.

As Always My Heart is filled with Love for you and Your Families. Not because I am commanded to Love my Neighbor but because I can, am able to and it brings me Joy.