Battery drain in cold weather

15

Asked by FrustratedColdWeathe... Nov 16, 2018 at 01:31 PM about the 2002 Dodge RAM 1500 SLT 4WD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Whenever the weather gets below freezing, my truck's battery begins to
drain rapidly.  The colder it gets, the faster it drains.  In warm weather the
battery is fine.  The other morning it was starting to get pretty cold, I started
the truck and let it idle for an hour.  I noticed that the temperature was
dropping into the teens, so I went out about ten hours later to start it again
and the battery was already dead.  Does anyone have any ideas or
suggestions?

4 Answers

22,660

Corrosion on terminals is worse in winter. Follow all wires and clean and ensure tight connections. Baking soda and water will take off battery acid. Also do voltage drop tests and parasitic drain tests. YouTube these topics for help. Lightly sand all ground connections and reconnect.

2 people found this helpful.
65,590

Suggest buying another battery any battery will start in the summer if not starting when it’s cold time for a new battery.

1 people found this helpful.
15

Thank you for answering my question. Unfortunately, I have changed the battery about a month ago and it is still happening. I have cleaned the battery terminal connectors when I put in the new battery, but I didn't trace out the cables completely to check for corrosion. I will do that. However, I think that the parasitic battery drain may be exactly what is happening. One thing that comes to mind is a wiring connection for a trailer that I got from U-Haul. It clips onto the taillight wires with connectors that penetrate the insulation. Is it possible that this is causing the problem? I'm not much of a mechanic, so any help is sincerely appreciated!

1 people found this helpful.
22,660

Yes that was the exact issue a friend of mine had when he first bought his Chevy truck. Watch the parasitic drain videos and this will narrow your circuit down for you. You will see. Happy youtubing.

1 people found this helpful.

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