Hello,
I think my battery is on its way out. I've got a 1.4L HDi citroen c3. I have driven other diesels before and I always turned the key and had to wait for the glow plug light to go out before starting the car. The c3 is completely different in that you get in, turn the key, and drive off. In fact I didn't know it had a glow plug light because it has never been on before.
The other day it was -13C and for the first time the glow plug light came on. Out of habit I tried to start the engine straight away and it would not start. I tried again and this time the starter seemed to be slower. The engine did not start, so I tried a third time. The starter turned but the lights went dimmer and dimmer.
So I gave up and put the battery on to charge.
Why do batteries seem to fail in the cold weather? Is there a specific reason? is it just that all chemistry is temperature dependant and reactions slow down in the cold?
I realise three starts pulls a lot of current but surely a good battery should have coped with that?
Due to the bad weather, we had stayed in as much as possible and when we had gone out we used the other car, so I guess the c3 had been standing undriven for over a week. Perhaps that contributed but I thought a car would survive at least a fortnight undriven, after all, they start at the airport car park after you've been away for 14 days.
I read a post on this group, where someone else was asking about their battery and there was a list of things to do and someone wrote: replace battery at the first sign of it letting you down. But someone else replied they had been meaning to do that but had not got round to it and the battery was still working two winters later. So don't know whether to get one now or not.
I went to costco and they sell a bosch silver for 58gbp. The same battery was 119 in halford$!
Just in case I have made sure the jump leads are in my boot! I think in the last ten years I have jump started one colleague at work and have been jump started myself once. So that's an average of once every five years. Is that typical? When flat batteries happen so infrequently is it worth carrying jump leads in every car? I'm wondering whether to get a second set for the other car. I say this because it was the other car that needed jump starting the once and of course, we didn't have the leads with us as they were in the other car! OTOH if we had one of everything in each car, there would be no room for the shopping in the boot!
I also wondered about these battery powered jump start packs that also have a tyre inflator. I'm not sure why they do this: do they think your tyres and battery go flat together!?
The disadvantage of jump leads is you need someone else to be there and willing to help you. If you break down in the middle of nowhere, they are no use; a battery pack would be. However, it has to be charged up regularly and I wonder whether if I actually need to use it, would I find either that it was in the boot and flat or left at home from the last time I plugged it in to charge and forgot to put it back in the car! How useful re they and how often do you have to recharge yours?
Thanks, Stephen.