Do batteries freeze?

[CrawlingCritter]

Drove the jeep last evening about 120 miles. Started fine, temp about 17 F. This morning went out to start and nothing--I mean nothing happened. It was about 7 degrees. :shiver: Didn't even try to turn over. I could hear the solenoid clearly but when you turned the key all the way over it was like there was a dead short. The lights dimmed. So I tried charging and the ole Sears charger showed it was only drawing 4 amps. I let it charge. It just wouldn't start. A buddy came by and I asked for a jump. Nothing. We let it set with his engine running charging the heep and went inside for coffee. Came out 10 minutes later still dead. So we went into town to buy a new battery. The temp is now about 30 F. Just for the sake of it I decided to try one more time (the thing was not on charge during the ride for the new batt.) Turned the key and the heep fired right up. Just like she had a new battery! You guys think it was the warmer temp the revived the batt or something else?:wierd:

 

[94XJ2door5speed]

Hey just recently moved to PA, same thing it was 10 degrees this morning did not wanna turn over for nothing and to boot once it did it ideled for about 20min to warm up and when i went to take off, stupid me put it in 3rd and stalled it. It just barely made 2 revolutions like i counted the time it took to spin over! then it started, it sucked, its never done that before ever! I think the weather has something to do with it. Scared me though tonight isnt supposed to be better.

 

[LiamN]

Actually you're gonna laugh at this.
you're starter is probably frozen, this happened to both my buddy and I, in our jeeps (yj and XJ respectively), it would not even crank.

what we did was took a light hammer and tapped the starter a few times untill the vibrations broke up apart any dust/mud/water that iced up.
seriously try this, you'll be surprised.
the chances are low that the battery is frozen..
good luck

 

[old_man]

All batteries lose cranking power when cold. 7 degrees, while chilly to many people, is not horribly cold. The cold makes all the little problems come out. If the battery is weak to start with, the cold is a death sentence. It takes more energy to crank over a cold motor and when the battery has less to offer, things just don't work.

A good battery and starter, coupled with an engine with the correct oil should start fine down to -30 or so.

 

[CrawlingCritter]

You know I thought of maybe a frozen starter. I needed a new battery anyway because the old one is 5 1/2 years old. So I didn't mind buying it. If it does this again, I'll know it's not the battery!

 

[WB9YZU]

I've had a battery fail in cold weather.
One really nasty cold day I took a Bronco I had just got that summer, used, for a 30 mile trip down the interstate. When we arrived, we shut the truck off and thought nothing of it. Went to restart it, after a few minutes, and the battery was completely dead.
A jump got the truck running off the alternator and I installed a piece of cardboard to block the wind from coming in through the grill and over the battery.

Truck got a new battery when I got home.

5 1/2 years is a long life for a battery. Just replace it.

Ron

 

[Shorty]

to answer the title to the thread, Yes batteries will and do freeze...... but only if the state of charge is rather low. As the battery looses charge, the electrolite looses it's acidity and slowly returns to the 'ph neutral' water that it began life as. The lower the charge, the closer to 32*F it will freeze.

 

[Begster]

Sounds more like the starter to me. I've actually just had to replace a bad starter, and it did nothing but click as I turned the key. As it was going, it would start fine most of the time, then it would have episodes of not starting. I would get in and it would just click, then I would try again and start up perfect. Did you happen to notice any lights or anyting on, or the battery gauge when you couldn't start the car?

 

[5-90]

Can a battery freeze? Sure - but what's the freezing point of a sulphuric acid solution (and what's the concentration a battery, anyhow? Someone with more recent chemistry instruction than me want to sound off? I know it can be figured from the S.G. of the electrolyte...)

But, I'd also put my money on the starter being frozen. Either the contaminants in the starter (mud, water, ...) have frozen the thing in place, or the bushings have contracted around the shafts and stuck it in place.

Batteries can and do lose cranking power with cold weather. Back home, if the battery was more than four years old, I'd take it out and put it in the freezer downstairs for a few hours. Take it out, and try to start the car. If it started, it would be good for the winter. If not, get a new battery before winter hit (this is something I'd do around October or so...)

If you want see if the starter proper is frozen, you can probably get it warmed up with a hair dryer used for about ten minutes, directly on the thing.

 

[philip_g]

Well, I've lived in ND and seen -35 mornings and my optima didn't freeze nor did my starter.
but an iffy battery will ruin your morning.

 

[8Mud]

Pull out your dipstick and feel your oil, it gets thick and the battery losses power when it really gets cold. Starter will turn over really slowly if at all.

 

[jpsfri]

I have started vehicles in -50 on the north slope of Alaska. As long as the battery is good and starter is not frozen, it should start, assuming everything is working properly. If you regularly have negative temps in winter, use synthetic light weight oils.

disclaimer, all vehicles were plugged in with trickle charger, block and tranny heaters

 

[SS01XJ]

Dirty or corroded battery cable connections will give the symptoms that you have.

 

[matt1994xj]

7 degrees isnt that cold. i have started my jeep in -30

 

[Harlee&Tahoe]

I would reccomend taking it to NAPA or similar. My local NAPA has a tester that will test alt, starter, and battery.
After passing load testing I looked at starter. (super oily and dirty brake cleaner wouldn't touch it)
My alt was new re-man, recently cleaned all connections.
Went to NAPA where they had this nifty computerized tester. 565cca iirc ACDelco 2 years old tested at 3xx cca.
Went with gel spiral cell 7xxcca; 1000ca. Problem solved!

Who cares if they freeze, I care if not enough to crank it over. So yeah at that point consider it frozen