Tuesday it was the snow blower and today it's my car. Dead battery. I really, REALLY hate Winter

[Siwsan]

And in the back of my mind I'm thinking 'at least I HOPE it's my battery'. I'll know, soon.

And if it is, I'm either going to have to start taking drives, every few days, or rearrange things so I can park in the garage.

Have I mentioned how much I hate Winter? And, apparently, how much Winter hates me??

[brewens]

1. I have a one man cab company buddy that gives people jumps for ten bucks. I think a lot of

the independents do, but the others around here charge $15. Might help someone that never thought of that.

For years I drove an old standard transmission GMC pickup. One year I milked a dying battery for a week. I could because I park on slight hill on a residential street and could do the same if I parked out on the street at work. I'm pretty good at coasting and the ol' compression start. Pay day came so I could afford a new battery and I did the Fred Flintstone thing one more time, drove to Costco and put the new battery in right in the parking lot.

[Siwsan]

2. My brother is coming over when his shift ends.

This battery isn't that old. I think it's just that the weather is brutally cold and I haven't driven the car since Sunday. And then that was just a quick trip to Aldi.

The garage is now ready. I don't park in it because the garage door opener isn't working and it's a pain having to manually open the door, pull out the car, go back in, close the door, latch it (only latch is inside) and then the reverse when I get back. I keep bugging the guys about installing a new garage door opener. Guess I should just bite the bullet and hire that job out.

[brewens]

3. That year my truck battery died I had left the lights on and almost killed it a couple months

before. That one wasn't that old either. If you do that to them, the cold weather finishes them off. I wasn't surprised.

[samnsara]

4. hubby couldnt make it up our steep drive way after work so he had to just leave the car...

.. on the slope and hike into our house. I like the snow but im not driving in it

[Binkie The Clown]

5. Move. There are places that winter never visits.

I keep telling myself that's what I'm going to do. Any year now. Someday. Eventually.

[rickford66]

6. I carry one of those portable chargers. Also called a jump starter.

Charge at home and it holds the charge for a month or more. Also has outputs for cell phone and DC accessories.

[getagrip_already]

7. it sounds like what you hate is maintenance... ;)

Really, batteries going dead in winter have been a thing since they started using them in cars to start engines. And something like a snow thrower, that almost never gets used (I live in central mass where we get feet of snow most winters) is especially prone to starting issues.

Maintenance matters. Take a warm fall day and make sure the dang thing runs. Put a meter on the battery and make sure it is holding a charge. In the spring, empty the gas and fog the engine.

It will start every time you need it. Oh, and have spare parts like shear pins on hand.

That goes double for a generator. The worst time to get a snow thrower fixed is after a storm. The worst time to get a generator or parts is during a power outage.

Just a friendly psa.

[FSogol]

8. Since the lockdown started, I've probably jumpstarted 20+ cars. People take short

trips and that doesn't give enough time for the battery to recharge. Combined with charging their phone, running radios, a/c, they are draining the battery. Drive the car without using accessorizes for 15-20 mins after you start it. That will allow the battery to recharge. If completely drained, take to an auto parts store and put it on their charger for 12 hours. They can also test it and tell you if it needs replacing.

[Siwsan]

9. Funny thing is, I usually do that maintenance.

The snow blower was newly purchased, last year, had been used ONCE. I did empty the tank, last Spring, and filled it with fresh gasoline on Tuesday. I usually have the guys start up the snow blower well before any snow but this year I kept forgetting. Unfortunately, the instructions are NOT clear (just vague pictures) and the pull cord is almost too long for my arm length. Then, during one attempt at giving the cord a hard pull, it DIDN'T MOVE!! That's when I hurt my shoulder.

As for the car, the maintenance is all up to date. The weather turned bitter cold and I just haven't been driving. I hate driving in good weather, so Winter driving is torture, for me. Funny thing is, when I cleared snow on Tuesday I thought maybe I should move the car into the garage so I can do a thorough job on the driveway, but I was covered in snow blow back and getting cold so I just didn't follow my gut instinct. Instead I tossed down some ice melt to help mitigate any further snowfall. At least THAT worked but had I moved the car, this wouldn't have happened. Lesson learned.

Fortunately the car fired right up so we let it run, for a bit, and now it's backed into the garage.

[The Figment]

10. A cheap battery maintainer from your local auto parts store ($25)

Will take of that problem nicely.

[Siwsan]

11. We actually talked about that, yesterday

I went out, this morning, and the car started right up. Pulling the car into the garage seems to have resolved the issue. No doubt the car just sat for too long in brutally cold weather.

[jpak]

12. Welcome to the club

Dead car

Dead snowblower

Ugh

[Siwsan]

13. Hopefully there's no more accumulating snow before my shoulder stops hurting!

The 10 day forecast looks good but somebody told me that the long range forecast shows a miserable February.