Car Starting Question

[Justy311]

My car will not start here in "cold" minnesota. I haven't driven or started my car for about a week and the car is not starting. My question is, more like two questions is, are there any problems with not starting my car for this long? and how long should a battery last without being started like that? I thought for sure it was longer then a week. Thanks for the feedback.

[Vtolds]

Its your battery most likely. How old is your battery? Did you try to jump it?

[Justy311]

Battery is pretty new, no more than a year. I haven't jumped it yet. Going to do that tomorrow. How long does a normal battery last in conditions like that?

[AlbinoMonkeyRat]

3 years max. with subfreezing temps weeks/months at a time.

Other possible problems:
-fuel line is frozen
-alternator out of order
-fuel pump shorted out (when in extreme cold, the pump has to work extra hard and might short out...happened to me)

[Justy311]

If I dont start a car for a week should it normally start, if nothing is wrong? Cause, it ran fine, with no problems. I guess I just want to know if something is wrong with my car. Again thanks for the help, I appreciate it.

[midnightalero01]

yeah it should run fine... i just took my alero to the shop so i have to drive my old saturn that i'm selling... i haven't used it since before christmas and it started right up tonight... i live in michigan and it's pretty cold here too

[Nik1128]

My ho sat for all of December in the garage w/o ever being started... started her up in January and she started fine. And she still has the orginal 6 year old battery in her... :lol:

It should start fine if it sits for only a week... Sounds like something more than a battery issue.

Have you looked at the battery? Corrosion can sometimes happen on a battery if it sits too long. Maybe check the battery connectors/ports too... Just start fiddling with stuff, that almost always seems to work for me.

[racin4JC]

If you have a pretty heavy oil in that could also be makin it crank hard, with a low battery and crankin hard that could kill your battery.

[Redog]

Beep the horn, try the radio, lights, etc, etc, etc

That will tell you if it's the battery