[thechat] Here's a question - car batteries -

[Bob Davis]

True - but your oil doesn't take the consistency of molasses there. It's 
very hard on the battery to get the starter to turn an engine that is 
that cold. Good batteries and synthetic oil are your friends. I use 
synth all the time (now running summer oil - 15W-50 Mobil 1, 5w30 in 
winter).

Big +1 on getting the electrical system looked at. German cars tend to 
have problems with the ground wire/strap. Voltage regulators and 
alternators do eventually give up the ghost too. It's pretty simple to 
see what kind of charge the battery is getting. Never hurts to know 
what's happening with your car. Any more, a voltmeter is one of the most 
indispensable diagnostic tools there is.  I've used them to find all 
kinds of stuff that was "wrong", sometimes chasing down a bad wire.  
$.02 of wire and a couple splices later, and the car is running happily.

Plenty of parts stores will look for you. They'd really much rather sell 
you a new alternator (last one I bought was ~$300) than a new battery 
(~$75) anyway. It's very simple to check.

bob
(car geek)

On Monday, June 4, 2001, at 11:05 AM, Scott Dexter wrote:

> and since we're talking about it, don't forget hot weather is just as 
> hard
> on a battery as cold weather... (around here (Texas), harder)



--
bob davis
bobd at members.evolt.org