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900 Ace Battery Issues in Cold Weather

5K views 14 replies 10 participants last post by  mlf149 
#1 ·
Hi Folks,

I've been having some infrequent battery issues on a newer 900 ace Gen 4, typically the sled will runs fine; however, randomly on cold days -40 C, the battery will begin to die. Sometimes it dies outright, others you can feel it with less juice over a few starts. The sled is rarely cold started, but this is most common after its run for a while then sat outside and cooled off a bit. Sometimes a check engine light has flashed when it started then the machine shuts off, on the second start it seems to go fine. Is this likely just the cause of general batteries issues in cold weather? It seems that once the temperature hits a certain temperature, the battery doesn't like to stay charged despite lots of idling time between shorter runs.

Once the battery is warmed and charged, it reads 12.8V and once running on the machine, it's around 13.9 to 14 and starts the sled just fine. My next step is looking at wiring in a silicon pad heater and stick it to the battery, but battery is located on top of the fuel tank and this doesnt seem wise.
 
#3 ·
Minus 40 deg C equals minus 40 deg F - that's pretty cold and will test the limits of any battery. I keep mine on a maintainer - on for a couple days, off for a a couple days and I am nowhere near that cold here in Michigan. I also have a Yuasa battery with the 320 cold cranking amps output - which is larger than the smaller 270 CCA. (I had a bike dealer swap the OE battery for an aftermarket unit one time and I did not know til it failed).
 
#4 ·
Thanks for the info! I've ordered a new battery but it will probably be a couple of weeks before I see it. In the meantime, I'll double-check fuses, check grounds and clean that contacts, I've switched it to a back up battery I have, it's the same one, but a 270CCA (Can-Am Battery). If the check engine light goes away, then it's probably safe to assume it was the battery. If the current battery only seems to act up in those frigid temps, is it worth keeping it around as a summer backup for the CanAm?

I guess when you hit -40 it really does come down to luck with electronics, the dash cluster certainly isn't happy at those temps.
 
#5 ·
You may need a block heater.

Bob
 
#6 ·
Hi Bob,

I've got the Ski Doo block heater on it, works like a charm! in -40's, two hours plugged in in unheated shed and the coolant temp reads nearly 25C when first started! This issue normally comes up after I've warmed it up with the heater, taking it out for a while then let it sit for a couple of hours outside. At that point, it normally starts without any struggle (Except for when the engine light issue comes out to play) and the coolant temp reads somewhere around 0 to -10. I'm working on getting the store to scan the BUDS system but need to find a heated garage first. Were in a remote fly-in community so theres no dealership to have them troubleshoot.
 
#13 ·
I believe the manual calls for a “factory sealed” battery part number. Many dealers only stock the dry battery supplied with bottles of acid and a waterproofing label that is installed after filling from the bottles. -BS on the end on the part number is "Bottles Suppled". Probably due to shipping regulations?

I have used a Yuasa -BS battery once due to immediate need and availability, will never again. Within a couple days, started having starting issues, especailly on cold days. Slow or no crank. The original stock battery would have easily cranked at the same temperatures when it was newer.

So my theory is because the battery sits on its end in the 900s, there’s not enough acid in the -BS kit to cover all the plates inside, reducing capacity

Stick to a factory sealed Yuasa. Or I also now have an Interstate brand "Factory Activated" FAYTX20HL that cranked just fine at -20 to -30F several mornings a couple weeks ago in Quebec, so I now consider that a good alternative.
I had bad luck with a Throttle-X brand, same situation of no crank in the cold, I believe they also don’t put in enough acid.

YMMV, good luck!
 
#14 ·
The Yuasa batteries are glass mat and the acid is fully absorbed by the mats so these batteries could be positioned in any direction even upside down, so I do not believe that there is any difference factory sealed/activated to the Bottle supplied ones.
I have used bottled supplied ones for many many years with as good results as the "factory" ones.

But I did have very bad results using other brand batteries that where not Yuasa, so now I only stick with Yuasa batteries in my toys.

Where would you find a "factory sealed" battery aside from the manufacturing plant directly, so one else could ship them to stores?
 
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