Essential Tips To Preserve Your Car Battery Life

Many factors can impact car battery lifespan. For instance, leaving lights on while the engine is off can rapidly drain it while extreme temperatures can cause liquid in the battery to evaporate and reduce its effectiveness.

Maintaining regular preventive maintenance can extend battery lifespan. Here are three easy tips to get you started:

Keep It Clean

Your battery is one of the most crucial elements of your car. A dead battery can be extremely inconvenient if you have an appointment or event to attend; not to mention costly.

Lead sulfate build-up on battery plates is one of the main culprits behind dead batteries, especially when improper storage conditions or not charging regularly are observed.

Prevent this by popping open your hood and inspecting your battery regularly. If there’s any white or blue crust around the terminals, cleaning them up immediately is key to maintaining proper connections and avoiding corrosion.

If you want to go the extra step, purchasing ring-shaped felt pads to further protect copper terminals may help them last longer and prevent corrosion. These can usually be found at most auto care centers for just a few dollars each. Once cleaned and lubricated with petroleum jelly or battery grease they should stay looking their best and prevent further corrosion issues from developing in future.

Don’t Leave Electronics On

Stay aware that leaving lights, radios and other electronic devices on while the vehicle isn’t running can zap its battery’s charge quickly. Be sure to switch these off and double-check that they’ve been switched off before leaving your car.

Extreme temperatures can cause the water in batteries to evaporate, shortening their lifespan. Insulating it from extreme temperature changes may help protect it.

A battery relies on regular driving to recharge, and short trips won’t allow enough time for it to charge up properly. A trickle charger or battery maintainer can help ensure you give your battery what it needs when not in use; or consider insulating it with a blanket to protect against freezing temperatures – these simple tricks can really maximize battery performance!

Avoid Extreme Temperatures

Extreme temperatures – including our summer heat in Sacramento – can have an extreme effect on battery lifespan. Hot weather increases the rate at which water in your battery evaporates, leading to damage in its inner structure that ultimately leads to its breakdown.

Colder temperatures can have a detrimental effect on car batteries, which should be monitored before storing your car for long. Make sure that when storing, test its voltage and recharge to 12.6 volts before leaving it idle. You might also consider purchasing a battery maintainer which provides small boosts of charge when not driving the vehicle.

A dead battery can be an enormously inconvenient hassle, but it could also be indicative of another issue with your car that needs to be addressed immediately. By following these tips and scheduling regular appointments with a mechanic, your battery should last much longer – should any issues persist contact Firestone Complete Auto Care near you for help.

Avoid Short Trips

Car batteries recharge during drive, so driving short distances doesn’t allow your battery enough time to recuperate and also prevents your alternator from giving a full charge to your vehicle.

Over time, this causes your battery to gradually lose power until it can no longer start your engine, as well as dim your headlights and diminish their heating or cooling effectiveness.

Avoid short trips whenever possible and utilize a battery tender or trickle charger to help offset the wear-and-tear caused by frequent driving. Furthermore, ensure all unnecessary functions such as radio and air conditioning are off when your engine isn’t running; make sure lights have been switched off prior to exiting vehicle – these simple steps will extend battery life! For more information about extending its lifespan visit one of NAPA AutoCare locations today – with over 17,000 locations to serve you nationwide!