How To Keep Your Car Battery Alive During The Cold Weather?

Suppose, it is a very cold day outside, the temperature has gone down to minus something. You rush towards the car parked outside your home, you put the ignition key to start and it does not start at all. This would be such a terrible situation. Anyhow, many people experience this situation frequently in winters. It is the car battery in the engine compartment that decides whether your car will start or not. Car batteries can create a lot of trouble, especially in winters. At cold temperatures, the battery’s capacity to produce charge through electrochemical reaction diminishes. A full charged battery can stand -50°C, but that of a low charged battery freezes at -1°C. To put it simply, car batteries are cold weather repellent. You should buckle yourself and your car before you experience any bad situation in the frigid temperature.

Make sure to do and avoid doing things that will definitely save your day:

DO

1- Check Your Battery

Before winters begin you should always prefer to get your car battery checked. Car experts advise changing the car battery every three months, although you can make it work for five years. You can drive to a garage to test your car. They test it with a computerized tester and tell you if needs a recharge or replacement. If you have not done an MOT testing for your vehicle, then you should. It can also help. You can simply search ‘Class 4 or Class 7 MOT stations near me a book and get it tested.

You can also note symptoms of a worn-out battery and fix the problem before it creates a disaster. The symptoms of a bad battery are:

a- Dim headlights.

b- Dim dome lights.

c- A less powerful car horn.

d- Flickering dashboard battery warning light.

DON’T

2- Park outside

As we already said that car battery is cold weather repellent, you should never keep your car outside in the frigid temperature. Instead, you should prefer parking in a garage. If you do not have a garage to park the car, you can sheath it with a thermal blanket over it. You will find lots of thermal blankets with different names as insulators, thermal wrap, battery warmers, and electric battery blankets.

DO

3- Keep Driving For Couple Of Minutes

Unceasing driving is the best possible remedy to protect your car batteries. It does not mean unceasing forever, but you should at least drive for 10 minutes to let your engine warm the battery. Daily long drives are essential for the battery and your car. Also, don’t keep the car undriven on weekends; cover some miles, at least, as many as on weekdays.

DON’T

4- Turn On Accessories Immediately

The moment we get into the car, we immediately turn on the heater, music, and lights, which run on battery. This behavior can jeopardize the life of the battery. In frosty weather, you should first let the alternator of the battery charge for some time, then you can turn on the accessories.

DO

5- Juice It Up

Always, always, always, completely charge your battery. Charging is always beneficial for battery life, be it in any weather, but in winters it becomes more crucial. A fully charged battery can stand extreme cold conditions up to -50°C.

DON’T 

6- Avoiding Cleaning Battery

You should never avoid cleaning the battery if you want to save the battery’s life. Dirt and debris add to the already resistance created due to low temperature. The already thickened engine oil and dirt and debris on terminals make it harder for the battery to work. Therefore, you should frequently clean the dirt and corrosion to avoiding load on the battery.