Complete reset?!

[BoostEqualsLife]

So we had an insane ice storm yesterday.. car was coated in about 3/8" of ice all the way around. I left work early to go drop off a FedEx package at the local dropoff place, because the driver decided he was done picking up for the day at local businesses. I got in my car, started it, everything was great, scraped all the windows, got in my car, drove over there, parked, shut it off, did my thing.. and 30 seconds later i was back to my car.

Turn the key.. nothing. Single click, lights flashed, dead. I tried a few more times, same thing. Broke open the hood, battery was tight, nothing was wet, got my multimeter out, battery read 12v fine, propped the meter on the hood so i could see it while cranking... dropped to 11.5 when 'cranking' but in reality, doing nothing. i look at the clock.. 12:00, look at my odometer.. trip meter - 0.0, all my radio settings = completely reset. 10 minutes later, im still trying, and bam, click click click click, like the battery's dead, but still reading 12v. after about 3 seconds, all the lights on the inside come back on, like im rocking a dead short when i hit the starter. 10 minutes later, im getting insanely aggrivated, as im late for where i needed to be, its freezing, icing, im working on the car in the only 3" deep puddle in the parking lot, and i get back in, turn the key, wham, it starts like nothing ever happened. It's been fine since.

WTF?

Has this ever happened to anyone? Having their ECU completely reset with no reason whatsoever? I didn't bother to check to see if my basemap was still programmed, but the car ran like it always did, so i assume it didnt get bumped. Not that it should anyway. a few hours after this happened.. i get a text message on my cell phone from my girlfriend.. that i received a month and a half ago.

aliens.

[Robert46123]

A fully charged 12 volt battery should be reading around 13.6 volts. 12 volts is getting dangerously low, and with cold weather making the problem worse it wouldn't suprise me that your battery is the problem. I would say it's borderline at best. How old is it?

[bkotzman00]

alien!?

your base map should be fine disconnecting the battery will not reset it

[BoostEqualsLife]

A fully charged 12 volt battery should be reading around 13.6 volts. 12 volts is getting dangerously low, and with cold weather making the problem worse it wouldn't suprise me that your battery is the problem. I would say it's borderline at best. How old is it?

I must have missed that memo. I've never had a battery, new or old, read 13.6 volts at rest. i wouldnt call 12v 'dangerously low'.. id call 10.5-11v 'dangerously low'. I'm not sure of the age, but i have a yellow top i've been meaning to put in there anyway.

alien!?

your base map should be fine disconnecting the battery will not reset it

haha, i was kidding about the aliens. and yea, thats why i said it shouldnt reset anyway, even tho... the battery never came disconnected.

oh well.

[Robert46123]

I must have missed that memo. I've never had a battery, new or old, read 13.6 volts at rest. i wouldnt call 12v 'dangerously low'.. id call 10.5-11v 'dangerously low'. I'm not sure of the age, but i have a yellow top i've been meaning to put in there anyway.

Here's your memo:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_battery

Open Circuit Voltage ~ State-of-charge
12.65 V 100 %
12.45 V 75 %
12.24 V 50 %
12.06 V 25 %
11.89 V 0 %


I was thinking of my motorhome deep cycle batteries when quoting 13.6, so I apologize. But as you can see a normal car battery will run 12.6 at 100% and 12.06 is considered 25%. Guess what? In cold weather that's considered pretty low... maybe even... I don't know... dangerously low?

Next time you're going to be a smart a** to someone trying to help you, please do me a favor and warm me ahead of time. So I can ignore your post altogether.

[John_M]

you can have a battery that show good voltage but doesnt have the amperage to crank the motor, especially in extreme cold. i would think that you prob have a couple of damaged cells in the battery. best of luck