Dead battery after winter storage; can't get into car to get to battery
 

Hi all,

So after sitting in the garage since October, battery is flat. Just to clarify the car is fully unlocked.

With the dead battery, the windows obviously won't drop when opening the doors. Ofcourse, need to open the doors so I can get to the hood release to get to the battery.

I can gently unlatch the doors, but then you feel the resistance of the windows stuck in the channel in the A-pillar. So I gently pushed the doors closed to relatch them and left it as is.

Looked through the user manual, surprisingly there is no guidance for this situation.

I am in no rush to get in, I don't want to risk breaking the glass or damaging the A-pillar to get in. Hoping someone has been in the same situation and knows the proper procedure. If there was a way to manually open the hatch without battery power, I would have had my wife who is smaller and lighter than me crawl in through the hatch to reach the hood release I guess.

As a segway of not being in a rush to even get in, with the sky high gas prices this summer, I might just skip this summer driving season entirely especially since we are going to spend at least a month in Italy this summer.

Car is presently full of ethanol free Shell 91 with Stabil. Anything else extra I should do to extend the storage period from just a routine winter to October 2021 - May 2023?

Thanks :)

I am fairly certain that nothing will happen if you open the door. The window must lower in order to be able to CLOSE the door.

+1 that nothing will happen. I had this happen to me one time when I forgot to open the doors before disconnecting the battery and then closed the hood by accident before reconnecting the battery. Was able to open the door without issue.

You can open and close the door all you want. When you close the door without the window lowered, the window just sits on top of the rubber moulding without a proper seal. It won't hurt anything, though I wouldn't leave it closed like that for a long period of time for risk of deforming the rubber. Have a new battery ready and you'll be fine.

Ya, I have a LFP battery on the way :)

Mostly to prevent this while my car is still new. I hate how even just off-gassing from a battery can rust away the battery compartment surroundings.

https://www.e46fanatics.com/attachme...ro-jpg.736460/

Didn't know what LFP stands for, and walked into an 18min ad on the benefits of swapping out the ol' iron insides for lithium tech.

What battery did you go with? The aforementioned ad was from Antigravity Batteries, they have that sweet restart tech that would have saved you in this situation, and will probably be perfect for the long term storage...for a price...

Ya, well I realized it's time to swap out the ol'iron when I have a 2020 car, and my factory battery is dead. One of the benefits of lithium, unlike a traditional lead acid, is just because it died, doesn't mean you have to replace it. Do you throw out your phone because your battery reached 0%? In theory, a LFP battery should last at least a decade and it won't corrode your engine bay. Funny thing is, in all the benefits Antigravity listed, they didn't mention that a tub of acid will corrode its surroundings with just its off-gassing. Even if it never leaks, just its presence will rot away your car.

Anyways, I did not pay the Antigravity price. I actually just purchased two, one for my Z and one for my Model 3 as well. I paid $275 US with shipping for the Z one. This is a direct fit replacement for the OEM physical battery size, I hate how sometimes you see people with undersized lithium battery casings flopping around in their battery bay. I already have experience with this manufacturer, as I purchased one of their batteries in 2018 for my motorcycle and it has been great. I will post about it with photos once I receive it.

What is the company name if you dont mind sharing.?

Good info here, specially regarding charging system of car.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzGFSSgkQYM

Excellent video! Short and to the point.

Ok, so after two years of sitting in the garage (on-road insurance expired August 31st, 2021; so last time the car was driven was before that) finally got around to installing a LifePo4 battery. I was lucky to find no corrosion in the battery bay had formed, from acid battery off-gassing and it will stay corrosion free now since it will never see a lead acid battery again. Of reference, you can only carefully open the driver's door with a dead battery, but you can NOT close it again without power or risk damage to the glass/frame.

Battery is exact OEM size, with OEM like appearance. This is a LifePo4 or Lithium-iron battery, NOT a lithium-ion battery. This kind of battery chemistry is much more stable, almost no risk of thermal runaway or fires. Downside is it is a bit heavier than a lithium-ion battery, but that's fine, still a huge weight savings and no more battery bay corrosion risk. I didn't weigh it, but it is less than half the weight of the factory battery, maybe even approaching 2/5ths the weight from my rough guesstimate. At least for what you can see with your eyes, the case and terminals are good build quality:

https://i.postimg.cc/gJH76nrd/20230829-111527.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/XvFm42br/20230829-110513.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/jSBmppGV/20230829-111400.jpg


Battery is shipped from the factory in a discharged state, it is recommended that you fully charge the battery with a dedicated lithium charger before installation. There is a huge warning sticker on top, to not use a normal battery charger. Luckily I already have a Ctek Lithium charger, which is probably the best on the market. Ctek is OEM for BMW, Corvette and many other brands.

https://i.postimg.cc/138bYm7c/20230829-110155.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/CLPWNB7x/20230829-110250.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/sDDk79pL/20230829-110429.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/4dgMdzfB/20230829-110527.jpg

Installation is perfect OEM fitment. I also installed the Ctek permanent wiring harness, for direct connection with the aforementioned Lithium charger without needing to use the clamps. The in-cabin voltage meter reads about 13 volts. Feels like it cranks over the engine faster and with more power/less strain than the factory battery.

https://i.postimg.cc/SRQvLkz9/20230829-184000.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/nrdw0gvP/20230829-191231.jpg


Note: this doesn't affect me because I don't drive in the winter, but there is one down side to all lithium batteries; these batteries are seasonal like summer tires; they are not to be charged in freezing temperatures. The same goes for your cell phone or your laptop, never charge them if they are freezing. EV's like Tesla's have heaters for the batteries for winter charging.

Now obviously, a battery like this does not have a heating system, and in theory, nor does it need one, because if mounted in the engine bay, the engine is its heater.

The question is (and I have not been able to get an answer for this), is the BMS (battery management system) smart enough in a winter use case scenario to NOT charge the battery while the temperature is freezing, but as you drive around and the engine bay warms up, bringing the battery itself above freezing, only then allow charging to commence?

As far as I know if the car didn't come with a Li battery the car's battery system is pretty dumb. Which is one of the reasons I don't use them for my car. Also what oil/cheap battery did you use before that had a vent, I didn't even know that was still an option for cars, all are now the sealed type so they don't vent gas and need to manage water levels unless the battery is damaged in someway. Anyways back on topic, many Li batteries intended to be used in cars have a built in battery management system for everyday use; but I wouldn't be so sure in a nobrand ebay china battery which is why the labeling I assume. But if you have a dead Li battery in the car I am not sure how to jump start/charge it without damaging it., unless you remove and charge it like you show. Even hybrids and EVs still have some sort of lead acid battery in them because they are better for many car needs then a Li battery even if they marketing says otherwise.

I've had lithium in the past on another road driven platform. IMO it's not worth the hassle unless you need to drop every last pound for competition.

I recommend replacing an OE battery with and AGM battery as they take more discharge and jarring abuse than OE lead acid and most chargers sold at retailers charge them. I use a Schumacher charger and it has a button for AGM.