Just a random complaint aimed at this damn freezing weather. Short story,,,,,,, yesterday, we were out in the wifes 14 Outlander, no issues. Today we were going to run some errands, grab some lunch, etc. Car tries to start and then does nothing but clicking sounds. Thing is with the push button starters, they'll keep trying to start unless you push the button again.....
So the 14 Big O, is down, I go to fire up my 16 Big O, and it's so dead the button doesn't even get the green light on it, it's RED....
It's been sitting for about a week and temps have been super frigid, so I figure with the alarm being on as well I've max'd out what it was willing to take. So I throw on the jump box, Mine takes a couple of cranks but it fires up slowly and stays running. I try jump box on the 14, and get nothing. it acts as if it doesn't want to stop trying to start even after hitting the button again. lights are barely on and they won't shut off. This seems like aa bad thing, so I disconnect the battery and then try it again using my 16 and some jumper cables,,,,,, NO luck....
So off to the parts store, they check it and it shows it WAY LOW on volts. (9-10) the cold cranking amps on a 4yr old stock battery are NOT going to come back to life, so I end up spending around $ 155 for a new "Gold" battery with 780+ cold cranking amps. dropped it in the, hit the button and BAM,,,,, fires right up. Needless to say, the stock battery gave up the ghost right at around yrs in this - negative degree weather were having.

 

I noticed the V6 swapped from group 24 to 35 in 2012, so much lower CCA. This coincides with the switch to 0W20 vs 5W20. I like Costco batteries. Cheap and you can trade for a new one every 3 years if it fails.

 

Does anyone know if you can fit a group 24 in the later >2014 models? I'm guessing the tray is smaller.

 

FWIW, I got pneumonia over christmas, so the outlander sat for about a week in these colder temps (-8F was coldest we saw). Starting to feel better, so thought I'd better check the battery last night just to be sure...had enough to turn it over a few times, but couldn't start it. Put an old charger on it for a minute and was enough to start it. Current battery is an Interstate branded battery bought a few years ago.

All batteries die. I forget how long the original ones lasted, but I think it was like 6years or so.

 

I’m considering a battery heater for when I move back to Winnipeg. Kat’s apparently makes a good one, they can be bought on Amazon, usually around $35 but seems to frequently drop to $26.

 

Batteries are a consumable. Getting 4+ years out of a battery in extreme temperatures doesn't seem unreasonable. I always hope to get 5 years out of my car batteries, but I also live in a very temperate climate. But yes, aftermarket batteries are often better than stock batteries. They can also be more expensive. But most stock batteries I've seen have simply been average. It's in car makers' best interest to install a battery that lasts at least as long as the warranty period just to avoid any hassles and conflicts with customers.

 

Thats the truth about car manufacturing...they make what lasts for the warranty period.
As far as batteries go I've had great success with the Optima Brand..Red top..they crank like crazy and last a long time...just my .02...Best of Luck

 

I still have my original '08 LS battery and it starts fine close to 0 degrees unless I leave it for a week or longer.
I've noticed on my friends '11 it has quite a few problems vs. my '08...I guess they cut corners over the years to give it a lower MSRP.