My car has been sitting for about a week now(real cold out) and because its so cold I figured i'd start it every so often and let it run for a while. Tried to start it today in four attempts and it didn't start...I noticed that after the 4th try it went totally dead wouldn't even crank. I used my voltmeter to check the battery and it showed 11.60volts and i'm thinking thats a bit low, how much voltage minimum should the battery have to operate properly in our cars?
P.S- the battery is almost 2years old.

 

you prolly just killed the batterie trying to start it int he cold weather.... bring another vehicle over and jump it from that... when it does start let it run for a while to charge the batterie back up.... also beign the batterie is 2 years old it may be getting weak.... buy a new higher cold cranking amp batterie and you will be set...

 

thanks for the info Monster...I was thinking along the lines of what you said. On my battery it says 815 cranking amps @ 32*F and 650 cold cranking amps. Those ratings are not really "high" i'm assuming...what cranking and cold cranking amp numbers i should be looking for in a new battery so I can start in whichever season especially in WINTER, I didn't have this problem in the summer.

 

Batteries usually need to be tested with some kind of a load on them. With the engine "Off" I get a reading of 13-14.6 volts. I have an Optima by the way. Wtih the car on, I rarly see below 14 volts. The last battery was usually around 11-12 volts all the time, so you look OK. There are some battery chargers that can start a car after a few minuets/seconds. I have one, glad I do.