Glen Loyd's Blog: Your battery loses 33 percent of its power when the temperature dips below freezing. Here's what to do:

Jan 5, 2015

Anonymous said...: Thanks for the timely topic! These all seem pretty obvious to me, though. I was hoping for tips on how to get by when cold weather diminishes battery strength. Instead the advice is to take your car to the shop and have them check it out. What about electric battery "blankets"? Do they work? How about a discussion on different types of engine heaters or suggesting parking your car in a garage when you can?
Another "tip" is to use thinner oil. Does anybody with a car less than a decade old still use different oil in summer or winter? Here's a good article by "Click and Clack" that has many of the same tips (including having the dealer check the battery, sigh...) and more: http://www.cartalk.com/content/winter-driving-tips-7
Interestingly, they don't mention a thing about using a different viscosity oil, but in a different article they suggest changing it more frequently in the winter.; January 05, 2015

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