Battery voltage?

[Au201]

First let me say this is my first topic on this forum, I do apologize if its in the wrong place.
So I haven't driven my Camaro (2010 2LT/RS auto. Original battery) in almost 3 weeks. It's been locked and in a garage (unheated, but attached so always about 10-15F warmer than outside, which has been in the mid 20s to mid 40s lately.) so the alarm was armed which from what I've read drains the battery. Today I went out to get something from the car and decided to check the battery voltage and its reading 10.6V. Will that be enough juice to start the car tomorrow when it'll be warmer? And what is the lowest voltage the car will start?
Thanks.


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[SimpleGreen]

I wanted to say the threshold was around 10.8 volts. That was a general voltage I read in an auto tech class I took. However, that is really pushing it. I would go out once a week and start it/let it run for a short bit to prevent that from happening. Or get a battery tender.

[TooCool5]

Battery tender.

[v6sonoma]

I've had my car since 09 and she (sadly) sit's outside under a cover for months during the winter. Never had a problem firing it up. After 3 days or so of nonfunctioning everything shuts down. (onstar module, etc.) So it drains very little power. The funny part is when I fire it back up and instantly I get an E-mail diagnostic from On-Star. lol

[IC1Patton]

Originally Posted by TooCool5

Battery tender.

[ChrisBlair]

Hampton Roads? Not in the USN by any chance? I nearly lost a finger down by Hampton Roads about ten years ago, picking up an old car with a buddy that stored the car there when he was active navy

Anyway, rule of thumb is if you don't have 12v, don't make any bets on starting it. I've started cars with less in the cold, but it wasn't a sure thing

[Au201]

Thanks for your input everyone. I couldn't wait to see if it would start so I pulled the equinox up behind it just in case but I didn't need it! she cranked, albeit slowly, but it started. Drove around gingerly (27 degrees on pzeros ) for about 20 minutes to charge it up. Ill try to drive it more tomorrow too. I guess I'll look for a battery tender too since this winter is supposed to be colder than last. Anyways, thanks again.

Originally Posted by ChrisBlair

Hampton Roads? Not in the USN by any chance? I nearly lost a finger down by Hampton Roads about ten years ago, picking up an old car with a buddy that stored the car there when he was active navy

Anyway, rule of thumb is if you don't have 12v, don't make any bets on starting it. I've started cars with less in the cold, but it wasn't a sure thing

Yep I'm in Hampton roads, not navy though. How'd you nearly lose a finger? Actually "picking up" the car? :p. not sure about the 12v thing, because I'm sure that after 2 days of sitting my battery is below 12 volts again.

Edit: just remembered that the car shuts all electronics off when it cranks so in that case the 12v rule is probably true. Haha. Thanks.

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[Renegade]

Originally Posted by TooCool5

Battery tender.

[TwistedEnergy]

I let mine sit in my driveway for the past month with a cover on as I am not driving it this winter. I fired it up on Tuesday was 0'C, took about half a second longer then normal but started right up and I let it run for about 15 minutes. I didn't check the voltage before I started it but while it was on it looked like I was getting strong 15V.

I don't plan on starting it again for another month. So probably beginning of February.

Dealers let cars sit on their lots for months at a time, no battery tender no car cover nothing. I don't foresee any issues starting the car 1 month at a time without any battery tender. I've read other threads on here of people who have let their Camaro's sit for 3+ months with no battery tender and it fired right up.

I'll post my findings in a months time if my car decided not to start but I think it will have no issues turning over.

[JAustin]

Originally Posted by TwistedEnergy

Dealers let cars sit on their lots for months at a time, no battery tender no car cover nothing.

I wouldn't use that observation to guide my thinking on how long a car battery will hold a charge without being started / run. I once bought a car off a dealer's new lot, and the salesman had to go get one of those portable jumpers (one of the big ones with a built-in two-wheel dolly) to start it up for the test drive.

Besides, you don't know how often the dealer starts and runs the new vehicles on the lot, for test drives, etc.

Incidentally, I inadvertantly left my Camaro's ignition key in the Accessory position overnight last weekend, while I was jacking around with my Garmin. The battery was so dead that it wouldn't illuminate the courtesy light or operate the inside truck release, and I couldn't remove the key from the ignition. I tried jumping it, didn't help.

So I removed the battery, and it's been on my tender for the past couple of days. It's currently showing just over 13V, and hasn't reached the 80% charge level yet. The car was built about 20 months ago and has less than 10K miles. It'll be interesting to see if the recharge works, or if I have to get a new battery.

[jshaf]

I have min on a tender and the last time I checked it it read 13.8 V

[Angrybird 12]

Originally Posted by Comrando

If you have a stick you should be able to just start it down hill and pop the clutch. Use 3rd.

Depends on how dead the battery is if it clicks but does not turn over you should be able to, but if its completely dead I doubt it. Remember these cars are fuel injected computer operated ignition systems, no juice no go, period. Not quite the same as when we had mechanical fuel pumps and no computers.

[lawdog]

Took delivery of my car in first week of sept. 2009. I use a battery tender whenever the car is parked in the garage. Don't need to go to the trouble of pulling he battery out. If you get a decent one, just hook it to the terminals under the hood and it will do the job.

[JAustin]

Originally Posted by Comrando

Batteries are warranted from the date they are put into service. They are pro-rated so you only pay the difference.

Yeah, I know. But if I do have to replace it, I'll still chalk up the $$ outlay to "stupid tax."

Originally Posted by jshaf

I have mine on a tender and the last time I checked it it read 13.8 V

Thanks; good to know. Currenty at 13.16V and climbing. At this rate, it should be fully charged by tomorrow evening.

Originally Posted by lawdog

I use a battery tender whenever the car is parked in the garage. Don't need to go to the trouble of pulling the battery out. If you get a decent one, just hook it to the terminals under the hood and it will do the job.

Roger that. But since I couldn't start it by jumping, I decided to disconnect the battery and connect the jumper cables directly to the battery leads, so I could roll down the front windows (no power = no indexing) and remove the key from the ignition. Once the battery was disconnected, I decided to go ahead and pull it and recharge it on the bench.