subzero temps and 93 s-10 wont start

[justinofdurham]

here in connecticut its been freezing the past day or 2. we got quite a bit of snow so i didnt drive my rwd s-10 for 2 days. i went to start it this morning and it didnt start. so i tried a couple more times throughout the day and i still go nothing. could it be that the battery froze? i push in the clutch and turn the key and nothing happens at all. its completly silent and nothing turns on. if the battery is frozen how can i unfreeze it? ive seen people with like cardboard over the vents in front could that help me out at all to prevent it from freezing if thats teh case? i couldnt figure out a way to figure out if it was frozen or dead? any help would be appreciated. thank you.

[chris15706]

I might be dead. Try to jump start it.

[BlazerLT]

Charge your battery.

[dmbrisket 51]

charge it, and pay attention to how you park, if the wind is commen from the west (9 times of 10 it is) point the front of the truck towards the east, it will keep the engin bay warmer by not havin the wind whip through it all the time

[xtrememeasures10]

A couple of other things you might wanna try is a block heater so your oil is always close to 100 degrees there like 20 bucks at autoparts stores, also if the battery is good. turn on your headlights for a couple minutes. That will get the electrons flowing and warm the battery up. in other words up your amperage. good luck!

[BlazerLT]

Originally Posted by dmbrisket 51

charge it, and pay attention to how you park, if the wind is commen from the west (9 times of 10 it is) point the front of the truck towards the east, it will keep the engin bay warmer by not havin the wind whip through it all the time

Nothing other than humans can experience wind chill.

It is a human condition only.

[dmbrisket 51]

what freezes faster, a nice calm lake in the open with no wind, or the same lake with a mild wind, the lake with mild wind, the wind blows the "warm" air away, and thats all warmth is, is the area heated by something, like the fluid in your battery, if you keep recycleing the air in the engin bay the battery loses its heat quicker being exposed to the actual temperature quicker, i realize only humans feel wind chill but it effects are still noticed even though the temperature of something wont reach the wind chills temperature it will get to actual temp quicker

[BlazerLT]

Originally Posted by dmbrisket 51

what freezes faster, a nice calm lake in the open with no wind, or the same lake with a mild wind, the lake with mild wind, the wind blows the "warm" air away, and thats all warmth is, is the area heated by something, like the fluid in your battery, if you keep recycleing the air in the engin bay the battery loses its heat quicker being exposed to the actual temperature quicker, i realize only humans feel wind chill but it effects are still noticed even though the temperature of something wont reach the wind chills temperature it will get to actual temp quicker

Sorry bro, although you are partially true, the minimum anything can go to is the air temperature.

Wind may remove heat quicker, but it will only go as low as the latent temperature of the air.

Wind chill is a "feeling" only felt by humans and nothing else.

If it is 30f out and you are going 100mph, the coldest it can get is 30f.

If it is 30f and you were going a 1000mph, the temperature of the metal will be ....yep,,,,you guessed it.....30f.

[OverBoardProject]

Try warming up the battery first even with a hair-drier or small electric heater. Block heater, and once you get it started nose it into a snow bank. They keep things a little warmer, although it's harder to jump if you have to.

I don't like using either except on heavy equiptment, but I've sprayed WD-40 into intake system's to start dead trucks,and it often works

[Mikado14]

Originally Posted by BlazerLT

Sorry bro, although you are partially true, the minimum anything can go to is the air temperature.

Wind may remove heat quicker, but it will only go as low as the latent temperature of the air.

Wind chill is a "feeling" only felt by humans and nothing else.

If it is 30f out and you are going 100mph, the coldest it can get is 30f.

If it is 30f and you were going a 1000mph, the temperature of the metal will be ....yep,,,,you guessed it.....30f.

So, there is no friction with the molecules of air at 1000 mph and the metal doesn't heat from this friction? And when the shuttle reenters the upper atmosphere, which certainly is much colder then 30 degrees, the Columbia should have never broke up from a tile failure?

[Mikado14]

Originally Posted by justinofdurham

here in connecticut its been freezing the past day or 2. we got quite a bit of snow so i didnt drive my rwd s-10 for 2 days. i went to start it this morning and it didnt start. so i tried a couple more times throughout the day and i still go nothing. could it be that the battery froze? i push in the clutch and turn the key and nothing happens at all. its completly silent and nothing turns on. if the battery is frozen how can i unfreeze it? ive seen people with like cardboard over the vents in front could that help me out at all to prevent it from freezing if thats teh case? i couldnt figure out a way to figure out if it was frozen or dead? any help would be appreciated. thank you.

If the battery froze, it is junk, period. The expanding ice will damage the plates. If you do thaw it out and get a charge into it, it will be a shadow of it's former self. Get a new battery.

[OverBoardProject]

newer cars are often built so they won't start unless there's oil pressure, which means that if the oil is to thick it'll never start

[justinofdurham]

thank you everyone for you input. i have a small space heater that i got for 16 dollars at walmart im gonna wheel my truck into my garage and just turn the heater on and heat up the garage and see if i can get it to 40 degrees because i heard that is the temperature to unfreeze a battery. I hope it didnt die because thats a fairly new battery that the previous owner got installed 7 months ago but if it comes down to it ill have to put a new battery. do you think the 20 dollar block heater would be worth it? I am not sure how one of those installs. is it easy cause it is way too cold to work on my truck out cause unlike the truck i feel the windchill and its 5 degrees without the windchill. thanks everyone.

[dmbrisket 51]

40 degree thawing point???? where did you hear that, if it thawed at 40 that means that it will start freezing at 40, theres snow here, that stuff melts at 32 and my battery is just fine

[hunter01]

What about a trickle charger for the battery. I been told a charged battery is less likely to freeze.