Frost, Snow and Cold Starts on the New England Tablelands

This guide is for anyone around Armidale, Guyra and Uralla whose vehicle gets harder to start, see out of or keep running once winter sets in. It looks at what the Bureau of Meteorology's records say about cold on the Tablelands, how frost and the odd snowfall affect each part of a vehicle's electrical system, and what to check before May.

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How cold it really gets up here

Armidale sits at about 980 m above sea level, and the town ranges from around 970 m on the valley floor to over 1,100 m on the hilltops. That height makes for proper winters. The Bureau of Meteorology's Armidale Tree Group Nursery station, which has records from 1997, averages 65.9 days a year at or below 0 °C, with 15.7 of them in July. Its mean July minimum is just below zero, and its lowest reading is -11.2 °C on 30 June 2010. You can see the full table on the Bureau's climate statistics page for the station.

Guyra is higher, at about 1,330 m. Its Bureau station at Guyra Hospital averages 41.1 days a year at or below 0 °C, with 12.6 in July, and its lowest July reading is -7.1 °C. The Guyra Hospital statistics are worth a look if you live up that way. Different sites and periods of record make direct comparisons tricky, and cold air tends to settle on low ground on still nights, so a car parked in a hollow can face a harder frost than one on a rise nearby.

Frosts usually start in April and can turn up as late as October. Snow is much less common. In Armidale it averages roughly one day every three years, though Guyra sees it more often and had about 17 cm in October 2012.

What frost does to your battery

A lead-acid battery makes electricity through a chemical reaction, and that reaction slows as it gets colder. On a -6 °C morning the battery can supply noticeably less current than on a mild day. At the same time, cold engine oil is thicker, so the starter motor needs more current, for longer, to turn the engine. A healthy battery copes. A tired or partly flat one often doesn't.

There's another risk at Tablelands temperatures. A fully charged battery is very resistant to freezing, but a deeply discharged one can freeze on a hard frost, which can crack the case or damage the plates for good. That's a real concern for vehicles left sitting for weeks in a cold shed or open carport. Keeping the battery charged is the best protection.

Test the battery in autumn rather than waiting for it to fail. A resting voltage check with a multimeter shows the state of charge, and a load or conductance test shows whether it can still deliver its rated cold cranking amps (CCA). Our guide on how to test a car battery explains both.

Diesels and glow plugs

A big share of vehicles on the Tablelands are diesel utes and 4WDs, and diesels depend on glow plugs to start in the cold. Each glow plug heats its cylinder before cranking. When one or two fail, a diesel may still start easily in summer, then crank for a long time, run roughly and blow white smoke on a frosty morning.

Wait for the glow plug light to go out before you crank. If the light doesn't come on at all, stays on, or flashes, have the system checked. The fault may be a glow plug, the relay or controller that feeds them, or the wiring. Glow plug circuits draw a lot of current, so a weak battery makes every other cold-start problem worse.

Demisters, heater fans and wipers

On a frosty Armidale morning you lean on the heater fan, the rear demister and the wipers far more than the air conditioner. Each runs on its own fused circuit, and each has a common winter fault:

• A heater fan that only works on its highest speed usually means a failed blower resistor or speed control module.
• A rear demister with some dead lines often has a broken grid strip or a loose terminal at the edge of the glass.
• Wipers frozen to the screen can blow the wiper fuse or strain the motor if you switch them on before the glass has thawed.
• Heated mirrors that stay fogged may have a blown fuse, a failed relay or a damaged heating element.

Frosty morning habits

Small habits take a lot of strain off the electrical system on a cold start:

• Turn off the headlights, heater fan and accessories before cranking, then switch them on once the engine is running.
• Crank in short bursts of a few seconds with a pause in between. Long continuous cranking overheats the starter and drains the battery fast.
• Never pour hot water on a frosted windscreen. The sudden change in temperature can crack the glass. Use the demister and a plastic scraper.
• Check the wipers are free before you switch them on, and use a proper washer additive in the bottle.
• Park in a garage or shed if you can. Even an open carport keeps the worst of the frost off the glass.

Short trips make it worse

Many trips in Armidale are short. A few minutes to school, the shops or work, with the heater, demister and lights all running, may not give the alternator time to replace what the start took out. Over weeks the battery slowly drops, and the first really hard frost finds it out. A longer drive on the weekend, or a smart charger every couple of weeks, helps.

If your battery still goes flat with regular driving, something may be drawing power while the car is parked, or the alternator may not be charging properly. Our guide on why your car battery keeps going flat covers the usual causes.

When snow is forecast

Snow on the Tablelands is usually light and short-lived, but it can make the higher roads around Guyra and the ranges slippery and slow. If snow is forecast, make sure your headlights and tail lights are working and clean, the demisters clear the glass, and the wiper blades are in good condition. Carry warm clothes, water and a charged phone in case you're delayed.

Check the Bureau of Meteorology's forecasts and warnings and road conditions before you set out, and don't travel if you don't need to. If you end up stopped for a while, avoid running the engine for heat in an enclosed or snow-blocked space.

Getting help

If a fully charged, tested battery still struggles, the starter motor, the main cables or the alternator may be the real problem. An auto electrician can test them in a few minutes. Find local help on our pages for Armidale and Guyra, where winter no-starts are some of the most common call-outs.

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Questions Armidale drivers ask

How many frosts does Armidale get each year?

The Bureau of Meteorology's Armidale Tree Group Nursery station averages 65.9 days a year at or below 0 °C, based on records since 1997. July is the coldest month, with about 16 of those mornings. The number changes a lot from year to year and from one part of town to another, as low ground often gets the hardest frosts.

Can a car battery freeze in Armidale?

A healthy, fully charged battery is very unlikely to freeze at the temperatures recorded around Armidale. A deeply discharged battery is a different story, because its electrolyte freezes much more easily. That's why vehicles left sitting in winter should be kept charged with a smart charger or maintainer. A battery that has frozen should be replaced, not charged.

Why does my diesel ute blow white smoke on frosty mornings?

White smoke from a cold diesel often means fuel isn't burning fully, and the usual electrical cause is one or more failed glow plugs or a faulty glow plug relay. The engine may smooth out once it warms up. Have the glow plug circuit tested before winter, as a weak system gets much worse in the cold.

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