Cold Weather Start, truck vs battery

This is my second winter with my truck, but this year is the first time i have had to park overnight in -40 windchills. When i went to start, i was wondering if it was going to start, really slow turnover but it eventually did. I have a load tester at home but have no reason to think the battery is bad, though i will test it.

So my question is, is the tacoma inherently bad in cold weather, or is the battery weak? Are there better batteries out there for cold weather or is cca really the same across manufacturers?

Lets not turn this into a jeep vs tacoma thread, but for comparision i parked next to a jeep the same night that started right up like it was summer.

Actual experience with changing to a different battery in cold weather would help!

 

Battery could just be cold, get a heater blanket for it, it'll help with cold starts. Sometimes batteries gets old and they lose their strength too.

However cold motor oil don't help either, it makes it really difficult to turn over. Switch to a 0w-30 oil as it'll help if your in really cold weather.

 

ive seen battery blankets, but wondered how much they help

 

Synthetic oil should help too I would think.

 

Synthetic oil, block heater, trickle charger on battery once in a while to ensure it is topped up.
Windchill does not affect your truck. If its -20. Thats all it is to your truck, dont factor in windchill.

 

Windchill and Feels like are temperatures for news programs to sensationalize the news.

 

This past week its been pretty cold around my parts. Ranging from 0 to -15. Truck starts right up. Granted its no -40 though, ha.

 

I know windchill does not affect, i just couldnt remember actual low.

I am just wondering if anyone had better luck in cold weather with a different battery than oem?

 

Same dealio here. Started slow but once started it got up to speed. Took about 15 minutes or so to get warm. Brakes, PS, throttle, etc were all funky until warmed up.
Was colder than cold though.

 

Any vehicle is going to be slower starting with below zero temps, you could use some of the advice from the guys above should help if you are worried about it.

 

I use diehard gold series in everything. I usually wait til existing one dies. but never have problems less than 7 yrs and i too live in cold climate. Im tough on batteries, radio all nite, lights on jobs long periods, so i like to have a little peace of mind with a good one. There are lots of options as far as optima, gel , deep cycle, im no expert just my good fortune with one product.

 

Ive tried different sizes of the die hard gold before, worked well on my xterra

 

2007 TRD sport with original 27F battery. Still starts fine . I use synthetic oil in winter plug in when colder than -15 C. Never a problem even when ive forgotten to plug in at -30c. Stock battery is fine unless you have a lot of extra accessories. How cold does it get in Western Mass? Should never be a problem starting if your battery is in good condition.

 

Same with my 2011 with -17F a couple of recent morning. It obviously didn't start like it does when it's 70, but it turned over fine and started.

OP may have a bad battery. Maybe bring it to dealership.

 

This past weekends weather was an anomaly at roughly -18f so close to you, but man was my truck hurting. Last winter was fine at down to -5 or so.

 

Make sure your battery terminal connections are clean and tight. The only way to be sure of this is to take them apart, clean them and re-tighten them.

 

I'm in the same boat. Second winter with my truck, but I got my first oil change and supercharger installed during the summer. However, I'm in NJ and temps are only in the 20s. I had the same issue with my old STI, replacing the factory battery with an optima yellow top fixed the problem. Was going to do the same thing with my truck, but heard optima moved production to china and the quality just isn't there anymore. Haven't decided what to do yet.

 

0w-30 next oil change... run it year round.... even 0w-30 is still too thick at 75* ambients to be thin enough to lube a motor... but its much thinner than 5w or 10w.

 

Installed an Autocraft AGM in the truck for shits and giggles then promptly the garage door opener battery and the 9 year old original battery in my wife's Saturn crapped out on the same day and went with Autocraft AGM for her car, too. Go figure.