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Hey Dave, recently I messing around with my HID headlight system because the ballast is going out. I didn’t plug the harness in correctly and turned the headlights on, which caused a buzzing. But my car battery ended up going bad and can’t even hold a charge anymore. My question is, even the maintenance guide doesn’t tell you what size or what specs the battery should be at. The current battery I have is a 24 group but can you use a smaller battery with a lower CCA and safely operate the vehicle?
A lower CCA battery will be safe to use, and you will not even notice any difference until the battery gets old and/or you are starting in very cold weather. You could even use a tiny motorcycle battery and there would be no problems, except for cold-start.
Dave
Aw thanks Dave! I was worried sick using a smaller battery. So besides from the cold cranking, this won’t have any negative effect on the engine whatsoever as long as the car is running? Because I’ve been reading and the other sources say it may affect the alternators and stuff like that.
I have some major important questions I’ve been waiting to ask you. Im taking my time preparing it because there’s so many stuff to soak up.
Hope you been well.
Correct, a lower capacity battery will not have any negative effects on the engine or charging system. The battery companies all make different CCA capacity batteries in each battery-frame size. The higher the CCA, the more the battery weighs and costs.
DaveAn engine can have problems with cold-start because the starter motor has a huge current draw because the starter motor has a lot of work to do to get an engine spinning fast-enough to start. EV’s do not have this problem, no starter motor, no really big start-up electric loads. Ev’s can have an issue with cold-weather performance and range because the heater/defroster is all-electric and takes its power from the same batteries that propel the vehicle. A lot of this can be avoided if you program the car to pre-heat while it is being charged. Also, the batteries can’t deliver full-power when they are very cold (below 0F), but the batteries get warmer naturally as you drive. When you consider buying an EV read the manufacturers recommendation about severe cold operation.
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