frozen car batteries
 

so, for everyone else who is stuck in a wretchedly cold climate...

it's -20 something (F) right now... I need to get to campus, and my car won't start because my battery is frozen. Any tips on how to unfreeze it?? (besides turning the lights on... tried that)

Of course, my car WOULD be plugged in, but the landlord decided to plow all the snow from the parking lot on top of the outlets instead of into the empty space at the end of the lot......

Car plugged in?
 

Okay, this is obviously a stupid question, but realize that I am from the warmer south....
What do you mean that you "would have had [your] car plugged in?"
AOIISilver

It's not a stupid question! Before I moved to this frozen wasteland, I didn't know either.

There's some sort of cord that somehow attatches to the battery with a plug on the end. Outside my building in front of each parking spot, there's a pole with an outlet. This keeps some electricity going to the battery so it doesn't freeze up when it gets ridiculously cold.

It's a block heater, I had to plug my car in all the time when I lived in Fairbanks, Alaska, not to much in Anchorage.

I believe there are some kind of blankets you could get to keep the battery warm. I wonder if a jump start would help?

Wow...you learn something new every day. At first I thought you were saying you had one of those hybrid cars that you have to plug in to charge. :p

Another tip (which I'm sure you colder climate folks know)...

If you will be parked in a cold climate for several days, don't use your emergency brake. My friend's got stuck after a ski trip and it was a huge extravaganza to get it undone.

Buy a bottle of dry gas (also known as gas line anti freeze) and pour it into your gas tank. It will prevent your gas line from freezing up.

here is what i would do..... set your car on fire. that will thaw out the battery and keep you warm at the same time. plus the insurance you get will get from it will be a good start on a new car that has built in warmers. ha ha. just joking. there is suppose to be a special battery that has a type of antifreeze in it. it a little expensive, but will keep you going when you need to. the battery is suppose to be a good one so maybe it will last for a while.

Ah an Alaskan, someone else who understands the cold....

Yep up here we have block heaters, basically there is a power cord that you use to plug your car's engine into. This provides just enough heat to keep the engine block and battery warm enough that you can start the car.

Jump Starts - yep they do help fire up a car that's frozen..... but you can fry the computer on the newer cars doing it.