Hello all, new to the site and this might be somewhere on the site but I haven't been able to find it as of yet. I'm currently in tech training for the Air Force so I have been away for a while which means my 2013 Ram has not been started for about 6 months in freezing temps my battery is probably dead but I was just wondering if there is anything else I should check out once I get home to get her moving again.

 

Better get ready to have a close look at the brakes. It happened to mine because of too little mileage.

 

I'd just start it up and drive it. No reason at all that the battery should be dead or anything else wrong with it after sitting for 6 months regardless of how cold it gets where you live.

 

Oldjeep - Not sure why you would think a battery wouldn't discharge over time? Modern vehicles have small on-going current drains even when off. The power door lock/unlock receiver is always listening, for instance. And if there is an alarm system that will use current. Even a battery out of a vehicle will discharge over months of sitting. And cold temps accelerate that.

Use a battery tender to keep the battery healthy. Having it discharge all the way down can damage the cells. And a discharged battery can freeze in cold temps. Beyond that, for a vehicle sitting unused that long there may be corrosion issues on some parts (like brake rotors and engine internals if humidity is right) fuel going bad, and drying out of some parts that are normally lubricated. Most likely you'll only have to deal with the corrosion for a vehicle sitting 6 months. If you leave it much longer than that you'd definitely want to use a fuel stabilizer (with fresh fuel) and run it through the system to avoid varnishing and gumming up things.

Your tires may also develop flat spots from sitting so long. Some people put vehicles up on blocks to avoid that.

Rob

 

Well, mostly because I've got 3 boats and a couple cars that sit for 6 months at a time and when it is time to use them you start them up and run them. If I hear one more story about fuel magically going bad in 6 months, I think I'll scream We store over 140 gallons of fuel for 6-8 months of off seasons in boats, cars, sleds and a whole lot of power equipment and I have never ever had a fuel problem.


As for "fuel stabilizer" get the msds and decide for yourself if it actually does anything.


"flat spots" only occur on bias tires

 

The battery will be dead. I did a current draw on my 09 and it draws about 20 milliAmps in the sleep mode. The best largest car batteries are good for something like 85 AmpHours (ours are less, I think mine is rated at 60) before it's 100% discharged. At 24 hours per day multiplied by 20 milliamps per hour, you will draw down .48 Amps per day so after 100 days the battery is down 48 Amps which is more than 50% of the battery. The older vehicles, and boats that don't have computers will last a lot longer in a heated garage.

Flat spots on tires were a common complaint on this forum when the vehicles sat at the dealer back lots for extended periods.

 

If you haven't experienced fuel varnishing and gumming up over time then I guess you're lucky. I've cleaned a few snowmobile and small engine carbs over time that were a real mess. No matter how much you haven't seen it happen, it actually does. Same for batteries draining over time.

Flat spots only occur on bias tires? Weird. Wonder what that thump-thump-thump noise is for a mile or two after I hook up my trailer that sits over winter and head down the road. Maybe it's a mouse trying to get out.

You always have a reason to contradict people's advice for topics when you've never experienced the problems. It gets real old listening to it. These problems CAN happen. They aren't fairy tales. They might not happen all the time, but they are real.

 

The fact that I've never experienced the problems with all of the gas powered equipment we have (and don't know anyone who has) always makes me very skeptical. FWIW, the 2 cars are 2011 and 2012 Kia Souls with remotes - stored for 6 months at a time one in FL during the summer and one in WI during the winter. Maybe they have magic batteries but there hasn't been an issue yet just starting them up.

 

I've never been in a car accident in 30 years of driving and don't know anyone in my immediate family that has. However, evidence shows car accidents do actually occur, so I accept that they are real and I don't go around contradicting others that claim they've been in one. What I described above are real issues faced by many people storing vehicles for extended periods. A little research will back them all up. That's the info the OP was looking for.

 

Not really getting into this argument, but I'm going to have to agree with BigBlueEdge on this one. Although it may not happen all the time (I really wish I could say I had that luck), I can personally name at least two separate times that one of these conditions have happened to me...and I really haven't been doing my own work for all that long compared to others.

One instance, my dad had a brand new snow-blower that after sitting over the non-snow months, would not start (we live in MN). We tried multiple solutions and finally I decided to take the whole dang thing apart seeing if I can pinpoint an issue. Luckily I got to do this for one of my classes as I was disappointed to find out the engine was immaculate. However, once I finally got to the carburetor, every fuel jet in the thing was plug from gas deposits. After buying a carb kit, the thing had no issues starting...

Another instance, I had my '95 Z/28 stored for the winter. Tried going out there every so often to run it for about 5 mins in hopes of keeping the battery charged and allowing the fluids to circulate. Well I was sent out of town for a few months for work and once I came back, the car wouldn't start. Well after I found out the battery could no longer hold a charge, I pulled it and got it tested. Found out that something had slowly drained the battery over time which caused 2 or so of the cells within the battery to completely freeze, explaining why it couldn't hold a charge. Bought a new battery, installed it, and fired up the car with no issues. A similar thing happened with my dad's 2000 Silverado work truck as well.

Like I said, I wish I had your luck OldJeep, but I'd rather take the small precautions and just prevent these type of things from happening in the first place. Saying that, I will always recommend hooking the battery up to a tender, fill the gas tank all the way up, and adding Stabil.