Cold-Weather Car Starting Tips

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Figure 1: Temperature Derating.
Figure 1: Temperature Derating.
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Auto tips: Never add acid to your battery; use only soft or distilled water.
Auto tips: Never add acid to your battery; use only soft or distilled water.
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Figure 2: Specific Gravity Correction Factor.
Figure 2: Specific Gravity Correction Factor.
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Figure 3: Freezing Point of Lead-Acid Battery
Figure 3: Freezing Point of Lead-Acid Battery
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Chart: Trickle Charger Parts Layout.
Chart: Trickle Charger Parts Layout.

Car starting tips to help MOTHER EARTH NEWS readers cope with starting your car in winter weather. 

Cold-Weather Car Starting Tips

Cold is a stopper. In some pans of the country, the harshest day of the year is practically a traditional holiday-one that’s most widely observed by cars. The drivers, unfortunately, still bundle up to give ‘er a try. Not until the grinding moan of the starter has faded to a series of pathetic clicks will we admit that no creature with ordinary sense (a car, for example) would go out on a day like this for any reason other than to fetch more firewood.

We at MOTHER don’t mind people taking an occasional unofficial holiday, but the premise bothers us. Why should the car decide when we take the day off?

What the Cold Does 

  • Published on Sep 7, 2012
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