Sella Turcica
Veteran Member
105k mi on our 05.5 TDI. Got a new battery one year ago because of very slow cranking, which rectified the situation. No obvious electrical problems. I run powerservice all the time.
The car was driven all week and then sat for maybe 36 hours in 20F cold, and I went to start it at 30F today. GP light acted normally (out in about 2 sec) and I waited maybe 3 or 4 sec after that. It cranked so slowly and pathetically that I was sure for just a couple seconds that I'd have to jumpstart it (MIL/lights all went out, etc). Then it unleashed the poof of smoke and clattered to life.
That's insane. I can leave my Camry out for a week, with a 3x older battery and it starts instantly. Same with the BMW. So something isn't right here. This is my wife's DD and it has to start reliably on a daily basis.
Is there a way to figure out the plan of action? I know some people have a bad drain with the delphi radio, but I'm not sure how to verify this. I have a multimeter handy. Is this the kind of thing a frostheater/zerostart/trickle charge would help, or no?
Thanks
The car was driven all week and then sat for maybe 36 hours in 20F cold, and I went to start it at 30F today. GP light acted normally (out in about 2 sec) and I waited maybe 3 or 4 sec after that. It cranked so slowly and pathetically that I was sure for just a couple seconds that I'd have to jumpstart it (MIL/lights all went out, etc). Then it unleashed the poof of smoke and clattered to life.
That's insane. I can leave my Camry out for a week, with a 3x older battery and it starts instantly. Same with the BMW. So something isn't right here. This is my wife's DD and it has to start reliably on a daily basis.
Is there a way to figure out the plan of action? I know some people have a bad drain with the delphi radio, but I'm not sure how to verify this. I have a multimeter handy. Is this the kind of thing a frostheater/zerostart/trickle charge would help, or no?
Thanks