Perfecting Going EOC After Dark

[Jammer]

I am no expert at this stuff, and in fact I am new to this site. However I would like to share what I have learned in hopes it might help another newbie out.

My car is a 2009 Chevy Cobalt LS Coupe XFE, and so far I'm getting just above 45 MPG and climbing higher every time I drive.

At first my attempt at driving EOC in this car made it difficult for me to steer, and it spooked me. Latter I discovered my own stupidity was the reason- I had a radar detector wire wrapped around my steering column which resulting in it being very hard to steer in manual. The wire had got hung up and pinched in the steering column. So I had to take care of that fast because manual steering was just about impossible.

Ok, most of my spare time is now after dark. I think night time makes it double scary for a newbie to try driving EOC down hills and mountains. But I now find it's becoming natural.

Most important thing I found when driving after dark in EOC is to TURN MY LIGHTS TO ALWAYS ON. Otherwise all of my headlights and taillights would turn OFF until I turned the key back to the ON position, and that is an attention getter for the police that we likely need to avoid. So one of the first things I do at night time is to turn my lights to all-on. This way the lights are all on even when my key is in "Off" (and the brake and signal lights work).

The next problem I noticed with my Cobalt was that if I used the KEY to restart that all of my lights would blink off/on. So before I even read about it here, I started bump starting as I have done this for many years anyway, as I have almost always drove a stick shift. So by bump starting my lights do not shut off/on when I re-start, everything is as smooth as I can get it.

However, due to my battery not getting the charge that it used to get my lights do get a little bit brighter when I restart. It's not a big deal though. I had a real good test today as I was driving EOC right past a cop parked in a parking lot (speed trap) that pulled out behind me and followed me in town. I was sure to keep the motor ON while he was behind me. I think I got his attention because I was going a little slow for the 45 zone I was in. So I brought the car up to the PS. And when I bumped started right in front of the cop and my lights got a little brighter likely caught his attention as well. But after a couple miles of following he went on past me and drove on down the road. So, I guess all of the lights are working fine in EOC or this police officer likely would of told me, as they do not hesitate to let pull you over here.

I have discovered a situation when it is better for me to bump start in a lower gear as opposed to 5th gear. If I am going EOC down a steep hill and then start to go UP HILL a bump-start works much better by shifting to 4th or even 3rd gear depending on speed and how steep the incline upwards is. I feel this needs to be pointed out here in the Bump-Start sticky. 5th gear is not going to work well if you have already started going up a steep hill in EOC, you will kill your engine FAST.

It seems everything electrical works fine after dark in EOC (in my car) as long as the key is turned to "On". My CD player does not skip a beat, I manage to run a cb radio (high power), GPS, radar detector, stereo turned up high and a cell phone charger while running with high beam headlights on! But, as one can imagine, all of this pull on the battery while running the engine half as much takes a big toll on the battery. In cold weather, and/or and old battery, it would be easy to deplete a full charge in no time at all. So, it may be obvious, but it should be noted that when running EOC after dark it's a good idea to turn off all electrical things that are not in use or needed. I guess that is common sense, but I thought it should be noted. Of course if one is trying to start a manual and it does not have enough power to start with the key then a bump start will do the trick, even if you have to open the driver's door and push! (I have done it before)

Otherwise things are going smoothly and I have gone right past many cops parked in speed traps while in EOC. Unless they are listening for a motor or are looking for slow drivers (such as intoxicated drivers) it seems driving after dark in EOC in these hills and mountains and in the small towns works out pretty well. The biggest challenge is keeping a good charge on the battery and keeping the lights on the same constant level of brightness to keep from drawing attention from the police that may not approve of such tactics. I find that it's best to ride in neutral as much as possible and sometimes it seems best to leave the engine ON until a steeper hill is topped.

Well, that's all I have for now. I hope something I said here is of help to somebody.

Peace.

[Christ]

Re: Battery life - once you've warmed the engine, the battery is in a warm environment, and outside temperatures don't affect it so much, unless it's not in the engine compartment.

EOC at night while running everything known to man - Keep in mind, your alternator has to recharge your battery using power from the engine... by doing this at night, using all that crap is costing you a large chunk of your instant mileage, because each time you start the engine, it has to work harder to recharge the battery from the intermittent drain.

Keeping it charged - You really should have no problem with this, actually. Most batteries have a reserve capacity of nearly 1/2 hour, and some up to 90 minutes. They can outlast anything you're going to throw at them for 3-5 minutes of coasting, and cycling a battery a little deeper than normal won't hurt it either, to a noticeable extent, as long as you're not going too low.

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by Christ

Re: Battery life - once you've warmed the engine, the battery is in a warm environment, and outside temperatures don't affect it so much, unless it's not in the engine compartment.

A big thanks for the info. I'm an electronics major that plays alternative banjo as a hobby. I'm am NOT a good mechanic!

BUT, I should point out that I do know a little something about the Cobalt's layout. I am afraid that the Cobalts all have their batteries (All use a single battery to the best of my knowledge) in the rear next to the donut-spare-tire located underneath a false compartment for the trunk's floor. So the cold weather is bound to impact the battery no matter how warm the engine gets, unless I fold down the rear seats so the inside heat could reach the trunk (light bulb!!). -

So, maybe in the wintertime I will fold down the back seats to help the inside heat reach the battery! Thanks for inspiring the idea!

[Christ]

That's a pain. Several cars also have them in a pocket in the front bumper where you have to take the wheel off to actually remove/replace it.

You could always put a resistance heater in the bucket that the battery sits in, with a thermostatic control on it... set it and forget it, basically. The small current draw of a resistance heater working in such a small space could probably be satisfied by increasing the charge life by 50% or so. Then again, if there is enough space to insulate around the battery, you'd be amazed how much energy a battery loses as heat just from being used... you'll actually warm it up just by starting the engine a couple times, and some insulation might keep it warm long enough to keep a higher state of charge!

[Jammer]

I am glad you mentioned that. Now I will be looking for a way of keeping the battery warm for the oncoming winter. I never would of thought of the battery having trouble holding a charge due to it being away from the engine if you had not of mentioned it!

Thanks.

[Christ]

First, if it were me, I'd look into insulating it, then something to monitor the temp back there over a few trips to get an idea of what's going on back there. (IAT sensors just give a voltage reading, and you can monitor them with a plain old multi-meter, in real time.)

If just plain insulation doesn't keep it from over cooling, even maybe then I'd look into heating the cubby that it's in with something like 15-30w heat pad or something similar.

Also, if you get under the car, you can probably see where the battery box pokes down under the chassis... if you can see it, just a simple foam box around the outside will prevent a great deal of heat loss through the windage effect (metal conducts heat to the outside air, which is moving and drawing the heat away.)

[basjoos]

If you don't have one, you may want to get a voltmeter so you can monitor your battery's voltage while on extended EOC's, especially in winter driving.

[cfg83]

basjoos and Jammer -

Originally Posted by basjoos

If you don't have one, you may want to get a voltmeter so you can monitor your battery's voltage while on extended EOC's, especially in winter driving.

There are also digital voltage meters that you can plug into your cigarette lighter, but that would be a "dedicated" meter. Here's an example (kinda bulky) :

Digital Voltage Meter and Socket Multiplier*::*CIGARETTE LIGHTER POWER & EXTENDERS*::*Installation Accessories (TOOLS)*::*AUTOTOYS

The ScanGauge also displays voltage.

CarloSW2

[Jammer]

Wow, thanks basjoos (LOVE YOUR WORK!!), cfg83, and "Christ".

Here in eastern Kentucky our nights are now cold enough to wear leather jackets. I am keeping my eye on my tire pressure, and I will take action of some kind to deal with this Cobalt battery being located in such a poor spot in the trunk. I am an electronics major and have made much of my living working with DC electronics of all types...

I'm not sure a volt meter would help me very much because I believe the voltage is likely to stay close to the standard 12.6 volts that most car batteries have. However "amps" or "cranking amps" are another story. In other words, in cold weather the battery voltage might very well read fine in EOC or parked. But the moment I go to start/bump start etc then the battery may be so cold that it wont carry it's weight under the load so well and the resulting dimming of the lights are bound to become a larger issue after dark. Upon such a start after going EOC on a clear cold day I would also expect the battery to dip into low voltage (temporarily) as well, at least until the alternator kicks in.

I would like to have a batter voltage gauge however. But from what I understand I will still need to find a way of keeping this battery warm in the winter time if I am to ever to consider driving EOC on clear cold days/nights. I wonder if the heating wrap some people wrap around their plumbing pipes underneath house-trailers would be a good way of going or not?, but I know that would require a 110 AC to 12 Volt DC converter.

[Christ]

Hehe... I get "quotes".

The pipe wrap is probably sufficient, except wholly unsuitable bacause of the amount of energy it would take. The converter would involve a loss, then you'd still have to burn the wattage for the strip itself. I'm honestly thinking that just insulating the box could allow the battery to keep itself warm from the first time you use it to crank.